The Legacy of Ibrahim
By Abdul Nasir Jangda | 2026-01-19T07:32:19.857089+00:00 | Topic: General
The Legacy of Ibrahim
Sheikh Abdul Nasir Jangda
Opening
الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ الْحَمْدُ لِلهِ عَلَيْهِ الذَّاتِ الْعَظِيمِ الصِّفَاتِ السَّامِي السَّمَاتِ كَبيرِ الشَّأْنِ جَلِيلِ الْقَدْرِ الرَّافِعِ الذِّكْرِ الْمُطَاعِ الْأَمْرِ جَلِيلِ الْبُرْهَانِ فَخِيمِ الِاسْمِ غَزِيلِ الْعِلْمِ وَاصِلِ الْعِلْمِ كَثِيرِ الْغُفْرَانِ جَمِيلِ الثَّنَاءِ جَزِيلِ الْعَطَاءِ مُجِيبِ الدُّعَاءِ عَمِيمٍ الْإِحْسَانِ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ شَدِيدِ الْعِقَابِ عَلِيمِ الْعَذَابِ عَزِيزِ السُّلْطَانِ
وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ فِي الْخَلْقِ وَالْأَمْرِ
وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ الْمَبْعُوثُ إِلَى الْأَسْوَدِ وَالْأَحْمَرِ الْمَنْعُوتُ بِشَرْحِ الصَّدْرِ وَرَفْعِ الذِّكْرِ
صلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ الَّذِينَ هُمْ خُلَاصَةُ الْعَرَبِ وَالْعَجَمِ وَخَيْرُ الْخَلَائِقِ بَعْدَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ
أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَيَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ، وَحِدُوا اللهَ فَإِنَّ التَّوْحِيدَ رَأْسُ الطَّاعَاتِ، وَاتَّقُوا اللهَ فَإِنَّ التَّقْوَى مِلَاكُ الْحَسَنَاتِ، وَعَلَيْكُمْ بِالسُّنَّةِ فَإِنَّ السُّنَّةَ تَهْدِي إِلَى الطَّاعَةِ، وَمَنْ أَطَاعَ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ رَشَدَ وَاهْتَدَى، وَإِيَّاكُمْ وَالْبِدْعَةَ فَإِنَّ الْبِدْعَةَ تَهْدِي إِلَى الْمَعْصِيَةِ، وَمَنْ عَصَى اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ وَغَوَى، وَعَلَيْكُمْ بِالْإِحْسَانِ فَإِنَّ اللهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ، وَادْعُوهُ فَإِنَّهُ مجيب الدَّاعِينَ، وَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ يُمْدِدْكُمْ بِأَمْوَالٍ وَبَنِينَ
أعُوذُ باللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّحِيمِ
The Perfect Example in the Quran
Allah in the Quran provides for us not just simply instruction but Allah provides for us very practical demonstrations of exactly what it is that Allah demands and asks of us. One of the great mercies of our deen and our beautiful religion is that every single thing that we have been asked to do and the entire code that we have been demanded and requested to live by has been practically demonstrated and laid out for us to display the practicality and the pragmatism that exists within the code of religion that we have.
The Ultimate Role Model
One of the very fascinating examples of this practical demonstration of the religion, something that inshallah we intend to explore as we continue the programs this weekend, is that Allah uses a very fascinating word, a construction, a phrase and that phrase is present within Surah al-Ahzab, surah number 33 where Allah says:
That without a doubt, there is no doubt, not a shred of doubt about the fact that there exists completely contained within the messenger of Allah, Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) in his lifestyle, in his personality, in his interactions, in his engagement with people and humanity, in his relationship with his lord and master, completely contained within the example of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) there exists for you, reserved specifically for you, dedicated, meant for you. And this is very profound that this is not coincidental. Allah is not randomly pointing to "well, that's a good example, go ahead and look at that," but Allah is saying no, no, no, the messenger of Allah Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was specifically crafted by Allah, designed by Allah, placed by Allah and everything that transpired in his life was part of the divine design and the divine plan so that it would be documented, it would be codified, it would be transmitted, talked about and shared for over a millennia and then people would continue to be able to go back to it and take inspiration and direction from it.
And Allah uses the phrase (أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ) which can be translated in a number of different ways. My own personal understanding, I wouldn't quite call it a translation, but the way that I choose to understand and explain it to people when I talk to them is (أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ) can be understood as the ultimate role model, a precedent or an example that exists before you, something you can reference back to (حَسَنَةٌ) of course refers to the beauty and the excellence and the depth of something. So it is an example, it is a precedent that is fascinating, it is beautiful, it is remarkable, it is deep and it is profound. And that's why I say the ultimate role model.
The Connection to Ibrahim
And similarly what's very interesting and fascinating is that the Prophet of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he himself on multiple occasions would reference himself as:
"Ana da'watu abee Ibraheema"
"I am the prayer of my forefather Abraham."
And on many occasions when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would engage in a particular action or deed or conduct or behavior or character or mannerism, he would reference it or he would explain it qualified by saying:
"Sunnatu abeekum Ibraheema"
"This is a tradition as established by your forefather, your spiritual forefather Abraham."
And Allah Himself when addressing this ummah, when talking to the ummah of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says:
Strive within the deen of Allah, strive to please your creator in a way that is appropriate and befitting of the magnificence of that creator. He chose and selected you. He did not place undue or illegitimate or irresponsible harm upon you, but He is very sensitive and considerate of your circumstances and your situation. There is no undue harm or obligation placed upon anyone within this religion. This is the legacy of your forefather Abraham.
And this is precisely why Allah bestows this lofty title, this very, very praiseworthy characteristic of being the ultimate role model. Aside from our messenger Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) the only other person that is granted this within the Quran is Sayyidina Ibrahim (عليه السلام). It's granted to the prophet Ibrahim (عليه السلام) that he is also referred to as this (أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ)
The Religion of Principles
Now the reason why I bring that up, of course we have an entire program that will talk and explore more about the legacy of Ibrahim (عليه السلام) and how it manifests within the tradition of the messenger Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and what we can extrapolate and take from it and carry it on further within our own lives, but the reason why I bring it up right now, there was one specific dynamic and element of that legacy of Ibrahim (عليه السلام) as continued by our messenger Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) as I will present an example of, and that is that our deen, our religion and our approach to our religion, spirituality and the implementation of our religion is one that is not just purely up to the whims and the fancies of our own intellect. It is an intelligent religion, but at the same time it is not left up to us that whatever makes sense to us and whatever doesn't make sense to us, that that will somehow alter the course of the religion itself. No, it's not completely left up to that.
At the same time, the religion is not one that is subject to the whims and to the ups and downs and to the instability of our own emotional conditions, that depending on how we're feeling is exactly what will be the structure of the religion and what will be the religion going forward. It is not completely and solely dictated by maybe what's going on in society at a large scale or what is going on in a particular community at that time.
But one of the most fascinating and beautiful aspects of our religion and something specifically that Allah points to in the Quran:
Part of the meaning of (مُسْتَقِيمَ) is the consistency, the constancy of our deen and religion. And that is how it has stood the test of time and made it through 1400 years of the most diverse circumstances that anyone could have imagined. That consistency. What gives our deen and our religion that consistency? It is the fact that it is a deen and it is a religion of principles.
And the Muslim - (هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ) - a Muslim is a person of principle. We are people of principles. Our book is a book of principles, the Quran. Our messenger Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was a messenger, a man of principle. Our entire religion is one that is built on principles.
The Principle of Mercy
And at the foremost of these principles, one that I feel needs to be emphasized and many might be aware of this, but it is something that we need to be reminded of and we need to be shown the relevance of in different situations in our life, one of the primary principles that our religion is predicated upon, that is built upon, is the principle of mercy, the principle of mercy.
And I wanted to present one example, one scenario as mentioned within the Quran from the life of Ibrahim (عليه السلام) that demonstrates the fact that when you conduct yourself by principle, there are times when those principles will point out the flaws in your logic and reasoning. There are times when those principles will point out the short-sightedness of your emotions in that moment. But the principles are tried, true and tested, divinely inspired and instituted, and those principles will never let you waver or fault.
Ibrahim's Conversation with His Father
And so I wanted to share this particular example from the life of Ibrahim (عليه السلام) and it's very beautiful and fascinating that in this place in surah number 19, Surah Maryam, Allah in ayah number 41 he specifically says:
Remember as mentioned in the Quran the example of Ibrahim. And Allah is telling us remember this - اذْكُرْ - like revisit this, repeat this, reflect on this, ponder upon this because this will demonstrate how principles, you know, guide you in even the most difficult and adverse of circumstances.
What does Allah tell us about? He tells us about one of the most gut-wrenching and one of the most difficult interactions anyone could ever have, that Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was in the very, very difficult, unimaginable position. And many brothers and sisters might have dealt with similar circumstances and scenarios here and my heart goes out to them. I can't even imagine how difficult this must have been.
He has to talk to his father. This is his father. This is the man who raised him. This is the man who provided for him. There's this deep sentimental and emotional attachment to this man.
A lot of times when we talk about somebody else, we talk about it in the third person and we're talking about it almost distantly and we can become a bit emotionally disconnected from it. When we talk about, you know, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and a terrible individual like Abu Lahab who tormented the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and we say, "Yeah, he was the uncle of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)" and we just move right along as if, well, you know, sometimes people listen, sometimes they don't, so there are good people and there are bad people, what are you gonna do about it?
No, no, no, you really factor it in. What must it have been like for the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)? In the absence of a father, the paternal uncle, your father's brother, is oftentimes a father figure or at least that's the expectation. Your uncle, your chacha, your uncle, he is supposed to fill in for your father. He's supposed to look out for you and take care of you like Abu Talib did for the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). When that person betrays you, when that person turns on you, can you imagine the profound sense of hurt and disappointment someone must feel? We have to humanize these situations.
So can you imagine Ibrahim (عليه السلام) carrying the truth of all truths within his heart, having gone through every single intellectual, observational, emotional, spiritual exercise available to him and it kept leading him back to the same conclusion: only Allah is worthy of worship?
That moment he's sitting there and he's having to deal with the fact that one of the most important people in his life, somebody he can't imagine his life without, his father. And for a moment, even if it be for a few seconds, think about somebody like that in your own life. Just reflect on it. We need to learn to be a little bit more introspective and think about it. If I think about my own father and if he didn't understand who I was and what I believe, who would I talk to? What would I do?
Ibrahim (عليه السلام) is dealing with this crisis and so he finally sits down with a very heavy heart with his father and he talks to him, converses with him, engages with him, says:
يَا أَبَتِ - which I won't get into technical details too much because this isn't the setting for that, it's not a tafsir class - but يَا أَبَتِ suffice to say that it is more than just saying father or dad. It's more than saying "hey dad." It has a very strong emotional tone to it يَا أَبَتِ - father, you know, we formally translate as "dear beloved father," but think about a young person almost saying "dad, please, daddy, please, abu, baba, please listen, I need to talk to you." يَا أَبَتِ
And he goes on to say to his father with this heavy heart, he says, "You were so devoted and dedicated to these idols..." What's very interesting is he's not like - it's not a rhetorical question he's posing but he's actually conversing. He's like, "Can we please just talk? Can we be honest with each other? I want to understand where you're coming from because it doesn't make any sense to me. Why would you worship something that cannot listen, cannot see, cannot help in the least bit?"
Ya abati innee qad ja'anee minal-'ilmi ma lam ya'tika fattabi'nee ahdika siratan sawiyya
يَا أَبَتِ - daddy, please - repeats himself. And that repetition is indicative of the fact that that's what he's emphasizing. "You are my dad." He keeps reaffirming his love for his father.
إِنِّي قَدْ جَاءَنِي مِنَ الْعِلْمِ - he speaks with such humility. He says, "Some knowledge came to me." He didn't say, "I know what I'm talking about. (إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُ - innee a'lamu ma la ta'lam) I know what you don't know. (عِنْدِي عِلْمٌ - 'indee 'ilmun) right - I have knowledge." إِنِّي قَدْ جَاءَنِي مِنَ الْعِلْمِ - "A little bit of knowledge, that understanding came to me مَا لَمْ يَأْتِكَ - that maybe hasn't come to you yet. Like you haven't understood this yet, but I have this understanding that you don't have. فَاتَّبِعْنِي - so please listen to me. I'll explain to you what is the right way to go about this."
Ya abati la ta'budish-shaytana innash-shaytana kana lir-rahmani 'asiyya
يَا أَبَتِ - father please, I love you - لَا تَعْبُدِ الشَّيْطَانَ - don't succumb to the shaitan - إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ عَصِيًّا - because shaitan is very defiant against the most merciful creator."
Ya abati innee akhafu an yamassaka 'adhabun minar-rahmani fa-takoona lish-shaytani waliyya
"يَا أَبَتِ - father please, I love you so much - إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَن يَمَسَّكَ عَذَابٌ مِّنَ الرَّحْمٰنِ - I'm afraid that even a little bit of harm would come to you or some punishment would come to you from the most merciful وَتَكُونَ لِلشَّيْطَانِ وَلِيًّا - and you end up on the wrong side, you end up on shaitan's side."
So he's speaking to him so honestly with such repeated affirmations of his love for his father, with such humility and such clarity, choosing his words so carefully.
The Father's Response
Now how does - now let's think about this. The emotion is on the side of Ibrahim. He's spoken very respectfully and lovingly. The logic is on the side of Ibrahim. How does the father respond? And I want you to again already start kind of processing and thinking about if we found ourselves in a similar situation where logic and the emotional components was all on our side - the emotional element, the logic, the intellectual element, everything was on our side and we were conversing with a beloved family member, particularly a parent or an elder, and they responded in the way that Ibrahim's father is about to respond to him - how would we react? How would we lash out? What would be our response?
The father says:
Qala a-raghibun anta 'an alihatee ya Ibraheemu la'in lam tantahi la-arjumannaka wahjurnee maliyya
أَرَاغِبٌ أَنتَ عَنْ آلِهَتِي يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ - All I hear is you don't like my gods? You don't like my idols?" None of the actual ideas and the thoughts that Ibrahim عليه السلام presented, none of them. " أَرَاغِبٌ أَنتَ عَنْ آلِهَتِي يَا إبْرَاهِيمُ - You don't like my idols? Is that it? Is that what it boils down to?"
He says, "لَئِن لَّمْ تَنتَهِ - I'm gonna tell you once. If you don't stop لَأَرْجُمَنَّكَ - I will beat you, I will stone you publicly in the streets وَاهْجُرْنِي مَلِيًّا - Get away from me."
وَاهْجُرْنِي means "leave me" and it's not even like - which can refer to maybe for now, give me a minute, don't talk to me for a while, I don't wanna talk to you for the rest of the day. No, no. هِجْرَةٌ. وَاهْجُرْنِي comes from this word "leave." It is quite literally the word for pack your bags and go. And then he adds on top of that مَلِيًّا means very, very far away and it's both زَمَانًا وَمَكَانًا - not only just for a very long time but also very far away, for a long time and far away. Basically it's a way of saying, "You and I are done. You are dead to me. I disown you. Get your stuff and get out. I don't wanna see you ever again."
Now think about that being the response from somebody who's supposed to and has up until this point cared for you, loved you, taken care of you, and you expected this person at the very least to be understanding, to talk to you, and this is the response that you get. They're disowning you.
Ibrahim's Principled Response
Think about how defiant and defensive the response would be from one of us. "Fine! Think about the things people would say. Go ahead, you're wrong, I'm right!" And so on and so forth and many, many worse things.
How does Ibrahim عليه السلام respond? Because he knows that there is a code and there are a set of principles that I have to conduct myself by no matter what the situation is. And the primary and the first and foremost of those principles is the principle and the concept of mercy.
And so Ibrahim عليه السلام says:
Qala salamun 'alayka sa-astaghfiru laka rabbee innahu kana bee hafiyya
سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكَ - which is not just simply saying "peace out." He's not just saying "salam, like I'm out the door." It's also saying سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكَ - "I have no ill will towards you. I have no hatred towards you. You will not - I will not hurt you. Forget about physically, I will not hurt you even verbally. Nothing. No harm will come to ". سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكَ .you from me
And he goes on to say:
"I will seek permission from my lord to be able to ask forgiveness for you." This is a technical issue that comes up again later in the Quran and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم provided clarification for us:
Wa ma kanastighfaru Ibraheema li-abeehi illa 'an maw'idatin wa'adaha iyyahu fa-lamma tabayyina lahu annahu 'aduwwun lillahi tabarra'a minhu
That's a technical matter that I'll leave - you are of course welcome you to explore it and to come and talk to your sheikh and your local scholar and imam about it inshallah to understand it in detail. But nevertheless, at that moment he says, "I will even pray to my lord for you."
And he says:
"And father, I know you're angry right now." Subhanallah, so beautiful. He says, "I know you're angry right now and I know that you're just venting and you're just yelling at me right now, but deep down inside somewhere my father is there and you do care about me. And maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe a week, maybe a month, maybe a year from now, once I am out that door, you will look back and maybe you will feel bad and you'll worry about me. 'I wonder what happened to him. I wonder if he's okay.' Just know this for a fact: إِنَّهُ كَانَ بِي حَفِيًّا - Allah has always taken care of me and Allah will always continue to take care of me. Don't worry about me. I'll be okay."
Wa a'tazilukum wa ma tad'oona min doonillahi wa ad'oo rabbee 'asa alla akoona bi-du'ai rabbee shaqiyya (Quran 19:48)
وَأَعْتَزِلُكُمْ - "And on top of that, some people would even defiantly respond that who are you to tell me what to do? You can't tell me to leave. This is my house too. These are my people or my family too." He says وَأَعْتَزِلُكُمْ - "But right now at the moment, if what you want me to do is leave and leave you alone because I have, you know, caused you some type of distress, I will leave you. I will go وَمَا تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ Allah - and especially I want to leave these things that you worship other than Allah وَأَدْعُو رَبِّي - but I will continue to make dua to Allah عَسَى أَلَّا أَكُونَ بِدْعَاءِ رَبِّي شَقِيًّا - because Allah will never disappoint me. Allah will never disappoint me."
Fa-lamma'tazalahum wa ma ya'budoona min doonillahi wahabna lahu Ishaqa wa Ya'qooba wa kullan ja'alna nabiyya
Allah says that we did not leave Ibrahim on his own. It's not like he was some lonely, you know, traveler or vagabond, but Allah says we granted him a family and we granted him beautiful children and we made prophets out of his sons as well.
The Principle in Action
But what I wanted to demonstrate here is that principle of mercy. Ibrahim عليه السلام spoke the truth. He said what needed to be said and he stood his ground and he was confident and he did what he needed to do. But when you observe and you compare what he is saying to his father versus how his father is responding to him, you see how merciful Ibrahim is. Because no matter how divisive the situation becomes and no matter how serious of an issue we're talking about, we can never abandon the principle of mercy.
The Legacy Continues with Prophet Muhammad
And now how do we translate this? How do we see this principle of mercy carry over in the life of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and then how can we further implement it and realize it? Many will be able to take great inspiration from this passage of surah number 19. For everyone's benefit, this is something you should go back and read later for yourself. This is ayahs number 41 through 49. So some will be able to take inspiration from that, but on a more general level, I wanted to share a profound example of that same principle of mercy playing out in the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم
The Story of Fudala Ibn Umair
There's a very beautiful story that is narrated within many of the books of hadith and particularly in the books of seerah. It's mentioned by Ibn Ishaq, Ibn Hisham, Ibn Kathir and many, many other scholars in
their texts. It is known popularly as:
Kayfa aslama Fudalatu bnu Umayr
"The story of Fudala Ibn Umair Al-Laythi - How did Fudala Ibn Umair رضي الله تعالى عنه accept Islam? How did he become a Muslim?"
So the narration tells us that when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم came for the conquest of Mecca and Mecca again submitted and many of the people in Mecca believed, accepted Islam, and the Deen of Allah was established there in Mecca, it had been a couple of days since the day of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم the Muslims' entrance into Mecca. They were worshipping at the Kaaba and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was doing tawaf.
Some of the leaders or the individuals within the Meccan community who had not completely dealt with the reality that now Mecca has accepted Islam, but they were still kind of holding out, but they were laying low, they were kind of sitting and talking. A couple of these people, still venting, and they were very frustrated. Fudala, this man, he comes to them and he says, "Would you like for me to take care of this issue for you? I can solve this problem." They said, "Sure." So he said, "I'm good at kind of blending into the crowd. I'm very good at wielding a knife, right? I'm very quick. So let me take care of this." They said, "Go ahead."
So he waits and he finds the Prophet of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم doing tawaf. He's worshipping, he's circling the Kaaba as a form of worship. He finds the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم doing tawaf. He says that he kind of joined in, you know, usually there's a group of people moving around so he kind of blended into the group. He joined into the circle and as the people kept moving around, he slowly kept kind of inching his way closer to the actual Kaaba where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was on the innermost part of the circle. He kept inching closer and closer, very casually, you know, very smoothly so nobody would notice any abrupt movements.
And he got to the point where he was right next to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and he said, "I had a knife, I had a dagger stashed inside of my clothing, my shirt." And he said he was very quick about like getting it out, stabbing, and then tucking it back in. So he says that when I got close to the Prophet صلی الله عليه وسلم where I was right next to him and I was just kind of bracing myself for the perfect time and the perfect swift movement to be able to take him out, he says the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said to me:
Madha kunta tureed ya Fudalah?
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said to me - rather he says to me أَفْصَالَةُ - "Is your name Fudala?" And he said, "I was a bit taken aback. Why is he speaking to me? How does he know who I am?" And I said:
Na'am, Fudalatu ya rasoolallah
"Yes, I am Fudala, oh messenger of God," kind of keeping up my cover. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم then says:
Madha kunta tuhaddithu bihi nafsak?
"What were you thinking about doing, Fudala? Why did you come here? Why are you standing next to me? What are you thinking about doing?" And he said:
La shay'
"Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm here worshipping God. I don't know what you're talking about."
And he says that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم smiled at me. He chuckled, he smiled. And then he says the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said to me:
Istaghfirillah
"Ask Allah for forgiveness."
Thumma wada'a yadahu 'ala sadrihi fa-sakana qalbuh
And he said that he turned to me, he said, "Ask Allah for forgiveness," and he reached out and he placed his hand on my chest and he said, "Ask Allah for forgiveness." It's like putting your arm around someone. This is an assassin! "Ask Allah for forgiveness. It's okay, it's okay. Talk to Allah."
And Fudala says:
Fa-wallahi ma rafa'a yadahu 'an sadree hatta ma min khalqillahi shay'un ahabbu ilayya minhu
"By Allah, by the time the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم had lifted his hand off my chest, there was nothing in this world that was more beloved to me than this man Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم."
He says that when I left the Kaaba, when I left the Haram on my way, he says that I passed by a place where back in the old days I used to go and commit sins over there. Right, there was a place where I used to go, a particular residence where I used to go and commit a sin there. I used to commit zina, fornication. He says I was still just reeling in, internalizing what had just transpired, and one of the individuals, one of the women that I used to, you know, commit the sin with, she saw me passing by and so she asked me that, "Are you free? Do you have any plans?" And he says that I said no, and he said that as he was walking away he recited the following couplets, a few lines of poetry. He said:
Ala la ureedu zina wash-shirku yakhsha wajhahu * dhul-'ula wal-majdi yawmal-fathi lamma ra'aytun- nabiyya wa qabilahu wa Muhammadan * fa-asbahtu musliman wallahu a'lam
"No, God and Islam will no longer allow me to do so. If I had not seen Muhammad and his people on the day of the conquest on which the idols were broken, then maybe I would have come to you. But now I have seen the beautiful religion of God clear as day and the times of darkness and shirk are long gone."
The Power of Living by Principle
This is the power of living by principle. This is the effectiveness when we conduct ourselves with principle. And the primary and the first of those principles, as I've reiterated many times today, is mercy. When we conduct ourselves, we talk about being merciful to others. The greatest mercy we do to anyone when we conduct ourselves by these principles is we are merciful upon ourselves. The greatest favor that we are doing is to ourselves and others are also able to benefit from this.
This is the life, the legacy of Ibrahim عليه السلام. This is the millah of our spiritual forefather Abraham. And this is the tradition and the sunnah of our beloved messenger Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. Live with principles and the primary of those principles is the mercy of Allah.
Closing
May Allah grant us all the ability to practice everything that was heard and said. May Allah grant us the ability to study the legacy of Ibrahim صلى الله عليه وسلم in the framework of everything that we practice.
: قَالَ اللهُ تَعَالَى
Innallaha ya'muru bil-'adli wal-ihsani wa eetai dhil-qurba wa yanha 'anil-fahsha'i wal-munkari wal-baghyi ya'idhukum la'allakum tadhakkaroon. Wadhkurullaha yadhkurkum wad'oohu yastajib lakum wa ladhikrullahi akbar wallahu ya'lamu ma tasna'oon (Quran 16:90-91)