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Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-‘Ālamīn, wa salātu wa salāmu ‘alā ash-sharafi al-anbiyā’ wal-mursalīn: Muḥammadur Rasūlullāh ﷺ, wa ‘alā ālihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Taslimun dhikrun wa dhikrun.
And after that, my brothers and sisters, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā began His words with the word of praise, the word of shukr, the word of glorification of Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā and thanking Him. Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā began after His name, Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-‘Ālamīn. All praise and all thanks are due to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā who is the Creator, the Protector, the Sustainer, the Maintainer of the entire universe. Ālamīn—all worlds. Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā began with this. And this is a ḥukm for us; this is how we should begin and live our lives in thankfulness to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. The word *ḥamd*, and when we pronounce it, just make sure you pronounce it with the correct tajweed of *ha*. It means a combination of thanks and praise: Shukr and Tajweed.
Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-‘Ālamīn. Rasūlullāh ﷺ used to say, “Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi ‘alā kulli ḥāl.” He used to say, “Praise to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā, thanks to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā in every condition that we might find ourselves in.” So we thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā not only when things are going our way, not only when things are happening the way we want them to happen, but also in the opposite situation. When things are not happening the way we want them to happen, we still thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. We still praise Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā.
Imām Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzīyah said, “Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi ‘alayhi.” He said that if you knew—if we knew how Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā plans our lives for us—then we would thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā for every prayer, every *du’a* that was not answered. Okay? Every *du’a* that was not answered. And I can tell you, certainly in my life, there have been things that I asked Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā for which Allāh did not give me. Okay? And I know how I asked Allāh, how much I asked Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. I begged and pleaded. But today when I think back, I thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. I say, “Alhamdulillah, Yā Rabb,” You knew better than me, obviously. And You did not give me. Because if Allāh had given me what I asked Allāh for, today I would be crying. Today I would be weeping; I would be saying, “Yā Allāh, take it away.” And it cannot go away. What has come has come, right? So, Alhamdulillah, we make *du’a*, and of course there is nothing. Allāh said, “Ud’ūnī astajīb lakum”—ask Me, I will give you. So, there is no limit on or any condition on what you can ask. Obviously, I don’t have to say it. Anyone with any sense knows that. You do not ask for something ḥarām. Right? But anything. Anything ḥalāl, you can ask. You can say, “O Allāh, give me a gold-plated car.” Nothing wrong with that. I mean, you may not get it, but, you know, *du’a* is *du’a*. Alhamdulillah, if you can make any *du’a* you want. But Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā gives what Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā knows to be good for us.
You know? Allāh said:
وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لَبِغَوۡا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ
“Allah said, ‘If Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā had increased your rizq, if Allāh had given you wealth in excess, then surely you would have rebelled on the earth.’ And so Allāh gives you in measured quantities. Right?”
And therefore Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā sends down, “Biqadarin mā yashā’u”—in measured quantities, according to His will. So therefore when we get our wealth, just think about this. In the world today, if you look at the people who are creating so much fitna, so much problem, all of them are people who have an excess of wealth.
There is no poor person doing anything. The poor person is struggling for his own sustenance, to fill his belly. Where does he have the resources? The people who are creating all of the fitna are millionaires and billionaires and trillionaires. They have enough; they have money, so they do. And Allāh says, the Qur’an says this. The Qur’an said this 1500 years ago. Allāh said, “If We give you more, this is what you will do.” So Alhamdulillah, we ask Allāh never to make us dependent on anybody. Muhtār ji is not a good thing. So we are not saying, “Don’t give me money, make me poor.” No. But at the same time, we ask Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā not to give us wealth which will become a fitna for us, which will become a problem for us, a test for us. Right? People have wealth, and then that wealth becomes a problem. If they did not have that wealth, they would not have this problem. We ask Allāh not to put us in that situation. So we thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. In every situation, this is what we must train ourselves to do.
Unfortunately, today, we live in a world where almost the *taqiyyah*—as we say in Urdu literature—which is something that you constantly keep on saying—is almost the opposite: words of thanklessness. You know, you ask him, “How is it?” What’s the weather like? What to say? “Brother, it’s so hot; I can’t say anything.” Okay. Then, “It’s so cold.” My mother says, “May Allāh grant you success.” In winter, it’s so cold. What to say? In summer, it’s so hot, she says.
Never say good. Either it’s very hot, or it’s very cold, or it’s raining a lot. We never say anything is good. Either it’s too hot, or too cold, or too much rain, or too little rain. Allāh, Allāh, Khawater. So, Alhamdulillah. What is the weather like? Alhamdulillah. Very good. Allāh’s Karam.
The benefit of this is, first of all, obviously, there is benefit in terms of thanking Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā, and Allāh rewards this thanks. The other benefit is that psychologically, when you like something, when you say you like something, it makes you happy.
Right? It makes you happy. So, Alhamdulillah, you create your own happiness by being thankful. Whatever it is.
Now, if you look at the lives of the Anbiyā’ ‘alayhim as-salām, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā gave us, described for us the lives of the prophets, so that we learn from this. The Qur’ān al-Karīm is not just a book of stories; it is a book where Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā described and mentioned stories so that we learn from them.
Now, if you take the lives of the Anbiyā’ ‘alayhim as-salām, right? These are lives which are, if you think about it, very difficult. Difficult lives. Not easy.
Now, take Mūsā ‘alayhi as-salām, for example. He was born, and then the whole story of how he came into the palace of Fira’un. But after that, once he leaves the palace of Fira’un, his life is a series of difficulties.
He’s walking literally across the desert, out of Egypt, and then he’s coming back into Egypt, right? And then he takes his people out, and then he’s facing the sea, and difficulty after difficulty.
So, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā is showing us—and similarly other Anbiyā’ ‘alayhim as-salām—not only Mūsā ‘alayhi as-salām, right? Nūḥ ‘alayhi as-salām before him: 950 years of giving *dawah*, of calling people to Islam.
Now, we get tired in weeks; we get tired in months. 950 years of what kind of steadfastness he must have had. And Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā himself mentioned him and praised him.
And then we have Rasūlullāh ﷺ: 13 years of persecution in Mecca. And literally from the minute he said, he called the people. He stood on the hill of Safa and he called the people, and he said, “If you continue to worship idols, if you continue to make shirk, if you continue to join partners with Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā will punish you.” If you leave this, *La ilāha illallāh*—there is no one worthy of worship except Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. Don’t worship anyone other than Allāh. From the minute he made this announcement, right? His life turned from being the most beloved person, the most influential person in Mecca, he became the opposite. People got after him; they tried to kill him; they tried to… So, his life became a series of difficulties.
Life in Mecca became difficult. He went to Ṭā’if. Life from Ṭā’if. You know. You know the whole story of Ṭā’if, what happened. Then eventually, he had to leave his birthplace. He had to leave Mecca and go and settle in Madīnah. So, a series of… And even in Madīnah, it’s not as if as soon as he went to Madīnah, everything became hunky-dory. No.
All the battles happened in Madīnah. Badr happened in Madīnah. Uhud happened in Madīnah. Khandaq happened in Madīnah. You know, the Khaibar. All of this, these things happened in Madīnah. Suwayd al-Hudhaybiyyah happened in Madīnah. One after the other. So, the life in Madīnah also was not an easy life. It is a whole life of difficulty.
Alhamdulillah, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā gave *fataḥ* Makkah. Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā then turned the hearts of people. So, in two years after Suwayd al-Hudhaybiyyah, more people came to Islam than all the 13-15 years before that.
Right? In those two years. 13 years before that. In two years, more people came to Islam than in 13 years before that. This Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā gave the *Fath*. So, the point I’m saying is that we need to always thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā and not… And remember, that’s the reason why we read the Qur’ān al-Karīm. We must read it with understanding. And that’s why Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā told us these stories of the Anbiyā’. So that we learn from this and then think to ourselves: which one of us, may Allāh have mercy on us and keep us in His special protection—has the kinds of hardships that Rasūlullāh ﷺ faced? Nobody. Yeah? Nobody.
So what is there to complain about? I mean, the Nabī ‘alayhi as-salām never complained. I want to end with a very beautiful ḥadīth I read the other day.
Anas bin Malik radhiAllāhu ‘anhu—the Khadim of Rasūlullāh ﷺ, one of his closest companions.
He was a man who lived the longest among the Sahaba. He lived for over 100 years probably.
And among his many *fadā’il* is the fact that after Rasūlullāh ﷺ passed away, Anas bin Malik radhiAllāhu ‘anhu used to see Rasūlullāh ﷺ every day in his sleep. Every day.
We ask Allāh to give us once in our lifetime, *inshā’Allāh*, that we see Rasūlullāh ﷺ in our sleep, in our dream. Anas bin Malik used to see him every single day until he died.
So, Anas bin Malik radhiAllāhu ‘anhu says: “One day I was sitting with Rasūlullāh ﷺ. Other people were there. He said an old man came.” He said this man was so old that his hair was like falling off almost, right? His beard was completely straggly. He was bent over. He was holding on, walking with the help of a stick. Very, very old man. He came to Rasūlullāh ﷺ. And he said, “Yā Rasūlullāh, I am so and so.” And he said, “Yā Rasūlullāh, I have a question. My question is that there is no sin that I have not committed.” Yeah? He said, “There is no sin that I have not committed. There is no desire of mine that I did not follow, whether it was ḥalāl or ḥarām.”
He said everything that you can think about, I have done.
My question is, will Allāh forgive me? Yeah?
Rasūlullāh ﷺ said to him, “Did you make *istighfār* and *tawbah*? Did you ask Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā to forgive you? Did you make *istighfār*?” He said, “Yes.” He said, “I made *istighfār*, I made *tawbah*, I turned to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. But will Allāh forgive me?”
Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, “Allāh has forgiven you. Not even ‘will.’ Allāh has forgiven you.” The man said, “Even my rebelliousness (*baghwat*),
even my repeat—meaning I did a crime, I made *tawbah* and I did it again.” He said, “Even my rebelliousness, Rasūlullāh ﷺ said, Allāh has forgiven you, even your rebelliousness.” He said, “Even my rebelliousness. He said, Allāh has forgiven you, even your rebelliousness.” Even my rebelliousness. Allāh has forgiven you, even your rebelliousness.
He says: “The man turned around and he said, ‘Allāhu Akbar,’ ‘Allāhu Akbar,’ ‘Allāhu Akbar.'” And he walked away and he said, until we could see him he was saying ‘Allāhu Akbar’; he just kept on saying ‘Allāhu Akbar’; he said until he walked and went away until they couldn’t see him; he said until then and until we could hear him he kept on saying ‘Allāhu Akbar’, ‘Allāhu Akbar’. Allāh! This is the mercy of Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. So I remind myself and you no matter what we may have done, there is nothing which is bigger than the mercy of Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā. The only condition is make sincere *tawbah* to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā and turn to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā and not go and repeat whatever it is that we have done in case we forget—we repeat—make *tawbah* again but do it sincerely, not with the intention of doing it and then making a game of it. No, we ask Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā to forgive us; we ask Allāh to turn towards us in mercy; we ask Allāh to cover us in His forgiveness; we ask Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta’ālā not to test us and to keep us in His special protection. And peace be upon the Prophet and upon his family and his companions with your mercy, O Ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm.