Abdul Rahman Chao - 4-18-25

We praise Him, we ask His help and we ask His forgiveness. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He leads astray, none can guide him.

I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Peace and blessings be upon him and his family and all his companions.

The Story of the Grave Robber

The Prophet ﷺ tells us in authentic narration in Bukhari that there was a man from the children of Israel. And he was given wealth, he was given children. And when you look at all the other different narrations, it actually tells us of a man who lived with a very dark secret. And he actually used to dig people's graves up and steal from them.

What a horrible crime that he would do. He would dig up fresh graves and look through the body and steal things. And he never really followed any of the rules that Allah had legislated.

In fact, in another narration the Prophet ﷺ described him as:

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

He did not do any good deeds. It doesn't mean zero, it just means hardly anything. But he was a believer, except for Tawheed. He believed in the oneness of Allah. He did not associate any partners, he did not associate in worship any partners to Allah, or attribute or ascribe any partners to Allah.

And he never really thought too highly of his good deeds, because he lived this very dark secret of exhuming graves and stealing from them.

And when he realized that he was approaching death, he came to his sons and he said, When I pass away, I want you to do this for me. And he made sure that they would obey him. So he said, after I have died, I want you to cremate me, and I want you to scatter my ashes. Scatter my ashes. And another narration, find a windy day, and scatter my ashes into the sea. For indeed if Allah takes a hold of me, He will punish me in a manner like He has never punished anyone before.

So after he died, his sons cremated him, and they scattered his ashes. Afterwards, Allah commanded the earth to bring forth all of his ashes. That is very easy for Allah.

It is very easy for Allah. And Allah resurrected him in front of him. And he asked him, why did you command your sons to do this? What motivated you to tell them to cremate you and scatter your ashes on a windy day? And he said, Oh my Lord, I was indeed afraid of you. I was afraid of your punishment. And because of that, Allah forgave him.

Never Give Up in Allah's Mercy

Brothers and sisters, giving up in the mercy of Allah is never an option. You look at what is going on in Gaza. Have you seen anyone on social media in Gaza saying, I disbelieve in Allah because how could Allah do this to us? In fact, you see them having more iman and yaqeen in Allah.

I saw a video this morning of a 20-year-old girl. She was a university student in Gaza. And she was weeping and she was saying, Today was the day that I was supposed to get married. Her fiance had already proposed to her. But unfortunately, he was martyred, he was killed. And what did she say? Look at the words that came out of her mouth. She said, الحمد لله على كل حال - All praise is due to Allah in all situations.

You look at the people in Syria. They endured 54 years of tyranny. You don't find anyone of them saying, أين الله, where is Allah in all this? I disbelieve in Allah. If there was a God, this would not have happened. Patience. Not giving up in the mercy of Allah.

Allah tells us in the Qur'an:

Say, oh my servants, say to them who have sinned and transgressed against themselves, do not despair, do not give up in the mercy of Allah. For indeed Allah forgives all sins. Verily, He is all forgiving.

Allah created us and He knows that we sin. In fact, Allah tells us in a hadith Qudsi in which He says:

Oh my servants, indeed you make mistakes and you sin day and night. And I forgive all sins. So seek forgiveness in me. Ask me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.

I want you to look at the wording here. Allah is saying, you, oh my servants, sin day and night. Allah didn't even clarify if this is big sins, small sins, major sins, the types of sins. Allah simply saying in the number of times and frequency during the day and night. And yet Allah is giving a blanket amnesty and He says, And I forgive all sins. So seek forgiveness and I forgive you.

In another hadith Qudsi, Allah tells us and ponder over these words. He says:

Allah in this hadith Qudsi, He says, Oh son of Adam, I forgive you as long as you pray to me and you ask me for forgiveness. Whatever sins you have committed. Oh son of Adam, I do not care if your sins reach عَنَانَ السَّمَاءِ - the height of the heavens. Can you imagine? Your sins are so high, it reaches the heavens. And you ask me for forgiveness and I would forgive you. Oh son of Adam, if you come to me with an earth load of sins, and you come to me in the hereafter, not associating partners with me, I will match it with an earth load of forgiveness.

Why People Give Up

So brothers and sisters, not giving up is the attribute that we are discussing today. And sometimes when people give up, one of the ways that they try to escape the reality of the sins that have burdened their souls is by disbelieving in the entire system. That somehow if they just say, well all of this is just made up, it doesn't make any sense. Then since I'm going to hell anyways, if I just disbelieve in the reality and the consequences, then it's somehow easier as they numb themselves from the burden of their mistakes.

Because brothers and sisters, it is easier to be a rebel against the system than it is to look in the mirror and reflect and think about where you are in your relationship with Allah.

And that is why brothers and sisters, the scholars they have always warned people about the dangers of giving up in the mercy of Allah. Why? Because sometimes when a person gives up in the mercy of Allah, they go through this self-fulfilling prophecy, where shaitan comes to them and tells them that you are not good enough, you are so sinful and you are so filthy in the eyes of Allah, and Allah is so pure and so exalted, who are you to come so horrible in front of Allah. And therefore that person despairs.

Another thing to think about is that more often than not, people expect instant results. They ask Allah and they think Allah is going to give them exactly how they want it at that moment. And so when they don't get it, they immediately give up.

Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah, he talks about people who give up in the mercy of Allah, like the person who plants a seed into the ground, waters it and waits for it a little bit, doesn't see results, and then stops watering and then gives up completely. When you ask Allah for something, you have to remember that results are not instantaneous. They could be if Allah wants it to be, but you have to be patient.

The Example of Ibrahim (AS)

Everyone here is going through some sort of difficulty, whether it is a loss of a job, the death of a loved one, perhaps couples are going through infertility, perhaps it is not passing a very important exam, perhaps you are estranged from a family member, perhaps it is something that you've been asking for and Allah has not given it to you.

Find inspiration in the story of Ibrahim (AS) and his wife Sara. For 70-80 years they had no children. And Ibrahim (AS) kind of accepted the reality that after a certain point, biologically it was probably not going to happen. But when the angels came to him and gave him the good tidings that he should be blessed, that he will be blessed with a son, he was astonished.

And so the angels said:

We are giving you the glad tidings of something that is truthful, that will indeed happen with the son of Ishaq. So do not be among those who give up.

What did Ibrahim (AS) say? He said:

He's saying, I didn't give up. The people who give up in the mercy of Allah are those who are astray. Why? Because when you give up in Allah, you're saying that there's nothing good left. You have exhausted all venues and all methods and means. And that is not true, brothers and sisters.

Three Things to Remember

And so what I want you to take home with are three things. When you are making dua to Allah, know that number one, everything is good for you insha'Allah. If something good happens to you, you give thanks to Allah. And if something that happens to you, you don't like, you are patient.

Number two, know in your heart that when you make dua to Allah, that your dua will be accepted. Now the way how it is accepted is up to Allah. Three outcomes that are guaranteed. Either Allah will answer your dua, and you will get what you want. Or Allah removes something horrible, or a big test that was supposed to come your way, so Allah gives you something else by removing that harm. Or thirdly, Allah will give you something even better in the next life.

And finally, brothers and sisters, to not give up in the hope of Allah, means to not attach yourself to the means as though those are the objectives. And what do I mean by that? Allah gave us dua as a tool to hold out hope. We think that dua is the thing that gets it answered. No. See, because Allah didn't just say, have hope in your heart, Allah gave us the way how to do it, and that is to hold your hands up and to ask Allah.

So there is benefit in the dua. But the dua is the method by which you keep your hopes up. So brothers and sisters, whatever difficulties you are going through, whatever struggles you are going through, know that the doors of Allah are always open. Know that the mercy of Allah is always there, as long as you reach out and you ask Allah.