40 Hadiths on Social Justice
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Hadith #29 – The Rights of the Elderly on Society
What are the rights of the elderly on society? This episode discusses the rights to economic and physical assistance, as well as the emotional rights of the elderly in Islam.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. So tonight we move on to a topic that's connected to the last few halaqas, but it really expands beyond, I think, what we typically think about as Muslims. And what I personally have appreciated in the research for this series and kind of going through it, is that we're not just learning about rights and technicalities, we're also learning about ihsan, we're learning about how to show excellence and an extra level of compassion and mercy to people. And usually when you're talking about the relationships of people in a fiqh-y sense, in a jurisprudence sense, then you're talking about rights and obligations and responsibilities. But as we can see, it's not just the responsibilities in a marriage that are highlighted by the concept of ihsan in Islam, this concept of compassion and added excellence, but it really covers all of our relationships, our relationship with society as a whole. So we're at hadith number 29 now, and I'll tell you guys a secret. As I was going through the topics, I was like, alright, we might have to push this to 42, 43. And it's okay, because Imam al-Nawwi, rahimallah, he did that with his 40 hadiths, too, became more than 40. So we have to go a few over than we do, because a lot of times what I thought were going to be subtopics ended up becoming topics in and of themselves. So the topic tonight really arises out of a recognition that when we talk about the rights of parents, so if you realize last week we talked about the rights of uncles and aunts and the extended family. And who can give me the order that we take from the hadith of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, from last week? From your aunts and uncles, how do you prioritize? The khala comes first, the maternal aunt, then the paternal uncle, the am, then the maternal uncle, paternal aunt.
This is the breakdown that we find in the sunnah of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. There's no mamu and chacha breakdown in the hadith of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. But there's aunts and uncles, okay? And then you sort of look at the extended family as it is. So one of the things that really I found very touching is the emphasis in Islam on honoring the elderly that are not from your family. And really the amount of literature that's found within it. And this actually could be one of the longest halaqas of the entire series. Because it's not one or two or three hadiths, but actually honoring the elderly beyond just your parents and beyond just your uncles and your aunts and people that are known to you in your community. In fact, beyond Muslims. And we'll talk about some of the narrations that come with that. So it starts off, you know, the most powerful hadith to start this off is the hadith from Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, and Sunan Abu Dawood. The Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, inna min ijlaalillahi ta'ala ikramadhi shaybatil muslim. The Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, said that from a part of revering Allah, showing reverence to Allah, showing glory to God, is honoring the elderly Muslims. So here the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, specified the Muslim. And then the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, in some narrations, he expanded and he said, wahamila al-Quran, and the one who is a memorizer of the Quran, who carries the Quran. But the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, says, ghayril ghali fee, but not to go in extravagance in honoring the one who memorizes the Quran, but still giving the one who memorizes the Quran a certain position. And finally, the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, as-sultan al-muqsit, the just ruler, a fair ruler, that you honor the fair ruler amongst you. You know, all of the ahadith that warn about Sultan al-Jair, the oppressive ruler, the tyrant, the reverse of that is that when we have a good ruler, when we have a good, just authority, that we should honor that authority.
That we should show that due reverence, because that's not an easy thing to do. So it starts off, though, with ikrami dhish-shaybah, this idea of honoring the person who has gray hair or who has especially attained those gray hairs within Islam. And this starts off with one of the earlier frameworks that we find from the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, hal turzakuna wa tunsaroona illa bi du'afaikum, are you provided for or supported except by how you treat the most vulnerable amongst you. And many of the ulama, when they categorized who the vulnerable amongst you are, very frequently we go straight to the oppressed. And the oppressed, obviously, that's the major point and emphasis of the hadith. But the ulama, as they list the categories, will also list the elderly here. And the idea of the hadith is that you are taken care of by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon whom you have no right, just as you take care of those who cannot give back to society at times. But you take care of them because you seek that from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, because it's the right thing to do. So you are provided for by the way that you provide. And so that's the framework that we find here. And obviously, this refers to a different type of weakness and a different type of vulnerability that comes sometimes with older age. Whether the effect of that is on the physical or on the memory or on pace or whatever that may be, the ability to work and to earn, all of these things are taken into consideration. And there's a very famous hadith from the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, from Abdullah ibn Amr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, He is not from amongst us who does not respect established. I'll talk about that in a minute inshallah, what waqar is here.
Waqar is to establish in respect, establish the position of the elderly amongst them and to show mercy to the youth amongst them. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam continued also authentic narration, wa man nam ya'rif li'alimina haqqa, and whoever does not realize the right of our scholars upon us. So there are three things the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam mentioned, respect to the elders and establishing the elders in their position, showing mercy to the youth and then realizing the right of the scholars upon a people. Now when you look at this particular part here, yuwaqqir kabirana, if you think about what's often spoken about as the generation gap here. Respect is beyond symbolic gestures of respect. Yuwaqqir is not simply ihtiram, yuwaqqir is to acknowledge a person's right upon you. To acknowledge a person's right upon you, and here this is spoken about in the collective, to acknowledge the right of those who are older upon society as a whole, to establish them in their position. And then to show mercy to the youth. So how do you balance that generation gap? If you think about the problems that we find within the generation gap, obviously the elderly want to be respected and the youth usually turn away from the community when they don't feel compassion, when they feel judged, when they feel, not disrespected, but when they feel cruelty and harshness. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam really diagnosed the generation gap perfectly. That when it comes to the elderly, there's this importance of recognition and establishing that respect. And when it comes to the youth, there's this importance of compassion and understanding their position as well and where they're coming from and guiding them gently along that journey. And then finding that balance, striking that balance in a society is very difficult. Because if the youth do not feel, you know, there's that saying,
if the youth do not feel the warmth of the village, they will burn it down in order to feel its warmth, if they're not inducted into the village. So you have to have that rahma when it comes to younger people, and you have to have that waqar, that certain level of respect and establishment when it comes to the elders of a community. There's a fine line in how you actually balance these two things. Because at the end of the day, even if you show respect to the elders and if you show mercy to the youth, you know, each side, usually in those tensions, is not going to feel like they're getting enough of those two things. But the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he recognized that. And how many of you have heard that hadith before? Just a show of hands, I'm just curious. How many of you have actually heard that hadith before? No one's heard that hadith before, that he is not amongst us, who shows respect, who does not show respect to the elders? All right, some of you are suddenly hearing hadith. All right, some of you are like, well, I just heard it right now. How many of you have heard it before this class? Why didn't you want to raise your hands in the first place? What's the context of that hadith? And it's very beautiful when you look at the story behind that hadith, that's usually the first place to go to if you want to understand where this hadith is coming from, what the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is seeing. We often forget that the gathering of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, were for the most part, very young people. Very young people. The society of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was typically youth. Okay? It was not common to find people beyond their forties. From the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, when he initially established in Medina. In fact, most of the companions died in their thirties. I mean, those that died in battle, they were actually only in their thirties. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh radiallahu ta'ala anhu, if you read about him without mentioning his age, you think of this man that really was the senior wise person in society, that lived for a long time and did great things. And he did do great things indeed.
And the throne of Allah shook when Sa'd radiallahu ta'ala anhu passed away. If you could actually turn this fan off. Waleed? Sorry, are you guys hot? No, no, off, because it's distracting. This one right here. Just turn them all off. It's okay. Alright. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is dealing with a lot of young people. Sa'd ibn Mu'adh radiallahu ta'ala anhu was only in his thirties when he passed away. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said the throne of Allah shook when Sa'd radiallahu anhu passed away. So what does that mean? If you walk into the masjid of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and typically you've got people in their twenties and their thirties, and then you only have a few elders amongst them. What that means is that they can start to disrespect their elders, they can start to lose sight of their elders, because especially when you're preparing for battle, when you're preparing for building the masjid, and you're talking about a lot of physical labor, then it's very easy to lose sight of the elderly amongst you. So the context of that hadith that's mentioned is actually a hadith from Anas ibn Malik radiallahu anhu. Was Anas old or young? Very young. Anas was a kid when the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam came to Medina. And so he describes this situation. He says that we were sitting in the masjid one day, and an elderly man came to talk to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and the people were hesitant to make room for him. Now what does hesitant to make room for him mean? The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was always surrounded by these young people that were taking advice from him, asking him questions, sharing their dreams, whatever it may be, talking about marriage, because there's the hadith of Anas ibn Masiruddin radiallahu anhu there too. They were doing what young men would do, and they're surrounding the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So an elderly man wanted to ask the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam a question, and they weren't making room. They didn't want to give up their spot. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he was displeased with that.
He didn't like that. So that's when the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, laisa minna man lam yarham saghirana wa yuwaqqir kabirana, that he is not amongst us. The narration sometimes switched the youth and the elderly. It's the same meaning. He is not amongst us who doesn't show mercy to the young amongst us, or show that respect and that status to the elderly amongst us. So this is not something that's done out of malicious intent usually, but it's something that's done out of forgetfulness or out of just mere convenience here. So everyone is there trying to grab from the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam whatever they can, and they're just not paying attention. And that could happen even to the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. The power of a young man like Anas sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, being the narrator of that, is to show that this goes far beyond just the mere ahadith or words or technicalities that we technically hear of. So what are some of the specific lessons that we take from this? Number one, Allah tells us in the Quran, hal jaza'u l-ihsan illa l-ihsan. Is there any reward for excellence except for excellence? Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also says, thumma kaana aqibatu alladheena asa'u as-soo. So those that worked evil, their aqiba, their response was also evil. How many of you have heard that you're going to be treated by your children the way that you treated your parents? How many of you heard that growing up? It's something that we all heard growing up, that the way that you treat your parents, you're going to be treated by your children. But that also is to be understood in a broader framework. Listen to this hadith by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And it obviously starts with the parents. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, man ahana dha shaybah. Whoever humiliates or dishonors someone, dha shaybah would literally be someone that has gray hair.
But someone who's older than him, whoever disrespects or dishonors someone who is older, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, lam yamut hatta yaba'ath allahu alayhi man yuhinu shaybahu idha shab. He would not die until Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sends upon him, before he dies, someone that would humiliate him in his elderly age as well, in his old age as well. So obviously that starts with the parents. And that's how it could happen with your children. But the way that you used to treat people when you were young, that were older than you, you would find that when you become older, the children would treat you in like manner. There's a weak narration about Abu Bakr radiallahu ta'ala anhu, that Abu Bakr radiallahu ta'ala anhu, that the youth used to compete to serve Abu Bakr radiallahu ta'ala anhu, when he started to show that gray hair. And it was almost a wonder to the people. So when they asked Abu Bakr radiallahu ta'ala anhu, why is it that the youth always rush to treat you in that way, and Abu Bakr radiallahu ta'ala anhu recounted that when he was a young man, he used to do that with an elderly man as well. He used to always rush to the aid of an elderly man. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala rewarded him for that behavior. So there's the bad side of that and then there's the good side of that. There's also another narration, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam says, ma akrama shabun shaykhan li sinnihi illa khayadallahu lahu man yukrimuhu inda sinnihi. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said that no one treats an elderly person with honor in their elderly age except that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would send someone to them when they are elderly that would treat them with that same level of honor and that respect. A lot of times there is a mercy in some of these ahadith in the broadening of it. How? Sometimes it won't be the children of that elderly person that would honor them,
but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala might send them someone else that would show them that love and that respect, whether that's in the form of someone that's from the extended family or someone else in society that recognizes their fadl, that recognizes their virtue and their preference from the sunnah of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. So those are some of the general concepts in regards to treating the elderly and the idea that, look, the way that you do to others, it will also be done to you. So when you treat people that are older than you with respect, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will send young people that will treat you with either the same level of respect or disrespect that you treated someone else. But how do we move beyond just the paradigm of respect? What is respect? What is honoring? Is it kissing someone's hand? Is it kissing someone's forehead? Is it holding the door? Is it letting someone lead the salah? Is it making sure that the masjid boards are always the eldest of the community? What is respect? Because that's a very subjective term. What is ikram? And some of these things are purposefully subjective and open, because remember the emphasis in the Quran of bil ma'ruf, in accordance with custom. So there are some things that would be considered from respect and some customs. So long as they don't contradict the shari'ah, they should be honored. So you should honor the elderly in your culture in accordance with what is considered honoring them, so long as that does not mean contradicting the shari'ah. So you sort of look at all those customs as well. But how does this relate to social justice, first and foremost? Is this something that's specific to the Muslims? This is one of my favorite narrations, and it's mentioned in Ahkam Ahlul Dhimma by Ibn al-Qayyim, the rulings on how to treat protected non-Muslim minorities in a society by Ibn al-Qayyim. He mentions in this narration that one time Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu, in his khilafah,
he saw an old Jewish man who was begging. Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu, who's this man that used to carry around the bags at night and serve everyone in his society, and he used to care for even the animals, right? I mean, he's seeing this elderly man that's going around begging, and yes, he's an elderly Jewish man, he's not a Muslim, and Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu was ashamed of himself. So he said to him, ya sheikh, ma hamalaka ala hadha? Sheikh means elderly person, right, in the linguistic sense, in the technical sense. What's causing you to do that? Why are you begging? What the man said in return hurt Umar more. He said, well, first of all, I'm elderly, I don't have anyone to take care of me, and he said, and the jizya is becoming difficult for me, the tax. Keep in mind, the jizya in the time of Umar was less than the zakah for the Muslims, okay? Technically speaking, the jizya, which was mandatory on able-bodied men, right, that were not Muslim, in exchange for protection and security and military protection, you know, all of the benefits of having a military fight on your behalf, the way that they fight on behalf of their own, it was actually less than the zakah. But when this man said it was the jizya, look at what Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu did. Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu, he took him by his hand and then he put his arm around his neck, and he walked him home, and Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu called for the head of Baytul Ma'id, so the custodian of the treasury, and he said that I want you to assign a stipend for this man. I want you to make sure that he's getting paid and that he's being taken care of. And Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala Anhu, he started to cry, and he said, Wallahi ma'an, he said, Wallahi we did not show you justice. He said, na'khudhu minka shaaban thumma nudhaya'uka shaykhan.
That, na'khudhu minka shaaban, we take from you when you're young, and then we lose you or we forget you when you're old. And he says, Wallahi la'a'atiyamnaka min ma'alil muslimeen, I swear that I will give you from the money of the Muslims. I will treat you like a dignified human being. I will honor you. I'll make sure that you have money even from the money of the Muslims. But think about that line. We took from you. As a young man, but we forgot you when you were older. So we had no shame in extracting the benefit of your energy and your resources and what you contributed to society as a young man. But then when you became old, we forgot about you. Think about that as a policy. What does that translate into into policy? What does that translate into into maintaining, you know, proper social security and retirement and making sure that the elderly are taken care of economically? From a policy perspective, this is something that's rooted in our tradition. Because if Omar radiya Allahu anhu is saying that to an elderly Jewish man that lives in his care, he's not talking about the military, he's not talking about, you know, as far as the deen. This old man didn't used to come to the masjid and do things for the Muslims. This old man was someone that used to work in society as a young man. And Omar is ashamed of himself. He says, we took from you when you were young and we forgot you when you were old. So he was specifically referring to the economic piece of this. And then you look back at Abu Bakr and Omar. Very famous narration where Omar radiya Allahu anhu said that, every single time I tried to beat Abu Bakr, I found that he preceded me. He always preceded me to every good. And there's the famous story of the sadaqah story. You hear it at every single fundraiser. Abu Bakr gave, you know, Omar gave half of his wealth and thought he would win, then Abu Bakr gave 100% of his wealth. But there's another story where Omar radiya Allahu anhu said,
all right, listen, I'm going to surpass him in things that I know that he can't do. So it was during the khilafah of Abu Bakr that Omar radiya Allahu anhu went to the outskirts of Medina and he went to serve particularly the elderly women that were on the outskirts of Medina. So he had a focused demographic that he would go and he would serve. What that service meant, cleaning up, making sure they were taken care of, food, groceries, whatever it may be. They needed some help in the home, you know, to fix something in the house. Omar radiya Allahu anhu wanted to go do that. So Omar radiya Allahu anhu said that when he went out to the outskirts of Medina, to this particular village, and he went to an elderly lady's house, she answered the door and she told Omar that someone's already been here. He's like, what? Who? Who comes all the way out here? So she said he doesn't want anyone to know. So Omar radiya Allahu anhu hid behind her house and he saw Abu Bakr radiya Allahu anhu, the khalifa of the Muslims, who's dealing with people that don't want to pay zakah, who's dealing with people that are claiming a new prophet in Musaylim al-Kadhab, who's dealing with all of the problems in the first two years after the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam. And he's making time to go out privately and to serve this elderly woman. And Omar radiya Allahu anhu cried and he said, لقد أتعبت من جاء من بعدك You have exhausted everyone that has come after you. Like, I can't win with you. Every time I think of doing something good, Abu Bakr has already done it. In this situation, Talha ibn Ubaidillah radiya Allahu ta'ala anhu, he said that Omar radiya Allahu anhu used to always be out during the night serving people. But I noticed that he suddenly started to give emphasis to this particular home. So Talha radiya Allahu ta'ala anhu said that, in the morning I went to that house, because he went to that house a few times, and I went to that house. And subhanAllah, what he says, that the woman that came out was elderly and she was blind.
So Omar had been going there for many days. And he was surprised to find that she was elderly and she was blind. So Talha radiya Allahu ta'ala anhu said, I asked her, you know, why does this man come to you? And she said that he's been visiting me regularly for a long time. He said he brings me what I need and he removes my waste. SubhanAllah. The khalifa was going and removing the waste from her home regularly. Omar ibn al-Khattab radiya Allahu ta'ala anhu. So Talha radiya Allahu anhu said that I was ashamed of myself. And I said, you know, woe to you, oh Talha, are you searching for flaws of Omar? Like are you trying to find a flaw in this man? SubhanAllah, this man is the khalifa and that's the care that the khalifa is giving to. This elderly blind woman, he's going and helping her, making sure she's taken care of and even removing the waste from her home. So this is something that's sacred in our tradition. That also means that, you know, and that's not a relative of Omar. That's actually part of the point. That's not an aunt, that's not a mother, that's not a relative. That's the right of the elderly on society. Collectively they have that right upon us that they not find themselves in an undignified situation as elders. There are emotional rights as well. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned in the authentic hadith, yusallimu s-sagheeru ala l-kabeer, that the young person should always initiate the salam to the older person. Don't ever let someone who's older than you precede you in salam. And he mentioned al-maru ala al-qa'id, the one who's walking should give salam to the one who's sitting down. And he mentioned alayhi s-salatu wa s-salam al-qaleelu ala al-katheer, if there's a smaller group of people, a larger group of people, then it's the right of the larger group of people that the smaller group of people initiate salam with them. But he started off with s-sagheeru ala al-kabeer, paying attention to that, that the younger person should make it a point
to go to the elderly person and to say salam to them. In fact, when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came to Mecca and Fathah Mecca, Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu, his father, Abu Quhafa, became Muslim in Fathah Mecca, conquest of Mecca. For 20 years he resisted Islam. The father of Abu Bakr refused to become Muslim. And Abu Bakr was the same age, was 2 years younger than the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Right? So his father was very old, was very old. Abu Quhafa was a very old man. And finally he accepted Islam in Fathah Mecca 20 years later. So when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came to Mecca, Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu carried his father to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Subhanallah, think of the scene. All grey, old man to say salam. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said, لو أقررت الشيخ في بيته فأتينا He would have left the old man in his home, this respected old man in his house. I would have went to him. You didn't have to bring him out to me. I would have went to him. Like the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam didn't like that he had to struggle to come give his shahada to the Prophet. Even though this is an occasion, right? To come say shahada and to come accept Islam after two decades of resisting the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. When your son is a Siddiq, right? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, if you would have just left him in his home, I would have went to him. And Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu, he said, يا رسول الله, I thought that you have more rights that he comes out to you. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, No. You should have left him in his home and I would have actually came to him, give him salam. How much is this emphasized as well? Some of you might remember when I taught the story of Jibreel, you had all of these narrations and it just shows you how often Jibreel alayhi wa sallam used to pay attention to the akhlaq of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. The character of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, أمرني جبريل, Jibreel commanded me أن أقدم that I always put forth, that I always put forth, الأكابر, that I always put forth the elders. That Jibreel alayhi wa sallam commanded me to do this. How specific was Jibreel with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? How specific was Jibreel with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? The dreams of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam were what? Were they revelation or not? They were always revelation. Every dream of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was a form of wahy. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said in a hadith in Bukhari from Ibn Umar radiyallahu anhu, he said, I dreamt that I was cleaning my teeth with a siwak and then two persons came to me, two men came to me. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said one of them was older than the other. So he said, I gave my siwak to the younger one. And Jibreel alayhi wa sallam told the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to take it back and give it to the older one first. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, this is what Aisha radiyallahu anhu says. This is how much attention to detail the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, you know, how much he used to pay attention to detail. He said that if the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would pass his siwak, he would start with the elder. And if he would pass his cup of water, he would start with the one on his right. Like he actually, it's thought out. The akhlaq of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the character of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is to pay attention to those things. So he says to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that I always, that I was commanded by Jibreel alayhi wa sallam to always put forth the elderly. That means, you know, if you're opening the door for somebody, you prefer the elderly. And that's actually, by the way, more, there is more basis to that than telling the person on your right to go first. You know, the custom, culture is al-yameen, if two people are going inside, then you say on the right first. There's more basis in the sunnah to actually say the elder one goes before even the person that's on the right, in accordance with these ahadith from the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Putting them forth in regards to food, in regards to a gathering,
whatever it may be, always giving preference to the elderly. Of course, one of the things that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam even mentioned in as-salah, he says that let the oldest amongst them lead the salah. Okay? Fal-y-ummahum akbaruhum sinnah. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, let the person who's oldest amongst them lead them in salah. Now, that hadith, the context of it is that if they are equal in Qur'an and in good deeds, meaning, you know, they both have a similar level of religiosity and memorization of the Qur'an, then the preference goes towards the person who is eldest. Letting the eldest, letting the elder speak in gatherings before the young. There's a hadith in Al-Adhab Al-Mufrad, and it's a long hadith because it refers to a very particular incident, where Raf'a ibn Khadij and Sahal ibn Abi Hathma. Raf'a and Sahal, they reported that Abdullah ibn Sahal radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu, was murdered amongst the palm trees of Al-Khaibar. So, Abdullah ibn Sahal was a companion of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and he was killed in an area where you had Banu Quraydan, an area which had a very particular Jewish tribe. So, his children were obviously outraged, and people assumed that you could just say it was Banu Quraydan, they could arbitrarily punish the tribe, even though they couldn't prove who exactly killed Abdullah ibn Sahal. So, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gathered the companions, and when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gathered the companions, Abdurahman ibn Sahal and two of the young sons of Mas'ud, not Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, but Mas'ud, came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and they started to speak. So, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he says, kabira al-kibara, he said, no, let the elders speak first.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, liyali al-kalam al-akbar, which actually means exalt the eldest amongst us, let them be the first to actually speak. So, that means when there's a gathering, and there are people that are sitting together, to allow the elders to actually have their voice heard, to allow them to speak, even if that means they're going to dominate the conversation, even if that means that it would take more time, but to show that respect and that love, and to actually give that preference, is something that's from the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He taught us being gentle in religious obligations. And this is something that Al-Shafi'i rahimahullah said, that an elderly person never asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for a concession, for a rukhsah, except that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gave that concession to them. So, an elderly person never came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, asking the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to relax an obligation, except that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did so, and he tried to even make them feel better about not being able to perform an obligation as they used to before. So, whether a person becomes too difficult for them to fast, or too difficult for them to pray standing up, the ajr is the same for a person when they pray sitting down, if they have no choice but to pray sitting down. Okay? Important distinction. If they have no choice but to pray sitting down, the ajr, the reward is the same. Alright? They have a choice, although the salah is invalid if they can stand up. We're talking about obligatory prayers. Alright? But if they don't have a choice, if that's what they're capable of, the reward is the same. The reward in Ramadan for a person who can no longer fast, but who gives the fidya, is the same as a person who's fasting. There's absolutely no decrease in the reward. The reward of someone doing hajj on your behalf, because a person became unable to do so, is no less. And that's why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the hadith of Ibn Abbas radiyallahu anhu, he said a man came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam when the command of hajj was given, and his father was still alive. So by the way, this is a ruling in Islam.
Okay? His father was still alive, but his father was so old that he couldn't even sit firmly on the saddle. Okay? Meaning it was going to be extremely difficult for his father to perform hajj. It was to a point that it was really impossible. They'd have to torture his father in order for him to perform the hajj. And he said that, you know, if I tie my father to his saddle, I'm afraid that he'll die. Okay? That's how difficult this is going to be. So he asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam if he can perform hajj on his behalf. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, don't you think that if your father owed a debt, this is so beautiful, he said, if your father owed a debt, and you paid it off, that it would be just as good to the person that you paid it off to? Like if your father owed a debt to somebody, and then his son paid off the debt, does the person who's receiving his money back really care that it came from the son and not the father? No. So the man said, yes, it's the same thing. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, فحج عن أبيك, so you do hajj on behalf of your father. While he was still alive, but again, he was too old to do hajj at that point. So not even having to wait for a person to pass away. But the fact that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made it a point to say, look, it's just as good. It's just as acceptable in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So in summary of prophetic guidance on caring for the elderly, collective social responsibility. I'm going to just give a few things that we learned from all these hadith. Number one, collective social responsibility. So putting our hands and our resources together for their care. Number two, comprehensive care in terms of their physical and mental health and emotional health. So this all falls under honoring the elderly, ikram, the shaybah. Number three, recognition in public and private settings. So the right of the elderly is to be recognized properly in public and in private settings.
Number four, giving them precedence in honorific spaces, such as being the imam or voicing an opinion or being served food. And number five is not subjecting them to undue hardship and religious guilt, unwarranted religious guilt. So making available the shari'i concessions, the rukhas, for the elderly so that you don't have undue guilt or unwarranted religious guilt or undue hardship that is placed upon them. Of course, I'm going to shout out the Valley Ranch Islamic Center for the Golden Club, alhamdulillah, where our masjid actually – that's good, so we got a round of applause, all right. Our masjid actually has specific services, alhamdulillah, for our elders and our seniors in this community. And we honor and respect and love our elders in this community. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to do a better job. Allahumma ameen. Questions? Yeah.
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