Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
21 July 2013 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Suhbah after Fajr
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`alaa al-`azheem fee haadha 'l-masjid.
أَطِيعُواْ اللّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ الرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِي الأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ
Atee`oollaha wa atee`oo 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (Surat an-Nisa, 4:59)
The hadith al-Haarith al-Asha`ree (r) mentioned by Imam Ahmad (r) in his Musnad and in the book of Tirmidhi, he mentioned, and I will summarise it quickly that Allah ordered Sayyidina Yahya (a) to tell his people about five orders that Allah (swt) ordered them to do:
1) An ta`buda’Llaah wahdahu, to worship Allah (swt) alone. It means, to declare His Oneness, Maqaam at-Tawheed, that there is no Creator except Allah (swt) and that He is not like us, He is with Himself, by Himself, to Himself; no one can be partner and no one can associate himself with Allah (swt). And the Prophet (s) is His Beloved Servant and he (s) is very happy when Allah (swt) calls him, “My Servant,” where He mentioned in Surat al-Israa’:
سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلاً مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ
مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ
Subhaan-alladhee asraa bi `abdihi laylan min al-masjid al-haraam ila 'l-masjidi 'l-aqsaa 'Lladhee baaraknaa hawlahu li-nooriyahu min ayaatinaa innahu huwa ‘s-samee`u 'l- baseer.
Glory be to He Who transported His servant by night from the Inviolable House of Worship (at Mecca) to the Remote House of Worship (at Jerusalem), the environs of which We had blessed so that We might show him some of Our symbols, for verily He Alone is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (Surat al-'Israa, 17:1)
“Praise be to Allah that He took His Servant, Sayyidina Muhammad,” `abdihi, to be called “His Servant.” “Praise be to Allah that He took His Servant, `abdihi,” and the haa is referring to Allah (swt), that He owns him and through him owns everyone, that He took him for Israa’ wa 'l-Mi`raaj.
So we explained that under the Maqaam at-Tawheed section, and the other Order was prayer.
2) As-salaat. We explained what we were able to explain at that time in previous sessions, but there are more to explain later, inshaa-Allah. Then as-siyaam, fasting, he ordered his people by Allah’s Order to fast. The importance of fasting, and we mentioned that and the main one of that, but let’s go a little bit to the prayers.
We mentioned about salaah and we explained how in your salaah all the Five Pillars are within the salaah, you can find within the prayer siyaam, sadaqa, charity, zakaat, hajj and you can find tawheed in the prayer, and we explained that, but there is more to explain.
3) Siyaam, fasting, and the importance of fasting where the Prophet (s) said (that Allah said):
الصوم لي وانا اُجزي به
As-sawmu lee wa anaa ajzee bih.
Fasting is for Me and I will reward it. (Hadith Qudsi)
“Fasting is for Me and I will reward for that.” There are no angels there as intermediary, Allah takes our fasting directly; the fast will rise up to the Presence of Allah (swt), the Divine Presence and Allah (swt) will reward as He likes.
4) Now the chapter, or fourth one, which is very important and has a lot of significance is as-sadaqa, donation, the importance of charity in our lives. Sadaqa cannot be compared to anything, although prayers contain the Five Pillars of Islam. Siyaam is for Allah and sadaqa is something you are giving from yourself, from your wealth. You can pray all the time and the human being can feel that they do not want to be asked for sadaqa. You can fast all the year but, “Don’t ask me for sadaqa!” That is why sadaqa is very important because you are crushing your ego and giving when the self does not like you to give to anyone. It is very difficult to put your hand in your pocket and give something, but to fast, you fast. If someone will ask you, “Do you prefer to fast one day or to give 1000 golden coins?” what do you say? “I prefer to fast. Don’t ask me for one golden coin.” [Laughter.] But your fast is worth more than 1000 golden coins as Allah said, “Fasting is for Me, salaat is for Him.” Sadaqa is very difficult to give. That’s why Allah said in Holy Qur’an:
لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلأنفُسِكُمْ وَمَا تُنفِقُونَ إِلاَّ ابْتِغَاء وَجْهِ اللّهِ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تُظْلَمُونَ
Laysa `alayka hudaahum wa laakinna ‘Llaaha yahdee man yashaau wa maa tunfiqoo min khayrin fa li-anfusikum wa maa tunfiqoona illaa ‘btighaa wajhi ‘Llaahi wa maa tunfiqoo min khayrin yuwaffa ilaykum wa antum laa tuzhlamoon.
Not upon you, (O Muhammad), is (responsibility for) their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills. And whatever good you (believers) spend is for yourselves, and you do not spend except seeking the countenance of Allah. And whatever you spend of good, it will be fully repaid to you, and you will not be wronged. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:272)
“Whatever you spend, you give,” sadaqa is not only money. If you want to know Allah accept your sadaqa, try to raise your sadaqa higher: instead of giving 100, try to say, “Okay, I want to give 300,” and check your ego what he says. If he doesn’t say anything and is happy to give 300, say, “500,” [Laughter.] Then for sure your ego will stop you giving at a number that you cannot accept it, although you may have millions.
عن عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه قال: أمرنا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يوما أن نتصدق، فوافق ذلك مالا عندي، فقلت: اليوم أسبق أبا بكر إن سبقته يوما، فجئت بنصف مالي، فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: ما أبقيت لأهلك؟ فقلت: مثله، وأتى أبو بكر بكل ما عنده، فقال يا أبا بكر: ما أبقيت لأهلك؟ فقال: أبقيت لهم الله ورسوله، فقلت: لا أسابقك إلى شيء أبدا.
`an `Sayyidina ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab radiyy-Allahu `anhu, qaala: amaranaa rasoolullahi sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallama yawma an natasadiq. fa-waafaqa dhaalik maalan `indee. qultu: al-yawma asbiqu abaa Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq in sabaqathu yawman. faji’ta bi-nisfa maalee. fa-qaala rasoolullahi sall-Alalhu `alayhi wa sallama: maa abqayta li-ahlika? fa-qultu: mithluh. wa ataa abu bakrin bi-kulli maa `indahu. fa-qaala yaa abaa Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyy-Allahu `anhu: ma abqayta li-ahlika? fa-qaal: abqayta lahumu ’Llahi wa rasoolihi. fa-qultu laa usaabiquka bi-shayyin abadan.
Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab: The Messenger of Allah (s) commanded us one day to give sadaqa. At that time I had some property. I said: “Today I shall surpass Abu Bakr if I surpass him any day.” I, therefore, brought half my property. The Messenger of Allah (s) asked: “What did you leave for your family?” I replied: “The same amount.” Abu Bakr brought all that he had with him. The Messenger of Allah (s) asked him: “What did you leave for your family?’ He replied: “I left Allah and His Apostle for them.” I said: “I shall never surpass you in anything.”(Abu Dawud)
When the Prophet (s) asked the Sahaabah (r) to give to prepare for weapons for the army against those who were attacking Prophet (s), the Sahaabah (r) brought money; Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r), Sayyidina `Umar (r), Sayyidina `Uthmaan (r), Sayyidina `Ali (r) and many of the Sahaabah (r) brought money. The Prophet (s) asked Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r), “What have you left for your family?”
He said, “Yaa Rasoolullah, I brought everything I own, everything, I have nothing now, completely nothing.”
And he said to Sayyidina `Umar (r), “Yaa `Umar, what did you leave for your family?”
He said, “I brought half and left half.”
The Prophet (s) said, “Abu Bakr’s imaan is stronger than your imaan,” although the Prophet (s) had said, “If there is another prophet `Umar would be prophet after me.” But, look at the imaan of Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r): he gave everything! He didn’t want his ego to say no, he wanted to stop it, he didn’t want it to say... “I bring everything, what’s my ego going to do? Is it going to hang me?” He gave everything fee sabeelillah.
So sadaqa can be wealth, money, it can be a smile in the face of your brother, as the Prophet (s) said:
تبسمك في وجه أخيك صدقه
Tabasamak fee wajhih akheek sadaqa.
Even a smile in the face of your brother is sadaqa. (Bukhari)
To smile is a sadaqa, to smile in the face of your brother, to visit a sick person is sadaqa, to help a homeless person is sadaqa, to help an old man is sadaqa. One time Sayyidina `Ali, radiAllahu ta`ala `anhu wa ardaahu wa karramAllahu wajhahu wa `alayhi ‘s-salaam, was walking in Madinatu ‘l-Munawarra and in his mind was the hadith of Prophet (s), “To help is a sadaqa,” and he saw a lady, very old, he had never seen her in Madinatu ‘l-Munawarra, like a stranger walking and carrying a basket in her hand, and limping from the weight of the basket. Slowly, slowly walking. Adab, respect, is not to pass someone who is walking, you walk behind.
How much today they pass that one, the other one, they hit that one, hit that one and especially in cars, not only walking people, pedestrians, but cars, also especially in the countries, not here, in the Middle East...I advise anyone who lives in the West not to drive in Lebanon, or Pakistan, or India, or many Middle East countries. [Laughter.] Adab is to walk behind elderly people, not to pass them.
So Sayyidina `Ali (r) was walking behind her and this old lady was moving, and he felt bad for her; he came to her and he said, “O my mother, can I help you?”
She looked at him from top to bottom at him, studying him. And she said, “O my son, if you can, if you can, I will be happy if you helped me.”
He said, “Can I carry your basket to help?”
She put it on the street and said to Sayyidina `Ali (r), “You carry it.”
And Sayyidina `Ali (r), you know he is Asadu’Llah al-Ghaalib, he is the Victorious Lion of Allah, he is the strongest person in the universe, he carried wrestlers and threw them...not to carry a basket? She left it and Sayyidina `Ali (r), doing it as a sadaqa, and we didn’t go through the ahadeeth yet, but this is sadaqa, he took the basket and carried it. He was not able to raise it more than his knees! So heavy that he was unable to raise it up to his knees. It was falling down and the old lady was carrying it and he was carrying it but only up to his knees, while that lady was carrying it and walking.
And then Prophet (s) explained to him later, after he arrived at the masjid, “That old lady is dunya and it is going, moving forward and one day is finishing. What you carried is the weight of the whole world, the Earth, that was the load, the weight of that basket was equal to the whole Earth that Allah has created. You carried that. She gave it to you to carry it; you carried up to your knees.”
Allah (swt) gave him that power to carry, his intention was to make sadaqa and Allah made him to carry the dunya that we are on. It means he is carrying and taking responsibility in the Presence of Prophet (s) and the Presence of Allah (swt) to help the ummah as much as he can. That is why he is Asadu’Llah al-Ghaalib, the Victorious Lion of Allah.
So Allah said in Holy Qu'ran:
وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلأنفُسِكُمْ وَمَا تُنفِقُونَ إِلاَّ ابْتِغَاء وَجْهِ اللّهِ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لاَ تُظْلَمُونَ
wa maa tunfiqoo min khayrin fa li-anfusikum, Wa maa tunfiqoona illaa ibtighaa wajhi ‘Llaahi, wa maa tunfiqoo min khayrin yuwaffa ilaykum wa antum laa tuzhlamoon.
Whatever of good ye give benefits your own souls, and ye shall only do so seeking the "Face" of Allah. Whatever good ye give, shall be rendered back to you, and ye shall not Be dealt with unjustly. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:272)
“What you spend in Allah’s Way is for you, not for Me, siyaam is for Me, fasting is for Me, but what you spend is for you, I don’t get anything from it.” “and you don’t spend except seeking Allah’s Love; you want Allah to be happy with you, that is why you are giving. So sadaqa makes Allah happy with the `abd, the servant.
وصدقة السر تطفيء غضب الرب
w’as-sadaqatu ’s-sirr tutfi`u ghadabu ’r-rabb
Secret charity extinguishes the Anger of Allah. (at-Tabarani)
Allah has anger? Yes, and His anger is not like our anger; it is anger against Shaytan and his harmful traps against the ummah. So, Allah (swt) will not get anything but you will from that sadaqa: “and whatever you spend of goodness, I have to pay you back on Day of Judgement, you will be paid back. So if you spend ten you will be paid back 700 and more,” because multiplication of hasanaat, hasanaat can be up to 700. You spend one and Allah will give up to 700. “You will never be oppressed.”
O Muslims! Prophet (s) mentioned in many ahadeeth:
الصدقة ترد البلاء وتزيد فى العمر
As-sadaqatu tarud al-balaa wa tazeedu fi 'l-`umr.
Sadaqa removes sickness and calamities and prolongs life.
“Sadaqa takes away and throws away all difficulties and afflictions and extends your life, increases your life,” not jogging increases your life! Seeing people, men and women on the streets in the morning, and running, and having something here...headphones, headears, and listening we don’t know what they are listening to, and running. No, sadaqa is going to save you. Prophet (s) said, as-sadaqatu tarudd al-balaa wa tazeedu fi 'l-`umr, “Sadaqa turns off afflictions and increases life.”
During time of Prophet (s) there was one lady, a very poor lady. Not like today--Allah is giving them a lot:
لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ
La-in shakartum la-azeedanakum.
If you thank Me, I will give you more. (Surah Ibraaheem, 14:7)
“You thank Me, I give you more!” Because we are in the last days of this world. We see all the signs from Prophet (s) been manifested: “At that time,” Prophet (s) said, “Allah ordered all the favors that are planted under the earth and from Heavens to be thrown on the Ummatun Nabi (s), to be given out, not to be kept.” That is why you see richness now.
So that lady in the time of Prophet (s) no one helping her, she doesn’t have anything, what she eats every day? She bakes three round bread, small, as it is described. One she eats in the morning after Fajr, one she eats at noon after Zhuhr and one in the evening after Maghrib. That was her intention, when she baked, but every day one person came to her at noon saying, “Give me what Allah gave you.” So she give him every day one bread and she left herself one in the morning and one in the evening. It went on for many, many days and months until one day, she baked three as usual and the one came at midday, he knocked and took his bread and went. Then at Fajr time, as soon as she want to eat someone knocked, a beggar was there asking her for food. She took the bread that she has for Fajr and gave to him; the noontime one is gone. Then she sat to eat at Maghrib and as she broke the bread, a poor person knocked at the door and said, “Give me from what Allah gave you.” She didn’t say, “I don’t have.” She thought to herself, “This man is asking from what Allah gave me, can I refuse what Allah wants? I will give.” So she gave him.
Prophet (s) mentioned that there is a tree in Paradise that has the names of all the people on Earth on each leaf. Sayyidina Azra`eel (a), Malak al-Mawt, is always looking at that tree and when a leaf falls, he knows that he has to take the soul of that person. So as soon as that leaf falls, in no time the Angel of Death will be ready to take the soul. At that moment her leaf was falling down, so immediately the Angel of Death went down to take the soul, but the bread from the morning was covering her mouth and not allowing the soul to be taken. That is according to the hadith of the Prophet (s):
الصدقة ترد البلاء وتزيد في العمر
As-sadaqatu tarudd al-balaa wa tazeedu fi 'l-`umr.
Donations wards off afflictions and increases life.
Don’t jog, what you spend on jogging is better to give to the poor. You spend a lot of money: to park the car in the parking lot, to put gas, go jog, then go back and take a shower and you need to wash the clothes, as they are now sweaty. No, give that money in sadaqa!
The first bread was covering her mouth, so the Angel of Death went to the belly button to take her soul, only to find that the second piece of bread came and blocked him. Then the Angel of Death went to her feet, as sometimes they take the soul from the toe and the Maghrib bread was there blocking him. He said, “Yaa Rabbee, what can I do?” Allah said, “Come up! Didn’t you hear My Beloved Prophet (s) say, as-sadaqatu tarudd al-balaa wa tazeedu fi 'l-`umr, ‘Sadaqa increases life and takes away affliction.’ Go back! There is no need to take her soul, as I am giving more time for her!”
ما نقص مال من صدقة
Maa naqasa maalin min sadaqa.
Prophet (s) said: Money never decreases from donation. (al-Bazzaar)
“Money will never be less from charity, sadaqa.” If you give ten, Allah will send you 100. Don’t think that you will lose. There have been many poor people in the previous times and in every time as well as present day, and it happened with our teacher, may Allah bless his soul, Grandshaykh `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q). He used to always keep lots of small coins in his pocket, or his bag, to give to the poor. And this happened maybe 100 years ago. So they were moving from Turkey to Istanbul and traveling by horses which would take four to five hours. And they stopped at different stables to rest the horses as they were tired, or change them. So when they reached the stables, there too many poor people gathered to collect money from the travelers. And the shaykh gave and gave to everyone, there were many poor people, and then the horses moved forward and stopped before getting to Istanbul and more poor people were there, so he gave and gave until there was no more money. Then he reached Istanbul and more poor people were waiting and he looked and he went to take out but no more money was left. The person was asking, “From what Allah (swt) gave you , give me,” you cannot say to Allah, “No, I am not giving.” That one is not Allah (swt), but is Allah’s Servant and the Prophet (s) said:
وأوصى النبي صلى اللّه عليه وسلم أبا هريرة بوصية عظيمة فقال: يا أبا هريرة! عليك بحسن الخلق. قال أبو هريرة رضي اللّه عنه: وما حسن الخلق يا رسول اللّه؟ قال: تصل مَنْ قطعك، وتعفو عمن ظلمك، وتُعطي من حرمك
(رواه البيهقي).
Awsaa ‘n-nabiyyu sall-Allahu `alayhi wa sallim Aba Hurayrah bi-wasiyyatin `azheematin fa-qaala: yaa Abaa Hurayrah! `alayka bi-husnu ‘l-khuluq. Qaala Abu Hurayrah: wa maa husna ‘l-khuluqi yaa Rasoolullah. Qaala: tasila man qata`k, wa ta`foo `amman zhalamak, wa tu`tee man haramak.
The Prophet (s) advised Abu Hurayrah (r), “O Abu Hurayrah! Keep good manners.” He said, “Yaa Rasoolullah, what are the best of manners?” the Prophet (s) said, “to connect with the one who severed relations with you; to forgive the one who oppressed you and to give to the one who prevented you receiving your rightful claim.” (Narrated by al-Bayhaqi)
“Connect the one who cut relations with you and give to the one who cut you off. Give to the one who tries to block you, give to him as well if he asks.” So the Prophet’s order is to give. Don’t say, “No.”
Mawlana Shaykh didn’t have anything to give but his watch. That watch had been given to him from Sultan `Abdul Hamid, the Ottoman Emperor who received it from the King of France. And it was antique, from 14th or 15th century. He looked and he had nothing left. He took that watch that is worth millions today and gave to that person in order not to send even one person back without giving. It might have been a test, but he gave.
So when you give, as the Prophet (s) described it, “It is like someone traveling in the desert and some group of people, qata`een turuq, highway robbers in the desert,”-- it’s like someone going on the highway and robbers stopped him, and they want to steal from him. They say, “We want to kill you, no way, today you are finished.” And he says, “Can I buy myself?” And they say, “Yes.” He gives all his money to buy his life. It is like that, when you give, you are buying yourself in Akhirah from Allah (swt), to free yourself from punishment, or from judgement.
عَنْ عَائِشَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ َ" منْ نُوقِشَ الْحِسَابَ عُذِّبَ "
Man nooqisha ‘l-hisaaba `udhdhib.
As the Prophet (s) said to Sayyida `Ayesha (r): “Anybody whose account (record) is questioned will surely be punished.” (Bukhari)
and:
من حوسب عذّب
Man hoosiba `udhdhib.
Who will be judged will be punished for sure. (Bukhari)
“Whoever is taken to account by Allah (swt), for sure they cannot be saved, for sure they will be punished.” So this was to tell us: pray every day that Allah (swt) will not Judge you, this is for the ummah to pray in every prayer, “Yaa Rabbee, don’t judge me, send me without any judgement to Paradise.” Because if Allah (swt) wants to judge someone, every detail you did, everything you did in your life will appear, nothing is hidden, like a video, or a server hiding everything inside it, and you see it in front of you.
As Ibn Qayyim said:
فإن للصدقة تأثيرا عجيبا في دفع أنواع البلاء ولو كانت من فاجر أو من ظالم بل من كافرفإن الله تعالى يدفع ﺑﻬا عنه أنواعا من البلاء وهذا أمر معلوم عند الناس خاصتهم وعامتهم وأهل الأرض كلهم مقرون به لأﻧﻬم جربوه
fa inna li-sadaqa taatheeran `aajeeban fi ‘l-anw`ai ‘l-balaa, wa law kaanat min faajirin aw zhaalimin bal min kaafir. Fa inna-Llaaha ta`ala yadfa’u bihaa `anhu anwa`an min al-balaa
Sadaqa has an immense interference in preventing the most difficult afflictions, sadaqa will handle it and lessen your problems, your afflictions. even if done by a faajir, corrupted one, or zhaalim, an oppressor or even a non-believer; if he gives sadaqa Allah (swt) will accept. For verily Allah wards off many problems from you when you give sadaqa.
It is not only for some people, but it is for everyone. For Muslims it will be multiplied with no account, but for others it will save them, it will do its work for them.
At-Tirmidhi wrote in his Sahih from the hadith of Anas ibn Malik (r) that the Prophet (s) said:
إِنَّ الصَّدَقَةَ لَتُطْفِئُ غَضَبَ الرَّبِّ وَتَدْفَعُ مِيتَةَ السُّوءِ
Inna ‘s-sadaqata la-tutfi’oo ghadabu ‘r-rabb wa tadfa`u maytati ‘s-soo’.
Indeed charity extinguishes the Lord's anger and it protects against the evil death. (Tirmidhi)
“Sadaqa extinguishes the anger of Allah (swt),” it will put it down. When you know yourself that you did something wrong or bad, quickly throw a sadaqa somewhere, it will take away Allah’s Anger. Wa tadfa`u maytata ‘s-soo’, “and it will take away the bad death,” when someone is dying, “and change it to a good death;” you cannot see that, but the deceased can see that. For sadaqa of the mu’min, you cannot see how much He will take away from the servant when he is dying.
Ibn Qayyim continues:
وكما أﻧﻬا تطفئ غضب الرب تبارك وتعالى فهي تطفئ الذنوب والخطايا كما تطفئ الماء النار
Wa kamaa annahaa tutfi’oo ghadabu ‘r-rabb tabaaraka wa ta`ala wa hiya tutfi’oo adh-dhunoob wa ‘l-khataayaa kamaa yutfiu ’l-maau ’n-naar
and as it extinguishes Allah's Anger, also it will extinguish all kinds of sins and ma`siyya., as water puts out a fire, with the sadaqa, Allah (swt) will extinguish the punishment you might take in Hellfire.
We can go more, I want to mention this hadith but there is no time. I explained it before, but I will mention without explanation now. It is narrated by Bukhari, so make sure you understand when we say, “Bukhari,” because people say, “O Bukhari is okay, and Muslim is okay, but the other six, we have to check,” what do you have to check? What is this stupidity in your mind? Imagine the one who was with the Prophet (s) day and night...The Prophet (s) was sitting with the Sahaabah (r), from morning till night and teaching them. How many hadith came out in one day? How many? One or two? Hundreds, from morning Fajr time up to `Isha; he would pray `Isha with them and then go to his house, so they stayed with him all that time, and now they say, “Only Bukhari's 4,000 hadith,” and now they have reduced it to 3,000 ahadeeth. Is that it? There are a lot more. How many hadith did Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) mention about the Prophet (s)? He was the closest Companion and migrated with him which took many days to go from Mecca to Madina. Did not the Prophet (s) tell him different hadith every moment? What we know from Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) is only 25 or 26 ahadeeth, not even 30. Where are they? They are there. So the Sahaabah (r) were listening to the Prophet (s) from morning to evening.
So this hadith, Abu Hurayrah (r) related that the Messenger of Allah (s) said:
وعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: " قال رجل لأتصدقن بصدقة، فخرج بصدقته، فوضعها في يد سارق، فأصبحوا يتحدثون: تصدق على سارق! فقال: اللهم لك الحمد لأتصدقن بصدقة، فخرج بصدقته، فوضعها في يد زانية؟! فأصبحوا يتحدثون: تصدق على زانية فقال: اللهم لك الحمد على زانية، لأتصدقن بصدقة، فخرج بصدقته، فوضعها في يد غني, فأصبحوا يتحدثون! تصدق الليلة على غني, فقال: اللهم لك الحمد على سارق ، وعلى زانية، وعلى غني! فأتى فقيل له: أما صدقتك على سارق، فلعله أن يستعف عن سرقته، وأما الزانية فلعلها تستعف عن زناها، وأما الغني فلعله أن يعتبر، فينفق مما آتاه الله"
`an abi hurayrah anna rasoolullah (s) qaal: qaala rajulun la atasadaqanna bi-sadaqah. fa kharaj bi-sadaqatihi fa-wada`ahaa fee yadi saariq. fa asbahoo yatahaddathoon: tasadaqa `alaa saariq. fa qaal allahuma laka ’l-hamd la-atasadaqanna bi-sadaqah. fa kharaj bi-sadaqatihi fa-wada`ahaa fee yadi zaaniya. fa asbahoo yatahaddathoon: tasadaq `alaa zaaniya. fa qaal allahuma laka ’l-hamd la-atasadaqanna bi-sadaqah. fa kharaj bi-sadaqatihi fa-wada`ahaa fee yadi ghaniyy. fa asbahoo yatahaddathoon: tasadaq al-laylayta `alaa ghaniyy. fa-qaal: allahuma laka ’l-hamdu `alaa sariqun wa `ala zaaniyyatin wa `alaa ghaniyy. fa ataa faqeela lahu: amma sadaqatuk `alaa saariq fa la`llahu yasta`nifa `an saraaqatih, wa amma ’z-zaaniyata fa la`llahaa tasta`nif `an zinaahaa, wa amma ’l-ghaniyy fala`allahu an ya`tabir fayunfiqu mimmaa aataahu ’Llaah. (Bukhari and Muslim with another wording)
A man said to himself, “Today I will give a sadaqa, charity.”
[Look this is going to flip your mind upside-down, and down-side up. [Laughter.] It is amazing this hadith, and there are many like that. Those who want to teach fiqh, let them teach such hadith to people, give them an opening, a mercy; give them a way out of their sins. They only focus on very structural hadith, which is very good, but there are ahadeeth that give you hope in this life so you end well in Akhirah.]
So he said, “I am going to give a charity.” He took the charity that he wanted to give and he saw someone whom he thought is poor and put sadaqa in his hands and it turned out that person was not poor, rather he was a thief, and he had given his charity to a thief! The people of the town began to speak about him, “He gave charity to a thief.” And that man said, “Alhamdulillah that I gave charity, I didn’t know but You let me give charity,” the thief was happy, he took it and left.
Then he made intention, everyday he made intention to give sadaqa to someone, so the next day he took the charity to give to someone in need. There was a lady passing, she looked poor and he took his money, [like doctors, they give a lot], so he took his charity and put it in the hand of that lady. That lady was a prostitute. The people began to talk about him, “Yesterday he gave to a thief and today he gave to a prostitute.” He got upset and said, “Tomorrow I am giving my charity to a right person.”
The next day, he went looking and saw one poor person. You may have seen a poor person not dressing well, they have lot, but are hiding themselves. So he passed by one who looked very disgusting and very poor, but was in reality very rich. He took his money and put it in the hand of this very rich man.The people began to speak saying, “He gave money to a rich man instead of giving to a poor one.” He became confused what he has to do? First he gave to a thief, second to a prostitute and third to a rich man! So he got fed up, as he didn’t know what to do. “Yaa Rabbee, all praise be to You. Everything goes back to you,” he was fed up and didn’t know what to say. “Yaa Rabbee, what can I do? I have given to a thief, a prostitute and a rich person, when my intention was to give to a poor person.
“He was called by an angel or received an inspiration, ‘As for the sadaqa you gave the thief it might be that the sadaqa you gave to the thief would turn him into a pious person...”
[I will explain a little bit here, “‘your intention was something, but My Will was something else. You want to give here, but I want you to give to this. It is not your decision, but My Will that I have written. It might be that the sadaqa you gave to the thief would turn him into a pious person, as it is sadaqa from a mu’min.’” That is what Allah is seeing which that man does not see. Through that money, Allah might change that man into a good person. So it means give to anyone; don’t say, “This is a thief or this is a prostitute.” If you want to give, then give.]
The hadith continues: “And as for the prostitute, it might be that because of that money she changes her mind and leaves off being a prostitute and becomes a good woman. And the rich man might take an example on learning to spend in Allah’s Way and become generous instead of being stingy.” (Sahih Bukhari)
So such sadaqa can do miracles. If it is making miracles for the thief, the prostitute and the rich, can it not make miracles for us? Of course it can. We continue next time.
Wa min Allah at-tawfeeq bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah
You see the importance of these ahadeeth, among many hadith of sadaqa or salaat, there are some hadith that are not only structural, but there are those which have interpretational meanings that give an idea of Allah’s Great Mercy by which everyone will be saved. They open our minds more and more, not to be very narrow and limited in order to understand Prophet (s). May Allah forgive us. That is what we know and if we did something wrong we ask forgiveness from the viewers and others.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
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