Building Blocks Of Faith - Abdul Nasir Jangda

Building Blocks Of Faith - Abdul Nasir Jangda

Opening Reflection on Loss and Faith

As you get older, one of the really difficult parts of getting older, one of the most difficult things about getting older is that you start to lose people that are very beloved to you in your life. And I know that age isn't necessary, no one's time is guaranteed, death can come at any moment. Yes, of course that's all true, so someone younger can lose someone close or beloved to them as well, absolutely.

But at the same time, the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) taught us that there are rules and then there are the exceptions to those rules. And so the rule is, as the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) says in an authentic narration:

(Tirmidhi hadith 2331)

The average, the median age of my Ummah is between the ages of 60 and 70.

And that's the norm, and then of course unfortunately and tragically there are exceptions to that rule.

A Teacher's Wisdom

But as I was saying, one of the things about getting older is that you start to lose people that mean a lot to you. One of my teachers who passed away maybe about 5 years ago and it feels a lot longer just because when you miss someone and you feel someone's absence in your life, time goes a little bit slower. But one of my teachers who passed away about 5 years ago, I'm reminded of something he used to write.

He was very fond, he wrote, he was a prolific writer. He wrote nearly 100 books in his lifetime. I never saw him except that he was reading or writing. He used to spend at least about 12 hours a day behind that desk reading and writing. He was an unbelievable person, remarkable. And so he was very fond of writing and so he used to write letters.

I also was studying with him back in the 90s where writing letters was still a thing. So he was very fond of writing letters. And he used to actually complain quite a bit about us to us as students that you guys don't write back as frequently as I write you.

And at the end of all of his letters, he used to sign off by writing an expression. It's a statement, it's an expression in the Arabic language. And he used to write this at the bottom of every letter:

Whoever dedicates themselves to God, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will take care of that person.

And he lived his life with that value. He used to write it not because he was preaching it, not because he was teaching it. He used to write it to remind himself that devote your life, your existence to Allah. And Allah will always take care of you.

The reason why I brought up this story, it's not only something I've been thinking about recently. I was just reminded of him and his memory and so I was thinking about this. But the session that we have here is about putting your faith and putting your trust in Allah. And Allah being a refuge.

Your relationship with Allah being a refuge for you. Where you know that everything is gonna be okay at the end of the day. Because you got Allah by your side.

The Migration to Abyssinia

And I wanted to touch upon a couple of stories from the lifetime of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) which demonstrate this. In the early part of the mission of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ). About four years into his mission.

There was some good movement in Mecca. Not huge but decent. There was about a hundred or so believers in Mecca. And there were enough believers where they were becoming noticed. And this was being seen as a problem in Mecca. That we now have these Muslims and they're growing in number. How do we stop this?

So at that time the Meccans started going after them. Persecuting them, torturing them, killing them. Whatever needed to be done. But we gotta stop these people. And they went as far as starting to kill some of them. Like the family of Yasir. The father Yasir, the husband Yasir. His wife Sumayya. The mother of Ammar. Right, they ended up starting to kill people.

So at that time the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) made a very strategic decision. He told a group of Muslims. About eleven of them to start with. He told eleven of them, I want you to leave Mecca. Sneak out of Mecca. And go to East Africa. Go to what was called Habesha. Abyssinia, East Africa.

I want you to go there. For there is a king there. A Christian king. But he is very just. And he is very hospitable. And he grants asylum to anyone who goes to him. So he says go.

So these eleven people they leave Mecca. And they make their way to Abyssinia. And they're able to find refuge there. At the same time once they arrived there safely, the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) starts sending more people there. And before you know you have a decent size community there.

You have a decent size community there. Some say that it eventually grew up to being almost 70, 80 people. And so you have this decent size community that is living there in refuge now. In asylum. Quietly with a low profile. Minding their own business.

They've already sacrificed a lot. They've given up their home, their businesses, their wealth, their family members, their relatives, their tribe. Everything they've given up.

But now they're here and they're living with a low profile. Hopefully safe and sound. But the Quraish in Mecca did not leave them be. They pursued them. And they sent a couple of dignitaries after them. A couple of representatives, a team.

Amr Bin Al-As. They sent them after them to go and try to bring them back. Amr Bin Al-As had an old standing relationship with the king of Abyssinia, Al-Najashi. He had an old relationship with him.

So they came with lots of gifts and presents for the king, for all of his ministers. And then he pleaded his case. He said, there is a group of our people. They are criminals. They are wanted back in Mecca. And they ran away. And they've come here and they are seeking asylum here. And I am here to collect them and to take them back.

The king said, okay, I understand your concern. But I cannot just hand people over. I have to hear their side of the story. They've come to me for protection.

So he calls the Muslims, the cousin of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ)Ali's older brother named Jafar, he's in the group. He tells, everyone is frightened, what are we gonna do? Jafar tells them, relax, let me do the talking.

The Trial Before Al-Najashi

Now I want everyone to process the emotion in that moment. You believe in what you, you have accepted what you believe to be the truth. And you announced your faith to your family and to your community. As a result of doing what's right, you've been persecuted, you've been tortured, and your life has been threatened. You eventually escape in the middle of the night. Leave your whole life behind.

And travel to a completely foreign place. Hoping to seek refuge there. And when you arrived there, you think just a moment when you allow yourself to breathe, to exhale, to relax just a bit. The enemy shows up, happens to be best friends with the king, and is now talking about chaining you up and taking you back home to be tortured to death in chains.

Imagine how scared, how frightened, how freaked out you'd be. How nerve wrecking that moment must be. What do you do in that situation?

Jafar who was trained by the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) himself, he is part of the Al-Bait. He is trained by the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) himself. The Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) later on would say to Jafar:

(Bukhari hadith 3708)

You resemble me in looks, and you also resemble me in character.

Has anyone been ever given a greater compliment than that? You look like me and your character is like me, the Prophet said to Jafar. Jafar has learned from the Prophet what you do in that situation. He says what? He says, guys, I got this.

Now what's he gonna do? He is going to do the only thing that you can do. But unfortunately for us, a lot of times it takes us being completely trapped in a situation to realize. And what does Jafar do? He goes and he stands in front of that king. With the delegation from Quraish right there. Looking at them, eyeballing them. And what does he do now? He recites the Quran.

And the wisdom of what he chose! Not only speaks about Mary and the son of Mary, Jesus. Because again, he is in the court of a Christian king in a Christian land. But the verses, the passage actually starts off and begins by talking about the power of Dua.

That when Zakariya had been wanting a child for his entire life and he reached the point of being so old he couldn't stand up straight anymore. He did not despair. He found Maryam, his student and his niece. He found her sitting in the mihrab, the small corner of Masjid Aqsa where she used to worship God.

He finds her sitting there eating fruits that don't belong in that region and aren't available in that season. And he says:

Where did you get this from, Maryam?

She says, this is from God. God can provide for whomsoever He wills without any restriction or limitation.

That's what I've learned from you, O teacher. O Prophet of God, Zakariya. Zakariya immediately goes to the masjid and in his own corner of the masjid, he stands there and raises his arms up to the sky above his head.

And he asks Allah that I know that I'm old and I'm decrepit. My bones are falling apart. My hair has gone white. My wife has not been able to bear children our entire life. But I will not despair and in spite of all of that, I trust you, O Allah. I turn to you, Ya Rabb, please give us a child.

And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala miraculously presents them with a child. Your faith is your greatest refuge. Your relationship with Allah is the ultimate place to turn. When there's nowhere else to turn.

When harm afflicts you, only Allah can remove it.

Who responds to the desperate when he calls upon Him and removes evil and makes you successors in the earth?

It is only Allah. Allah is the only way, the only place to turn to.

The Dua of Ta'if

And I wanted to conclude here by mentioning the Dua of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) from one of the most difficult moments of his life. The Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) when he eventually realized, not despair, but when the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) realized that these people of Makkah, they are not listening.

He didn't give up hope that they would believe. But he understood that in this moment they are not paying attention. They are being stubborn. So in that moment when the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said that these people they gonna need a wake up call. They are not going to listen. They are being stubborn.

He decided to employ an alternative strategy. And the alternative strategy the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) employed was that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) he decided to explore communities outside of Makkah. To see if there was any other communities that would believe in this message.

And the first community the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) went to was the community of Ta'if. It was the second largest city in Arabia. Home to the second largest tribe of that region, Banu Thaqif.

He went to the city of Ta'if. Now we all know that the journey to Ta'if was very difficult for the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ). It was only him and his companion Zayd Bin Haritha who was like an adopted son to him.

Only the two of them went because they didn't want to attract a lot of attention. And they went on foot. It took them a week to get... three or four days to get there. And they stayed there for about three days. And then it took them about three to four days to get back. This whole journey lasted ten days.

When they get to Ta'if, they tried to meet with the leadership of Ta'if to try to see if they would allow them to talk to the people. The leadership of Ta'if who were three brothers, the sons of Abu Mas'ud Al- Thaqafi. All three of them rejected the proposal of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ)

They did not listen to him. And they rejected his proposal. The Prophet (صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) said, fine, I'm going to leave and I'm going to go back to Месса.