Translated notes from Mufti Mudassir Hafidhahullah's talks

Gems from Ramadan 1441 talks:

“Torah is Kitabullah. Zabur is Kitabullah. Injeel is Kitabullah. Quran....Quran is KALAAMULLAH”. - M***i Mudassir hafidhahullah

Words of advice!

“We need to make our grave hifdh madrassa. How? it’s stated in Hadith that when one makes an intention for hifdh - and every man and women can...all that is needed is niyyah and himmah! - and starts this journey but leaves this world without completing their hifdh then Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى appoints an angel as an Ustadh who’ll help him complete his/her hifdh in the grave! When they’ll be raised up, they’ll be raised up with the huffadh.” - M***i Mudassir hafidhahullah

(For the complete talk: https://mixlr.com/icfbayaans/showreel/2020-ramadan-29th-night-bayaan“

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem

Must listen dua on the 27th of Ramadan 1441, by M***i Mudassir hafidhahullah in Urdu.

icfbayaans on Mixlr Live Talk broadcast from icfbayaans

An INSTANT effect of gheebah (backbiting) is that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى takes out the love of the person who’s backbiting from the heart of the person who’s being backbitten.
-M***i Mudassir (may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى protect him)

“When one is going through tests, the BEST act of nafl (non-obligatory) ibaadah (worship) one can do is to have good expectations from Him (being hopeful of a good outcome, awaiting His promised reward(s) for being patient in times of test)” - M***i Mudassir Hafidhahullah

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem

Day 7: The effect of clothing on our actions

Allah has bestowed innumerable blessings upon us. If we try to think of all the blessings of Allah we cannot even comprehend it. In regards to one such blessing Allah addresses us in the Quran that "Oh children of Adam think of the blessing of clothes that I have bestowed onto you". Clothing is such a great blessing with which we cover our awrah (body) and with which we beautify ourselves. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says I made clothes for you with which you protect yourselves from heat and cold. When the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam used to wear his clothes he would recite this duaa:
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي كَسَانِي مَا أُوَارِي بِهِ عَوْرَتِي وَأَتَجَمَّلُ بِهِ فِي حَيَاتِي

"All praise belongs to Allah who adorned me with clothing by which I cover (hide) my private areas and by which I obtain beauty in my life".

Remember with blessings there is a correct method of using it also. Our mentality around clothing should not be that whatever I feel like I will wear today. Rather clothing is such a thing which affects our lives, our mentality, and our character. This can be explained with the following example, if a man wears a jubbah and comes to the masjid and prays salah and another person wears non-sunnah clothing and prays salah then they will feel the difference. Once Umar radiAllan anho was giving the Jumu’ah khutbah. He was wearing really expensive clothes. When he went home he took off the clothes immediately and said I will never wear these again. His family members were surprised and said there is nothing wrong with these clothes, why will you never wear them again? He said when I wore these clothes I got a feeling of pride in my heart. This is why the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam taught us the duaa:
I seek protection and Your refuge from all evil (of these clothes) and the evil of that which it is made of".

What is the evil of clothes? That a person wears clothes and due to the clothing, he considers himself greater than others, feels pride. May Allah protect us, Ameen
This is why Allah explains to us in this Ayah that there are 2 purposes of clothing: 1. First to cover our private parts. In regards to this, there are three aspects that should be kept in mind. Firstly, The clothes should not be short/small that when a person goes in sajdah his private area gets exposed. Secondly, not too tight that the figure is exposed and thirdly, not such thin material that one can see through it.
This incident is narrated in Bukhari that once the prophet woke up in the middle of the night. He immediately awakened his family members and said: “At this moment Allah’s mercy is coming down and I have seen a lot of corruption coming down, ask for his mercy and seek refuge from the corruption”. After this the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam remarked: "There are many women who wear clothes in this world but on the day of judgement they will be deprived of clothes". May Allah make our womenfolk dress like the Sahabiyaat and save them from this warning, Ameen.
Clothing is directly linked to Hayaa-Modesty. When we worry about our clothing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protects the greatest quality of our Iman-Modesty.
Allah so beautifully explains to us that "Oh Children of Adam consider Shaytan as an enemy."
An example would be that is someone says to you, be careful of this man he is the one that took your dad out of his house. This is the man who took the clothes from your father’s back. If we are warned like this how careful would we be around this man. In the same way Allah is explaining, "Oh child of Adam be aware! stay away from shaytan! he is the one that took your father Adam out of Jannah, He is the one that took the clothes off of your father Adam alayhi salaam.
The second purpose of clothing is “wa reesha”. Wearing clothes to beautify one self. It is not recommended to stay in a disheveled state. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam used to wear good clean clothes. The sahabah had simple clothes but clean, and looked good.
In Surah A’araaf Allah mentions:
"Oh, ibn Adam when you enter the masjid come wearing beautiful clothing."
The Scholars explain that beautiful clothing is defined as not being “thiyab bizhla” clothes which smell bad. Don’t come to the masjid with socks that smell bad. Nor should one enter the masjid with clothes he would be ashamed to wear somewhere else.
Is Allah’s house so cheap that you wear whatever you wish. No! there is an etiquette and respect of the masjid that we should enter wearing clean and beautiful clothes
In conclusion in this verse Allah highlights three things in respect to our clothing:
Firstly, our clothing should properly cover our Awrah (private parts). Secondly, our clothing should be means of beautifying ourselves. However, it should not be to such an extent that it creates pride within ourselves. This can be explained in such a way that a person wears clothes with such an intention that because of these clothes I will receive respect and look better than others. Lastly, and most importantly we should wear the clothing of taqwa as Allah mentions in the Quran “wa libaas at-taqwa”. The Clothing of Taqwa is the real clothing for a believer, the clothing that we wear on our rooh (soul). A person can be wearing the simplest clothes but when they have adorned the clothing of taqwa then he will be the most valuable in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
What people in the world think does not matter. The only thing we should be worried about is how valuable we are in the sight of Allah. In light of this, there is an incident which comes to mind of Um Ayman radiAllahu anha. She was an Abyssinian woman, the mother of Usama bin Zaid radiAllah anho. She took care of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salaam from a young age due to which the prophet would often be heard saying, "I can smell the scent of my mother from Umme Ayman". She had a slight stutter in her speech due to which she would sometimes alter words in the Arabic language. Instead of saying "Assalamu alaikum," she would utter the words "Assalamu LA alaikum (May Peace not be upon you)". The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam when seeing her would say "Walaykumuusalam" even before she would say Assalamu alaikum as to not make her feel ashamed. Once when some of the companions heard her say this they started to laugh, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam replied, "do not laugh at her exterior, I have heard her footsteps in Jannah."
The moral of this story is that what truly matters is how valuable we are in the sight of Allah. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would often teach the companions that respect and disgrace are only in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The respect that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed us is through Imaan. Do not aspire to get respect though wealth, house, or clothing. If you believe that these things will give you respect then you will be disappointed!
This leads us to the question What is true respect and how should we attain it?
Respect in light of Quran is that your method, the method of Iman is adopted by people. And people wish to follow you. Disgrace is when you follow everyone else and try to get what everyone else has. You only aspire to have what others have in their lives.
This true respect can only be attained through Islam and the method of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
Allah has given us the blessings of clothing, and the real clothing is that of taqwa. A person should work on protecting the clothing of taqwa. One could wear simple clothes but if you have the taqwa in your life, on your tongue and on your mind then this person will be respected in the sight of Allah.

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem

Day 6: Shukr: a means to attain strong imaan

There are five surahs in the Quran that start with "alhum". Surah Fatiha, Surah al-An'aam, Surah al-Kahf, Surah Saba, and Surah Fatir. These blessed surahs begin with "alhum". In jannah there is no type of workship (ibaadah). No prayer, no fasting. However, there is one deed in jannah - and that is alhumdulillah (all praise belongs to Allah). The people of jannah will continuously thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for his ne'mats (gifts/favors) and bounties.

In a Hadith RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has said that the best and most virtuous remembrance (dhikr) is "la ilaaha illallah", and the best and most virtuous prayer (dua') is "alhumdulillah". Everyone seeks protection and an increase in all their ne'mats and the most easiest way to do this is to keep thanking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from the bottom of their heart. If a person is healthy they should thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala abundantly for making him/her healthy. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will put barakah (blessing) in their health.

A person should ponder over his day to day life and think about all the different things that are going correctly and in the right direction for him/her. For example, you get up and pray fajr, you should say alhumdulillah. You get to work on time, you should say alhumdulillah. Your kids came home from school safe and sound, you should say alhumdulillah. A person should say alhumdulillah for every little little thing because this is the way through which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala perfects a person's iman (faith). Iman is perfected when we thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for all his bounties and favors from the bottom of our hearts. When a person thanks Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he realizes that it is only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who could have accomplished this for him/her and if it wasn't for Allah then he/she wouldn't have ever had such-and-such thing.

In a household all the family members should spare some time throughout the day and all should come together and sit down, including the kids, and think of all the ne'mats of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Remember all the ne'mats. Ne'mats in the households, in summer, in winter. Everyone has been given ne'mats by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Muslim and kaafirs. But a true Muslim is he who remembers all of Allah's favors and bounties and is thankful for everything. Whoever has the mindset of always thanking Allah, ex: sitting in a gathering (majlis) of deen, completing taraweeh prayers, etc then that person will always be happy with Allah. To be happy with Allah is a really big form of workship.
If we are happy with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we would never complain - "i don't have this or I don't have that". There are millions and millions of people who do not have what we have been given by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The ambiya (prophets) would always remind their tribes of the favors and bounties of Allah so that they can become thankful and become closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Their hearts would turn in the workship of Allah when they were thankful.

One should just ponder over the ne'mat of breathing. Everyone breathes but take a look at how different people breathe. Doing istinja (purifying oneself after using the restroom) is a ne'mat but ponder over how people do it. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives a ne'mat, He can take it away also. A person can have eyes but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has the ability to take that eyesight away. You have a tongue but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can take away the ne'mat of talking. No one else in the world can then bring back that ne'mat of speaking or seeing!

So we should sit down with our kids and inculcate the concept of thankfulness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in them. If everyone is thankful and does shukr (showing gratitude) over the bounties of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then such a household will be from a household of paradise. Children should have the ideology of shukr from a very young age. That way if any difficulty comes upon a person, and if they have the quality of shukr in them, then they will automatically get the quality of sabr in them and will be patient in all hardships that come their way.

There was a king, named Sultan Mahmood Ghaznawi, who would sometimes test his governors. Once he gave everyone a bitter fruit to eat. Everyone made a face and some spit it out. The king had a nice servant, named Ayaaz, who ate the fruit happily and didn't make a fuss about it. So the king asked "Ayaaz didn't you find the fruit bitter?" Ayaaz said, "it was bitter but I did not want to make a bad remark about it because it is from you who always gave me such good things to eat in my life. So if only once you have me something bitter then it is no big deal". May we all be like Ayaaz! ameen

May Allah give us all the tawfeeq to become people of shukr, ameen.

JazakumAllahu khayran!

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem

Day 5: To fulfill promises is a sign of imaan (faith)

One lesson for us from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Surah Maaida: Allah says, (paraphrased) “Oh you who believed! There are some requirements of imaan and one of them is that take care of your promise (ahad)". When a person makes a promise, then fulfilling that promise is a sign of imaan. One should take an account of ones life and see from morning to evening in our daily life and at work, whenever I make promises, how much do I honor them. This is a requirement of imaan and is its sign. The amount of imaan one has in his heart, that’s the extent to which he will honor and fulfill his promise. The dealings will be clean. RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said strictly, “a sign of hypocrisy is to go against a promise and break it”. If we look in our lives, we have no regard for this. Hadith qudsi (hadith narrated by Allah directly!), “there are three people with whom I will fight: one man who made a promise in My name and then cheated in that dealing…” we take Allah’s name easily and use it for our dealings, but we don’t respect it.

Allah's name is to show reverence and is not to be insulted. Abdullah ibn Zubair, nephew of Aaishah radiAlah anha – who was very generous. Once he said, “my aunt is very generious, she spends too much. I should stop her.” When this word reached Aaishah radiAllah anha, she said, “who is he to stop me from spending in the path of Allah! I take an oath that I will not talk to him!” She took that oath, and stopped talking. Now Abdullah ibn Zubair radiAllah anho was tense that his aunt, Um ul Mumineen had stopped talking to him. After a while, he thought of an idea: called two of his friends and suggested that “we go to Aaishah radiAllah anha and ask her a mas’ala and you two seek her permission to enter the house and I will also enter with you.” The two sahaba went with Abdullah ibn zubair, got to her house and knocked the door and presented that they wanted to seek an answer related to a hadith. She said, “come in”. They asked, “should everyone come in?”, she replied, “yes, everyone come in.” As soon as she granted permission, the two sahaba sat by the purdah but Abduallah ibn Zubair went straight in and held his aunt by her feet, and apologized to her greatly. She forgave him and the promise which she made, had been broken. As such, she gave the kaffara (expiation) for it. In surah Maa’ida, Allah mentions what the expiation of promise is – when one takes the name of Allah and promise something and then later break it, then one needs to release one slave or feed or cloth ten poor (miskeen) people. It is a sign of a hypocrite that he/she swears often. We need to protect our tongues. So for Aaishah radiAllah anha, freeing one slave would‘ve sufficed but she freed 40 slaves– this is a very big deal! and she used to cry remembering it. When it was time for her to meet Allah, she used to repent to Allah saying, “ya Allah, I swore in your name and then I broke that promise, please forgive me and don’t hold me accountable for it on the day of judgment.”

If anyone swears in the name of Allah only to deceive someone, then on the day of judgment, Allah will fight with that person! In matters of business, dealings etc, we trust one another and start a transaction but when that dealing goes towards deception, it is very easy for the one who had swore in the name of Allah to break that promise during that dealing. We need to avoid swearing in the name of Allah. However, on the day of Judgment, the person who had taken the name of Allah, with a pure heart, right intention, and had started a dealing then Allah will, through unseen ways, make that dealing blessed for him. The intention should be right. When someone is dealing with giving loans, if the intention is not pure and right, then even the correct affairs will be ruined. If the intention is right and if someone is getting a loan, then Allah will help in unseen ways.

Imam Bukhari, in his book, mentions an incident that is mentioned in 6 places! There was a man who was travelling, from the Bani Israel tribe, and he needed money and he asked another man for loan. When he questioned him, "what is the guarantee that you will repay this loan", the man said, “I make Allah as my witness!” So when someone uses Allah's name, one will most likely trust him. The lender ends up giving him a thousand dirham and they set a time for him to return the money by. The borrower who borrowed the money did so with pure intention of returning it. When it was time for them to meet, the place where the two were supposed to meet had a river between them. There was thunder and rain, and no boat was ready to take him to the other side of the river. Now this man is concerned that he promised to return the money and there is no way to get across the river. He takes a stick and breaks it into two. He then puts the money in a cloth and wraps it on the stick and by taking the name of Allah, he says, “ya Allah, I did this dealing in Your name. Now, in Your name, I am letting this go in the river. You make it reach its destination.” RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is narrating this incident to the sahaba and teaching them that when one has the true intention and takes the name of Allah, then Allah's help will come in unseen ways. Now the lender is waiting for the borrower to show up and give him his money. When he doesn’t find him, he think, “perhaps due to the rain and thunder he couldn’t make it today”. While walking back home, he sees the stick laying around and thinking why he should go home empty handed, he picks up the stick and heads home. When he reached home, he breaks the stick only to find a thousand dirham with a note that states, “I tried to get you the money on time, but I couldn’t do it”. In the meantime, when the rain and thunder had stopped, the borrower took 1000 more dirham and travelled again to his lender to return the money (he just didn’t give up thinking oh I already put the money in the river, the deal is over!). When he reaches him, the lender says, “the way you took the name of Allah and made this dealing with me and then when you returned that money by putting your trust in Him, Allah has made them reach me! And now I return to you all of this money as hadiya!” Imam Bukhari writes this story more than 6 times in his book and RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is sharing this with sahaba to teach us that when we do a dealing in Allahs name we need to be truthful. We cannot afford to fight with Allah on the day of judgment if we cheat and deceive others in His name! May Allah protect us all, ameen.

This is a matter of dealings. Surah Maa’ida is an important surah in terms of halaal and haram rulings. RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, “everything that Allah has made halaal in this surah, will always remain halaal and whatever is haraam, will always remain haraam.” If one needs to take an account of their imaan, then they need to look into their promises, amaanah, and how they fulfill those. This is very deep – having an ahad (promise) with Allah. Nikkah is a promise between husband and wife. We make promises with each other at work. We need to respect these promises and be wary of them because they will have an effect on our ibaadah. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala grant us the ability to act upon it, ameen.

JazakumAllahu khayran!

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem

Day 4: How to attain a happy married life

Today we recited the ayahs of Sura Nisa in taraweeh. Such a great favor of Allah that He has blessed us with such a beautiful deen and book, whereby when there is a mention of command for salah, there is also a mention of how to spend our everyday life. In this world, which book and which religion mentions not just the religious obligations but also the daily day-to-day life. The ayah that mentions taqwa, also mentions relationships, something to reflect upon.

Sometimes one considers marriage based on beauty, or wealth…but none of this remains. What truly matters is ones character. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala named Madina “taaba” – a place that emits fragrance…its breeze, its dust, Allah has filled it with beautiful fragrance. So who should we marry? Allah says, “marry someone who has taaba” - sifaat (akhlaaq). Everything else will change, or leave…but akhlaaq will always remain. Hence, it is the responsibility of the parents that when they raise their children, be it girls or boys, they do it with such way that when any daughter gets married, goes to a new home, as a wife and a daughter-in-law, what should she take with her? Similary, when a boy is getting married, he should reflect “when I get married, what qualities (sifaat) should I embrace my wife with". Tarbiyah from both sides is imperative.

We have a different image of marriage in our minds…a romantic one. Parents are looking for beauty, family status, job…yes, we should look at these criteria but what should be prioritized? RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, “give prefer to ones religiosity” and Allah will make your relationship flourish. When our daughter marries and goes into another house, someone else’s life, what qualities should she have? We have a lot of programs and classes that we attend… most of them have no relevance to our everyday lives. However, those programs and classes that do focus on the importance of these issues, neither do the parents nor the youngerster pay heed to. And we are seeing the result of this.

So, what is qana’at? – whatever Allah has given us we need to be content and be happy with it. We need to cultivate this quality in our children. When we teach this to our children, they will strive to thrive in their new life, new home. Zainab radiAllah anha, who was the daughter of RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam…her story: the captives of Badr who were caught, which included RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam uncle, and his son-in-law (Zainabs husband). There was a discussion what should be done with the captives and there were different opinions that were put forth. Finally, it was decided that money should be taken (fidya) and they should be set free. When it was the turn of Abul ‘As, and it was asked what did he give fidya? Zainab radiAllah anha presents her necklace in exchange of her husbands release to RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Her husband hasn’t accepted Islam yet but she had. Sometimes a man looses his job…at that moment if a wife, given that her parents had given her the right tarbiyya, would take care of the house and support her husband and would give him positive reinforcement “that Allah will open new doors for us insha’Allah”. Seeing his daughers necklace, RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam eyes were filled with tears, so the sahabah said, “ya RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallamm if you wish, we will release him without the fidya”. He replied, “no, that is not why am crying. I'm crying because this necklace belongs to Khadeeja radiAllah anho.” Mother had gifted that to her daughter for her nikah and today that daughter out of love for her husband is giving it away for his release! This is what tarbiyya is! This is the quality of qana’at! There should be an environment of love – we need to work to sustain relationships, tolerate, forgive. This quality should be in men too. If you’ve brought someone in your life, then you need to have patience. cannot be hot-headed, filled with anger, threating to leave or divorce...such a home cannot flourish. In the time of Umar radiAllah anho, Utbah ibn rabi’ah daughter was very beautiful. Men from Madina usually wanted to send proposals to her. Umar radiAllah anho sent the proposal first…she declined. Her friends said, hes Ameer ul Mumineen, and youre rejecting him? She said, “I honor him as Ameer ul Mumineen but I cant live with him.” Then, after a while, Ali radiAllah anho sent a proposal, and she declined and when her friends asked why, she said, “I cant marry him because there is only love and love and nothing else”. Then Zubair radiAllah anho sent a proposal…she declined again and when asked by her friends, she said, “no, I heard theres only a stick there” (implying he was strict). Then when it was Talha radiAllah anho’s proposal, she accepts it and when friends asked, she said, “you want to hear the qualities of Talha? Talha is one who when he enters the house is smiling and when he leaves the house he is smiling.” This is what a women needs – a husband who comes home smiling and leaves home smiling. To smile at someone is to give them respect. Then she goes on to say, “when you ask him he doesn’t deny, and when you don’t ask him he doesn’t wait, he asks and if I do something he will appreciate it and if I commit any mistake he will forgive. These are the qualities because of which I accepted his proposal.” We need to think: when we marry someone, what qualities do we accept them with – forgiving…
Shaykh Abdul Hasan Nadwi rahmatullahi alayh, one of the pious, comes from a very noble and wealthy family. He said, “my mother raised me in such a way that she used to ask me to seek the forgiveness of our servants anytime I committed a mistake.” Because of this, my nature became such that when I grew up, as soon as I sense that I made a slight mistake, then I don’t hesitate in seeking their forgiveness". Seeking forgiveness, to tolerate, to sustain relationships – if these qualities are present in both husband and wife then Allah will flourish this home. RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, “the best amongst you is the one who is best to his family (in terms of akhlaaq). And from amongst you, I am the best to my family”. May Allah grant us the ability to act upon, ameen. We need to cultivate the qualities of qana’at, hardworking, seeking forgiveness, tolerant, to love, to sustain relationships. In the tafsir of an ayah, it is also stated that we need to take care of the new relationships that are forming after a union (in-laws) – to respect, honor and treat them with adab. May Allah grant us tawfeeq to act upon, ameen.

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem

Day 3: Love of Allah and His RasulAllah

It is the nature of human being that his heart is filled with love for someone or the other and it naturally inclines to follow them. For a muslim, the greatest love and respect one can have for is that of RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. The most important reason one loves RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is that he is Allah’s beloved. One who loves him, loves Allah and Allah will love that person. He is the best example. Sahabah radiAllahu anhum are the best examples of how they loved RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Abu Bakr siddiq radiAllah anho states, “in this world, there are three things that are most beloved to me: that I see RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. The way sahabah used to cast their gaze filled with love upon RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, it is an example for us. This was the reason why the sahabah were able to transform their lives – because they had that love for RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam in their hearts. It is not enough to just belief out of aqeedah that He is our nabi. If our heart is missing in love for RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam then we wont be able to follow him. Following sunnah in our life will seem like a burden. Ask Allah for that love in our hearts. Abdullah ibn abd rabbihi – sahabi who saw the dream of athan - Once came to the gathering of RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, his eyes were filled with tears…and he said, “ya RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, whenever our heart desires to see you, we come and visit you. After the day of judgement, your level in jannah will be higher than ours, we will be somewhere else (just imagine their level of concern!) and if we want to come to see you in jannah, how would we see you? RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam remained silent. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sent down the revelations addressing the sahabi’s concern. Allah said, “Those who follow Allah and His messenger, will be with the Prophets, martyrs, saliheen…” A sahabi came to the service of RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam and said, when will day of judgement come? RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam asked, “did you prepare for it?” The sahabi said, “I haven’t prepared anything for it except that I love you.” RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, “one will be with those whom he loves”. Everyone of us should take an account of our heart and see who we love. Anas radiAllahu anho said, “after accepting Islam, what has pleased us the most is that on the day of judgement, a persons account will take place with the one whom he loves!” may Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala put the true love of RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam in our hearts. In quran today we recited verses on the battle of badr and battle of uhud. In the battle of uhud, the sahabah radiAllahu anhum gave the best proof of their love for RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. During the battle of Uhud, RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam was alone. All the sahaba were dispersed. Some were close by so he gathered them. Talha radiAllah anho came forward and stood in front of him to protect him. He says, in the battle of Uhud, there was no part of my body that wasn’t wounded while proecting RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Each and every part of his body was wounded from the spears and swords. And this was the reason that Abu Bakr radiAllah anho used to say, “the day of Uhud was day of Talha!” Then he said, “if anyone of you wants to see a living martyr, then see Talha!” This was the extent of their love! Once RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam did cupping and he told Talha radiAllah anhu to bury the blood in a place where nobody could walk over it. Talha radiAllah anho left and then came back and sat with RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. When he was asked, “what did you do?” Talha radiAllah anho replied, “as per your guidance, ive placed the blood in a place where nobody would be able to walk over it” Then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala put it in RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam hearts to ask him what he did with the blood? Then he asked again “did you drink it?. With his head lowered, he replied in affirmative. RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam smiled and said, “what was the thing that made you drink the blood?” He replied, “when I was walking with the blood, there was a thought in my heart that whenever I feel like seeing you, I come and visit you…but on the day of judgement if the decision is not in my favor, then I wont be able to visit you…but this act of mine could be a source of respite for me.” RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, “whosoevers blood is mixed with my blood, Allah will make the fire of hell haram for him!” This is love. Imam Nawawi rahmatullahi alayh was a prominent muhaddith, he writes about the sharah of this hadith that “in regards to any part of RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam body – sweat, saliva, blood – one should believe it to be a source of shifa, najah and barakah – should have this yaqeen. Sahaba radiAllahu anhum used to love RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam so much that whenever they found any clothes of his, they would squeeze it to extract his sweat and drink it. This is love. This is that love that transformed their lives. Talha radiAllah anho fell ill, he was about 30 yrs when he passed away and he was buried close to masjid quba (where hajjis stop to pray nafl salah). When he was sick, RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam came to visit him, and he sensed that he will pass away due to this sickness. He told his family, “if Talha passes away, come and inform me” and he left. When his sickness got worse, he gathered his family and started making his will and in one part he states that “if I pass away during the day, inform RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. If I pass away at night, do not inform RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam…just pray my janaza and bury me…” His family members said, “isn’t it a great honor if RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam does your janazah…people wish for him to lead their janazah!”
During the time of Umar radiAllahu anho, there was a great muhaddith: Abu Nu’am maqbari.- whom he had chosen and was given the responsibility of digging the grave. When a person of taqwa digs a grave, the effect of his taqwa will descend upon the grave. In those times, the people digging graves, giving ghusl, people lower the body in the grave, leading the janazah prayer used to be pious people.
Talha radiAllah anho said, “between the city of madina and quba, there are some enemy tribes. If RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam come to me at night, then I fear that some of those enemies might hurt him. I have not done anything during my life such that it has been a cause of harm for RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam…and I do not wish that after my death there be any harm to him!” It just happened that he passed away at night and his family according to his will gave him ghusl and buried him at night. In the morning, they informed RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He then came to his grave and made this dua that he never made for any other sahabi. He said, “ya Allah, when you meet Talha, You be happy with him and may he be happy with you!”. Rabi states this hadith and asks, “ya RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam such a precious dua for Talha? Whats the reason?”. He replies, “you know who is Talha? He loves me and he loves Allah too”. Love transforms ones life. When someone loves someone, they idolize them – they wear the same clothes as them, they wear their hairstyle, follow their lifestyle, etc. We make dua that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala grants us His love, and the love of His beloved. When there is love in heart, there will be no need to give a talk on the virtues of sunnah…because the lover seeks the habits of the one whom he loves and strives to follow them. Umar radiAllahu anhu, once came to RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam wearing silk and when RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam told him that Allah has made it forbidden for men. He left immediately and burnt it When he came back, someone asked him what did you do? He replied, I burnt it in the fire. The person said, “why did you need to burn it? You should’ve given it to the women of your house?” But it was far from their thought. We need to reflect and think what are the things in our lives, in our homes that would hurt RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam? My clothes, lifestyle, the way we get married…if these things would hurt RasulAllah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, then they will also deprive us of His rahmah and barakah. Reflect of his sacrifices and his favors on us…and increase in love for him and out of that love, one will seek and bring each and every sunnah in their life. And if ones leave out any sunnah, make istighfaar for it…perhaps, due to this istighfaar, Allah will grant us the tawfeeq to follow that sunnah before we die insha’Allah.

JazakumAllahu khayrn ❤️