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Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil ‘Alameen. Wa salatu wa salamu ala ash-sharafi al-anbiya wal-mursaleen, Muhammadur Rasulullah ﷺ, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Tasleeman kathiran kathira famabadu.
My brothers and sisters, we were talking about the issue of obedience as related especially to Hajj and the life and the approach of Ibrahim ﷽ and his blessed family. And I also mentioned in that context the obedience of Rasulullah ﷺ and his Sahaba, Qadidwanullahi alayhi majmain, where we spoke about the ayat of Surah Al-Baqarah, where Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala revealed: *Lillahi ma fi samawati wa ma fi l-ard, Wa in tubdu ma fi anfusikum au tukhfuhu yuhasibkum bihillah, Fayaghfiru liman yasha wa yu’adhibu man yasha, Wallahu ala kulli shayin qadir.* Which means that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, “To Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala alone belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Whether you reveal what is in your heart or conceal it, Allah will call you. He will call you to account for it. He forgives who he wills and He punishes who he wills, and Allah is most capable of everything.”
And I mentioned to you from the hadith that we know that the Sahaba went to Rasulullah ﷺ with a *ma’ruza*, with a supplication about this particular ayah and about Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala’s command and statement that He would hold people accountable even for what is in their hearts. And the Sahaba said to Rasulullah ﷺ that if Allah holds us responsible for our thoughts and our feelings, then we will be destroyed. And Rasulullah ﷺ got angry about this and he said to them: “Will you be like those before you who when Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sent a command, they would say, ‘Samina wa ‘asayna’? We hear but we will not obey.” And he said, “Samina wa ‘atana ghufranaka rabbana wa ilayka al-musir.” He said, “O Allah, we hear You and we obey, and we will obey You, and please forgive us, and to You is our return.”
And as I mentioned to you, the hadith is connected with this. Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqua radiAllahu anha She said that after that, nothing happened for 12 months. And for 12 months, the Sahaba were in this frame of mind that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala jalla jalaluhu in His mercy and grace revealed the last two ayat of Surah Al-Baqarah where Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and these two ayat are very, very important ayat. The *karamat* of this ayah, the *fazilat* of this ayah is that Rasulullah s.a.w. said, whoever recites these ayat from *Aman ar-Rasul* to the end, before he sleeps, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will take care of him for the whole night. And whoever recites this in the morning, Allah will take care of him for the whole day. So, these ayat are very, very important. These ayat also are a specific and special gift to Rasulullah s.a.w. from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Surah Al-Fatiha and the last two ayat of Surah Al-Baqarah are a special gift to Rasulullah s.a.w. as we know.
Another hadith associated with this is how these ayat were revealed. Rasulullah s.a.w. was sitting with Jibreel a.s. when there was a very loud sound in the heavens and Jibreel a.s. looked up and he said to Rasulullah s.a.w., “a door has opened in the heavens which never opened before for the first time.” And an angel came, a malak came, and Jibreel a.s. said, “this is the malak.” He told him, “this person, this angel has never come to earth before. First time he’s coming.” And the angel made salaam and he said that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has sent you this gift. And these ayat were revealed to Rasulullah s.a.w. We know this ayah where Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said: *Aaman ar-rasoolu bima unzila ilayhi min rabbihi wal mu’minu. Kullun aamana billahi wa malaikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulih. La nufarriqu bayna ahadim mir rusulih. Wa qalu sam’ana wa ataana. Ghufranaka rabbana wa ilayka al-musir.*
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, which means, “The messenger s.a.w. Aaman ar-Rasul. He firmly believes in what has been revealed to him from his Rabb. And so do the believers. They all believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, His angels, His books, and His messengers. They proclaim, ‘We do not differentiate and we do not make distinction between any of His messengers.’ And they say, ‘Samina wa ‘atana. We hear and we obey. Ghufranaka rabbana. We seek Your forgiveness, our Rabb. Wa ilayka al-masir. And to You alone is the final return.'” See the reward of obedience. See the *maqam* also of Rasul s.a.w. Who said first, “Samina wa ‘atana. Ghufranaka rabbana. Wa ilayka al-masir.” Nabi s.a.w. He said it to the Sahaba. And the Sahaba repeated this statement after him. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala liked that so much that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala took the same statement and returned it as His kalam to be recited in Salah until Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala keeps Salah in this world, right? As also as part of the two most important, the part of the two most glorious ayat of the Quran. Right?
When the statement was mentioned, if it had remained there, it would have been a hadith. But Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala took that and returned it as His kalam. It became Quran. The reason for that is the obedience of the Sahaba to the command of Rasul s.a.w. Nabi s.a.w. said “Qul shama’na wa ‘ata” just say this. And the Sahaba said this and Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala took the same words and returned them as His kalam. Then see the beauty of this. See the *karama* of obedience. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala then taught the Sahaba how to make dua. See the beauty of this. That we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala for whatever we want to ask Him. When you ask somebody, if you go to Ta’ala Allahumma Ramazan and rise beyond all examples, if you want to get something sanctioned by the court and if the judge dictates for you what you should write in the application you should give. Right? The judge is saying write like this. Then what does it mean? It means it absolutely will be accepted because this is the wording has been given by the judge himself and this application will be given to him to the same person. Right? So he says write like this. You write it, you give it to him, he signs it, it’s gone. Now this is the way it is. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is teaching them how to ask. He is teaching them what to ask.
Who will you ask Allah? So you are going to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in the words that Allah gave you. Right? So Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said before He came to that, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala also abrogated the ayah where He said that He would hold them accountable, He would hold us accountable for our thoughts and actions. So Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said: *La yukallifu allahu nafs an illa ma asat la ha ma kasabat wa la yukallifu allahu nafs wa la yukallifu alaihi ha maktasabat.* So Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, “Allah does not give any one taklif more than what they can bear.” Taklif is not pain, taklif is responsibility. So Allah does not require from anyone more than what they can afford. So this is the abrogation of the ayah where Allah said He would hold you accountable for thoughts and feelings. So we know alhamdulillah that for us there is no accountability for thoughts and feelings. That does not mean you know fill your mind with garbage. We must try to keep good thoughts and good feelings but we are not accountable for that. We are accountable only for that which leaves your tongue. So as long as you keep your mouth shut you are okay. Don’t talk.
[“Obedience”, “Surah Al-Baqarah”, “Abrogation”, “Divine Decree”, “Accountability”, “Salah”, “Sahaba”, “Angels”, “Taklif”, “Forgiveness”]
Sayyidina Umar ibn al-Khattab said, “My speech has caused me embarrassment and has been the reason for me to regret and to apologize, but never my silence.” My speech has caused a lot of problems, but my silence has never been a cause of problem. As long as you don’t speak, you are fine. So if you are going to speak, then think before you speak. Do not put your mind and tongue online; that is a very bad thing. Whatever comes into the mind sometimes comes out without a break. Without a break, the car is running. So consider the connection between the mind and the tongue. If you are going to say something, ask yourself: Should I say this? What is the effect of saying this? Right? If it is not good or doubtful, do not say it. As long as you have not spoken, you are not accountable before Allahﷻ insha’Allah.
So the safest thing is to say nothing. Keep quiet. There is no need to talk because the world is not dying to listen to you, nor is it dying for your opinion. If you don’t speak, nothing will happen; nobody will find fault with you. But if you do speak, maybe it is good, maybe it is not good. If it is good, Alhamdulillah. But if it is not good, here we go. Allahﷻ is saying He will not hold us responsible for thoughts and feelings. All good will be for its own benefit, and all evil for its own loss. Meaning, you will be held accountable only for your actions. And then Allahﷻ taught us how to make du’a.
“Rabbana la tuakhidna in nasina aw akhtana.” O our Rabb, Nabi Salah Allahﷺ said the believers pray: “O our Rabb, do not punish us if we forget (in nasina) or if we make a mistake (akhtana).” So by mistake, if you do something wrong, you are not punished. For example, if you are fasting by mistake and eat something, Alhamdulillah, Allahﷻ does not punish us, and the fast is not broken. Now, if it is a genuine mistake where you forgot and didn’t realize—this happens sometimes, like during these fasts of Dhul Hijjah. It is mustahab to fast all nine days. Rasulullah SAW used to fast all nine days. The hadith of Abi Dawud mentions that one of the mothers of the believers said that Nabi SAW used to fast all the days of Ramadan, the nine days of Dhul Hijjah, the two days of Ashura, and he used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays.
So the nine days of fasting of Dhul Hijjah is mustahab and established from the Sunnah. Of course, fasting Yawm al-Afrah obviously comes into play; if you are fasting all nine days, then the eighth day, the ninth of Dhul Hijjah, is Yawm al-Afrah. So that comes with it. But during the fast, because what happens in Ramadan is that we are fasting continuously—you know, you don’t forget—but in these kinds of odd-fast days, you might forget. Sometimes you might drink or eat something, but Alhamdulillah, Allahﷻ does not hold us accountable for that, and the fasting is not invalidated. Your fast is still okay.
Allah is teaching us: “Rabbana la tuakhidna in nasina aw akhtana.” Then He says: “Rabbana wa la tahmil alayna isran kama hamaltahu ala alladhina min qablina.” O Allah, do not place on us a burden like You placed on those before us. Allahﷻ tested people before us. Nabi SAW said they would put a saw on top of the head of a believer and saw him in half, and the two parts of the body would fall. Such kind of tortures used to be done. Alhamdulillah, Allah has kept us safe from all this. So we ask Allahﷻ to keep us always safe. Even today, they may not be sawing you in half, but they are doing plenty of other things. May Allah have mercy on the believers so we can ask Him to save us and to save all Muslims. We are making this du’a:
“Rabbana wa la tahmil alayna isran kama hamantana ala allazina min qablina. Rabbana wa la tuhammilna ma la taqata lana bih fa’afu anna wa khfir lana wa arhamna anta maulana fa’ansurna ala al-qawmi kafireen.”
O our Rabb, do not burden us with what we cannot bear. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. Fa’afu anna wa khfir lana wa arhamna anta maulana—you are our only guardian. Fa’ansurna ala al-qawmi kafireen—and give us victory over our enemies, the disbelievers. We ask Allahﷻ to help us to be obedient to Him Jalal Jalaluhu and to live a life of obedience. To live a life where we have only one goal in life, which is to please Allahﷻ. This is something that we keep getting reminded over and over again.
We have death after death after death; every death that happens is a reminder for us because even in the Quran, Allahﷻ called death a calamity. Now, why is death a calamity? Think about it: it happens to everybody. So why is it a calamity? Death is a calamity because when you die, the ability to do good ends. When death comes, right, when you can see the Malaika, the ability to do good is ended. If somebody has not made istighfar and tawbah when he is dying or after he is dead, if he gets a thought “I want to say astaghfirullah,” he cannot say it. If he says it at the time of death, it is not accepted. If you, after seeing the Malaika, mouth “Subhanallah,” he cannot say it. He wants to read the Quran, he cannot. He wants to give one dollar as sadaqah, he cannot. He wants to pray two rakat of Salah; he never prayed. He wants to pray now—no. So all the ability to go do good finishes with death. That is the calamity. The calamity is that Alhamdulillah, we are not dead; we are alive.
So we need to ask ourselves: I am alive, so what am I doing with this life? Am I making the best use of this life? Because death can come at any minute, to anybody. Many years ago, we had a crash in Delhi. Two planes—one was Saudia, the other was Air India or something—I don’t know exactly—but they crashed mid-air, and everybody died. Now think about that. People were sitting in the plane going off to wherever they were going. Did they sit in the plane to die? No. They were just in the plane when the mid-air collision happened, and everyone finished. So anything can happen, anything can happen at any time. Yesterday, we had a janazah here; a lady passed away. May Allah grant her Janatul Firdaus.
The point is that we must remember this and remind ourselves again and again that death can come at any time. Therefore, let us make the most of what Allah has given us: which is time. This time, this life, this ability. Allah has given us help. Right now, we are not in pain; we are not lying in a hospital. You might still be alive, but you could be lying in an ICU with tubes. Alhamdulillah, may Allah save us from all that and keep us protected. We are not like that right now. All of these things we must thank Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala for, and we must take advantage of it because the time will come when you don’t want to be in a situation where you wish you had done this.
Ya alayhi tani kuntu turaba—the people who denied Allah will say this: “I wish I was dust.” If only I was dust. You can say what you want, but you are not dust. We ask Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala to help us to do that which is pleasing to Him and to save us from that which does not please Him. Wa sallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain bi rahmatika ya Rahmatullah.