Muhammad Sharif
During his Caliphate, 'Umar,
may Allâh be pleased with him, once set out for ash-Shâm (Damascus) and with him
was Abû 'Ubaydah. They came upon a deep creek which they needed to cross. So 'Umar
took off his sandals and carried them on his shoulders. Then he took the reign
of the camel and began ploughing through the water. Abû 'Ubaydah - seeing the
Khalîfah (Leader) of the Muslims in this state - felt saddened and said, "I
fear that the people of the village will think you without any honour." 'Umar
said, "Oh Abû 'Ubaydah, if only someone less knowledgeable
then you made such a statement. We were of the most disgraced of people and
Allâh granted us honour with this Islâm. Now, whenever we seek honour in other
than that which Allâh honoured us with, Allâh shall disgrace us (once again)."
Dear brothers and sisters, we
hear often that the victory of Allâh is something promised and very near.
However, some of us do not really believe in our hearts that Allâh will grant
victory to Islâm. Some of us may think that this victory that Allâh speaks about
is only for a certain 'star-status' group of believers, or that the victory was
only for a certain time in history, or that it's not a promised victory, just a
miraculous will of God ...
We must understand that it is not anyone who is promising this - it is Allâh the
Lord of the Heavens and the Earth. And it is not just a promise of the
Hereafter, but it is promised in this life as well. In Sûrah Ghâfir
(40:51), we read:
"Indeed,
we will grant victory to Our Messengers and those who believe in this life of
the world and on the day when the witnesses will stand."
We can only hope for victory
when we surrender our loyalty to Allâh and His Messenger and to the believers -
and no one else! In Sûrah al-Mâ'idah (5:56), we read:
"And
whoever is an ally of Allâh and His Messenger and those who have believed -
indeed the party of Allâh will be the victors."
Honour and victory come only
from Allâh. Whoever seeks it from other than Allâh, nothing awaits them but
disgrace. In Sûrah an-Nisâ' (4:138-139), we read:
"Give
glad tidings to the Munâfiqîn (hypocrites) that there is for them a
painful punishment - those that take disbelievers as allies instead of the
believers. Do they seek with them 'Izzah (Honour)? Rather, to Allâh
indeed belongs all honour!"
And when someone thinks that
this victory and honour that was promised to the righteous is only a delusion,
they are in fact recycling the statements of the Munâfiqîn before them. Allâh
recorded their scoffing in Sûrah Ahzâb (33:12):
"And
(remember) when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease said, 'Allâh
and His Messenger did not promise us anything more then delusion.' "
Was the promise of victory
just a delusion? Let the Qur'ân speak to us the outcome - dear brothers
and sisters - of that battle of al-Ahzâb! Allâh tells us:
"And
Allâh repelled those who disbelieved, in their rage, not having accomplished
any good. And enough was Allâh for the believers in battle, and ever is Allâh
Powerful and Exalted in Might."
Ibn Kathîr said,
"Whoever wants a place of honour in this life and the
next, let him hold firmly to the obedience of Allâh - his goal will be
realised. This is because to Allâh belongs this life and next and all honour is
His. Allâh says (3:26):
Say, 'O Allâh, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and
You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honour whom You will and
You humble whom You will. In Your hand is (all) good. Indeed, You are over
all things competent.' "
King, prince, duke, marquise,
earl, viscount, baron, baronet, and knight - these were the names the English
used to appropriate nobility amongst themselves. Humans want to be honoured in
this life and so they set out in search of things that will grant them this
honour.
Some search for it in money -
but when a stock market crashes and they lose everything, they commit suicide or
live in humility. Some search for it in degrees - but those same degrees may be
their citation for arrogance over others. Some search for it in military might
or leadership position - but when the tables turn on them they become the most
humiliated.
Only in the worship of Allâh
is true honour found, because all honour belongs to Allâh; Sûrah al-Munâfiqûn
(63:8), we read:
"And to
Allâh belongs all honour, and to His Messenger, and to the believers, but the
hypocrites know not."
Al-Hasan al-Basrî said
concerning the people of sin, "They - even though their
riding beasts pitter patter with them atop, and their mules carry them ever so
gracefully, upon them at all times is the hovering disgrace of sin. Allâh shall
never allow for those who disobey Him anything more then disgrace."
In Sûrah al-Hajj
(22:18), we read:
"And
whoever Allâh humiliates - for him there is no one to give him honour."
"His doing what? Building a
boat in the desert?" The people of Nûh (Noah) ran out to see if the news was
true. Um-hmm, there he was indeed, building a huge boat without a drop of water
in site.
Allâh tells us in Sûrah Hûd
(11:38):
"And he
constructed the ark - whenever a group of the eminent of his people passed him
they mocked him."
They couldn't help themselves
but to ridicule him. "Hey Nûh, you were a Prophet yesterday; Have you now become
a carpenter?"
What happened, dear brothers
and sisters, to those devilish people who disbelieved in Allâh's Messenger for
950 years - where are they now? And who was the winner in the end?
Certainly, in the end Allâh
granted a decisive victory to Nûh. More so, Allâh tells His Prophet, may Allâh
send His prayers and blessings upon him, at the conclusion of Nûh's story how
victory will always be for the believers:
"So be
patient, indeed, the (best) outcome is (and will always be) for the
righteous."
Part II:
In their misguided quest for
'Izzah (honour), the Greeks designated a female god whose sole job was to
dispense victory and honour. She was a popular subject in their art, usually
represented as winged and bearing a wreath or palm branch. The called her
Nike. And many of us leaving this khutbah may still sadly find remnants
of their shirk present today on our shoes.
The Prophet, may Allâh send
His prayers and blessings upon him, said, "Indeed this
affair (of Islâm) shall reach wherever the night and day reach. Allâh will not
spare a single clay or wabar home except that Allâh will cause for Islâm to
enter it - whether with nobility or with humiliation. Nobility that Allâh grants
with them entering Islâm, or humility that Allâh places upon them for their kufr
(disbelief)."
The narrator of the hadîth,
Tamîm ad-Dârî, may Allâh be pleased with him, said,
"Certainly, I saw this in my own family. Those that become Muslim amongst them
found prosperity and nobility and honour. And those that turned to kufr
found nothing but disgrace and humility and the jizyah tax (a tax paid by
non-Muslims living in the Islamic state)."
There are different ways in
which Allâh grants victory to His righteous servants: Allâh may grant victory
through martyrdom. We read in the Qur'ân Allâh telling us to not think
that those who were killed in the way of Allâh as dead. Nay, they are alive with
Allâh, well provided for.
Allâh may grant victory
through the huge success in spreading one's da'wah. The Messenger of
Allâh, may Allâh send His prayers and blessings upon him, taught us this in the
story of the boy and the king. In the end, the only way the king could kill the
boy was to shoot the arrow pronouncing the statement, 'In the Name of the Lord
of this boy.' When he did so, although the boy was martyred, the entire village
believed in Allâh, alone, the Lord of the boy.
Allâh may grant victory
through the trials that distinguish the believers from the hypocrites. As a sage
once said, "All thanks are to Allâh who places a hardship
on me through which I distinguish my friends from my enemies."
Or victory may come through
Allâh assisting his servant with clear and decisive arguments. An example of
this is how Allâh supported Ibrâhîm, peace be upon him, against the tyrant
Namrûd when he said that he too gives life and death. Ibrâhîm replied that
verily Allâh brings the sun from the east so bring it ye from the west. Namrûd
was dumbfounded and had no reply.
In conclusion, we all know
that the Messenger of Allâh, may Allâh send His prayers and blessings upon him,
started this mission of Islâm at the Mountain of Safa. After telling his people
about Allâh and the Final Day, Abû Jahl - his own uncle - turned his back on him
and said aloud, "May you perish O Muhammad! Is this why you have gathered us?"
On his heels he turned and everyone followed him, leaving our Prophet, may Allâh
send His prayers and blessings upon him, standing alone.
Two decades later, in the
Farewell Hajj, he, may Allâh send His prayers and blessings upon him, stood on
that very same mountain. At this time, the victory of Allâh had come true as
Allâh had promised. All of Makkah was now Muslim, a sea of believers memorising
their Prophet's every move. The Messenger of Allâh, may Allâh send His prayers
and blessings upon him, stood there on Mount Safa and faced the Ka'bah
and recited:
"There is no
god but Allâh. Only One. He was true to His promise. He granted victory to His
servant. He granted honour and nobility to his army. And the confederates did He
- alone - defeat."
Source: SunnahOnline.com
