Barakah (Umm Ayman) The First Woman to hold Prophet ﷺ - Bilal Assad

Barakah (Umm Ayman): The First Woman to Hold the Prophet

Lecture by Bilal Assad

Opening

"Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh" (Peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you)

"Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem" (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)

Introduction

It's a pleasure for me to be here in front of these wonderful faces. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to fill them with light in this world and in the next.

Brothers and sisters in Islam, one of my favourite places to be is to talk to youth. This is my area. And I don't think the youth of Malaysia are very different to the youth of Melbourne, of Australia. I think alhamdulillah, youth is youth.

So I think inshaAllah, as I address you, I think I'm talking to the same type of youth I always talk to anywhere else in the world inshaAllah. Brothers and sisters in Islam, as I'm speaking I may use some Aussie slang words. I'm sorry if some of these words may confuse some of you.

I've been asked to talk to you about companions around Rasulullah ﷺ. But they asked me to focus on women, a sahabiyah for a change. What do you think? Brothers, it's okay inshaAllah, we'll talk about the sahabiyat.

The Young Companions

And every now and then we may bring a sahabi man into it, a young boy, because we're talking about youth, such as Anas, such as Abdullah ibn Abbas or Ali. We have these who are very young people. And just before I start, let me see what you do know.

So when we say someone like Abdullah ibn Abbas or we say someone like Anas, what age do you think they were when we talk about them? When all these stories we hear about Abdullah ibn Abbas and Anas ibn Malik, how old do you think they were? Seventeen, actually not, they were eleven years old. When we talk about Anas, he was eleven years old. The stories we hear about him, the hadith he narrates to us, eleven, twelve years old.

And he was with Rasulullah ﷺ from about ten years old to about thirteen, fourteen. Abdullah ibn Abbas, we're talking about eleven years old. These youngsters, when we talk about them, when we're telling us their stories

about with Rasulullah ﷺ, they were about eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old.

Subhanallah, we have so much about them at that age. Sahabiyyat were also like that. Sahabiyyat means the female companions.

Now sahabi and sahabiyyat, just so you understand, they're people who met Rasulullah ﷺ, they believed in Rasulullah ﷺ's message, and what's the third condition? So they died on that belief. So they died on that belief because some of them actually left Islam. We don't call them Ashab Rasulullah ﷺ. Those who met him, believed in him, and what? Died on that message.

Introducing Baraka (Umm Ayman)

I thought about which sahabiyyat to talk to you about. And I want to talk about someone who's close to my own heart, someone personal to me, that I enjoy reading about and talking about. I don't know if she would interest most of you here, or her story would be as inspiring as it was for me, but I think inshallah, it's someone whom you don't often read about.

I don't know if you've heard about this particular sahabiyyah. Her nickname is Baraka. Has anyone heard of that name before? Baraka. Baraka radhiyallahu anha. No? How about Ummu Ayman? You've heard of the name Ummu Ayman, but do we know who Ummu Ayman is?

My brothers and sisters in Islam, the story I want to bring to you today inshallah, and we'll rotate around it with other things that happened around her, a little bit after her. Her name is known as Baraka, later on known as Ummu Ayman. The name Baraka is the only name we know of her.

We don't know any other name. And subhanallah, it brings great sorrow to me that the seerah books don't emphasize a lot about her. And we don't hear mashayikh and duaat speaking about her too much.

A lot of us don't know much about her. But if I were to ask you this question, would you like to hear about the first person in the entire universe who physically touched Rasulullah ﷺ before anyone else? You would say yes. Who is it the one who touched Rasulullah ﷺ before anyone else on the face of the earth? She is Baraka.

She is the first one to lay hands on Rasulullah ﷺ when he was born.

Baraka's Background

So let's tell us the story of this woman, Baraka, the woman of Jannah. She was an Ethiopian lady. Her origin is Ethiopian, Habashiya, like Bilal radiallahu anhu. Except that Bilal was known to be Bilal ibn Rabah. Baraka was not known bint who.

We don't even know who her parents were. We don't know who her ancestors were. We don't know anything about her except she doesn't even know anything about herself, about her lineage, subhanallah.

She is Baraka and later on known as Ummu Ayman from Al-Habasha, from Ethiopia, that's it. So she came from hundreds of years of slavery through her ancestors to the point where she doesn't know her lineage. In one time she was bought in the market by who? By Abdullah, the father of Muhammad ﷺ, Abdullah.

And you know for someone to be bought, in those days slavery was universal. So they don't get confused, we don't have much of it today but in those days it was universal. The Romans, the Persians, the Arabs, all of them practiced, there was slavery everywhere.

They could not free them. If they freed them there would be an epidemic of public property happening. Slaves would have been killed, taken, raped, pillaged, so they couldn't free them. But the slavery was there and slaves themselves couldn't free themselves, they didn't know where to go, they were afraid. The only way slaves could survive and meet and eat and drink and look after their children was to be slaves, to be bought and sold in the market unfortunately. This was throughout the world.

But subhanallah, for a slave to end up with a man such as the father of Muhammad ﷺ, a Qurashi, a Hashimi, one of the best of families known to the Arab world, surely Baraka would have been a very special woman. From the point when she was bought in the market she was an extremely special woman. Someone that was so dear to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but among the public, till today unfortunately not very popular.

Life with the Prophet's Family

So Abdullah bought her. She was only about nine or ten years old, not more than that. She was a child. My daughter is now eight years old subhanallah, she's a child. Nine years old, ten years old, estimate, because they didn't even know the actual age of children at that time. Estimated to be nine or ten years old.

She was bought by Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib. Abdullah ibn Abdul Muttalib was extremely generous, full of manners, very kind. He looked after Baraka as if she was his daughter.

And Amina bint Wahab, the mother of Muhammad ﷺ, she looked after her as if she was her daughter, literally. And Baraka loved the company of the family of Muhammad ﷺ, intensely. She didn't want to leave them.

It was paradise for her. She loved Abdullah and loved Amina more than what she almost loved herself. And in those days the rule was, if there was a slave of the family, she became, any other man became her mahram as well.

So she can shake hands with Abdullah, she can be in the same room and take off her hijab in front of him when she became a Muslim, if she was at that time. So Baraka now was in the household of the family of Muhammad ﷺ. She was the first slave of the family of Rasulullah and the only one.

They offered to free her but she refused. She wanted to stay among them, serving them and be among their family. She said, where will I go? Who can I find better than you? How can I look after myself? I'd rather be among you and everybody know that you own me. You are my masters. I'm happy to do that. You've got to take yourself 1,400 years ago to understand that.

But this was a privilege. So Baraka was raised among them. There's one thing to note about Baraka, she hardly spoke.

And this was something that Rasulullah ﷺ later on said, among the people that fear Allah and that believe in the hereafter are the ones who say only the necessary words. Something that is good or they are silent. Baraka had this trait before Rasulullah ﷺ even taught the people that.

Before he was born. She was also extremely optimistic. Anything that happened, she always interpreted it in a good way. When you're afraid, she was the one to make you feel peaceful.

The Dream of Amina

And Amina bint Wahab could not need anyone more than Subhanallah Baraka in her life. What happened? We all know the story of Abdullah. He just became married. So he had bought Baraka and he married Amina and she came into the family. Only in about a few months, Amina bint Wahab, she became pregnant and she saw a dream.

She saw a dream as though sunlight, Noor, was emanating coming out of her belly, out of her abdomen. And it lighted up the city of Makkah all the way to Iraq. So she woke up and the first person she came to was who? Not her husband, Baraka.

She said to her, Ya Baraka, come here, I've seen this dream. It lighted up throughout Makkah all the way to Yathrib in Iraq, Busra. What do you think this is? And Baraka's first words were this.

She smiled and put her hand on her shoulder saying to her, Ya Amina, umm, she used to call her mother. Ya Amina, my mother. Abshiri, have good tidings.

This is a sign from above the heavens. You have someone important inside of you. The first woman to make this bishara, to make this good news.

The first woman to work it out. In fact, the first person on the face of the earth to work out that there is an important man more beloved and more special than anyone on the face of the earth to come out. Now we all know that the first person to make this bishara was probably Abdul Muttalib, his grandfather.

She said, hide him, keep this dream a secret. Don't tell anyone, for if the people knew, they'll start going jealous and probably plot for him. He knew the people of Makkah.

But Baraka knew this before even Abdul Muttalib. And a lot of the, in the seerah we fail to find this, that Baraka is the first woman to recognize this and interpret this. And Abdul Muttalib, when he found out, the grandfather, he said to Amina, keep it a secret.

Don't even tell your family, except your husband and don't tell your extended family. Yet Baraka knew and he didn't care that Baraka knew because Baraka was also a woman who kept secrets as we said. Very short tongue.

One thing about Baraka, she was not a very attractive girl. She wasn't one of those who everybody looked at and said, wow. Her lineage was unknown as well. Another downside to the people in those days, not a downside to us, a downside to the culture of the people of Makkah. Who is this? Yet look at her status with Allah.

The Death of Abdullah

Then came the day when Abdullah, the father of Muhammad was on an expedition going to Syria on a business trade. We know the story. On his way back, close to Syria, Abdullah died. And when the news came to Abdul Muttalib, he became very sorrowful, very sad.

If you know the story of Abdul Muttalib and how many camels he had to slaughter in order to break his vow when he made a vow that he will slaughter his last son for the gods and all of that stuff. You know, there's a big story about that. He sacrificed 100 camels to save his son because of a pledge he made. This Abdullah and he was the youngest. So he was the most beloved and closest to Abdul Muttalib. So the grief of Abdul Muttalib was amazing.

Now can you imagine Amina, his wife? She was left alone, widowed, not knowing, not seeing her husband died far away near Syria and she's pregnant. And she's sick already with the pregnancy, hearing about her husband Abdullah dying. She was grieved for more than two months straight.

Lucky she didn't, subhanAllah, she didn't lose her child. Usually a woman within her first trimester, the sisters will know, in the first trimester, first three months, it's the most critical stage. A woman, if she is depressed or in anxiety or she is stressed out, she can lose her baby immediately.

Yet Amina went through this extreme depression and sadness, yet subhanAllah, her baby only grew strong. In fact, it made her strong. Who was there for her? Baraka.

Baraka was there at the time of her extreme depression. She could have not gone through it without Baraka being there. So she was a therapist beyond any therapist today.

Emotional therapist, psychological therapist, a therapist for anxiety, a therapist for depression, a very simple woman who understood how to give therapy to people to make them calm and at ease. She'd earn big bucks today, big therapist today because of the depression epidemic we have and anxiety that we have around the

The Birth of the Prophet

Baraka nurtured her until the day came, about a month before her birth, the birth of Muhammad ﷺ, Amina wanted to visit the grave of her husband. To that point, she couldn't live peacefully until she visited the grave of her husband. That's how much love she had for him.

And the romance between Amina and Abdullah is another story as well. So she said to Baraka, I want you to come with me, you're my only person who gives me calmness. I would like you to come with me and go with us too.

I want to go to visit my husband's grave. She set off with her. Now, Baraka at this age was probably, the historians say, about 14 years old.

Maybe 13 or 14. And Amina is over 20, close to 30 years old. A 13-14 year old these days is a teenager who we call a brat.

We say they're brats, because I teach year nines. When we get to the year nines, you know they're 13-14, wallahi, as they say in Arabic, "(When I make wudu, I make wudu in yogurt)," they say. It's this saying that I get stressed out.

So 13-14 years old, look how much wisdom and how much comfort she gave to a person who is nearly 30. A pregnant lady, better than any nurse or midwife.

Before that came, she had given birth to Muhammad ﷺ. And when she gave birth to Rasulullah ﷺ, Baraka was the midwife of Amina.

There was no one else. She gave birth to Rasulullah ﷺ, Baraka carried Muhammad ﷺ, Baraka took Rasulullah ﷺ and wrapped him up immediately and placed him onto his mother, Amina, to suckle.

The Death of Amina

Time passed and Rasulullah ﷺ became six years old, six. Now Rasulullah ﷺ being six years old is not like the other six year old children that you hear about. Six years old was like a twenty year old.

He remembered everything, he recalled everything, you tell him something he would recall it, he understands the wisdom behind it, he understood it on a deeper level. He was known like that even before he became a prophet. That's when the story came, when Amina wanted to go and visit the grave of Abdullah.

So they went to Syria, on their way back in Al-Abwa, Amina became ill in Al-Abwa and she brought Baraka towards her. She said to her, "Ya Baraka, I'm about to pass away, I'm about to die, I entrust Muhammad to you ﷺ, be to him a mother the way I was and better. For wallahi I do not trust anyone else who can carry this role."

So Amina, so Baraka took Rasulullah ﷺ, held him tightly and began to cry. Rasulullah ﷺ looked at Baraka's face and when he noticed she was crying, he knew it was bad news. He looked at his mother, would look at Baraka, look back at his mother, wallahi this is exactly the detail that the historians narrated, looked at Baraka, looked at his mother and he knew something was wrong. And then he began to cry at the tender age of six years old, knowing that his mother was going to die.

The second day came and Amina said to Baraka, "Bring Muhammad to me ﷺ" and she was taking her last breaths. She whispered something into the ear of Baraka and said to her, something which made her cry immensely, which was, "I'm dying."

Rasulullah ﷺ is looking at his mother and a six year old child sees before his eyes, his mother take her last breaths.

She died in front of Rasulullah ﷺ. Baraka began to cry heavily and when Rasulullah ﷺ saw her cry, he burst into tears. And he threw himself onto the chest of his mother, I'm telling you in detail, he threw himself onto the chest of his mother and he wrapped his arms around her neck tightly. He placed his cheek on her cheek tightly and he began to cry heavily saying, "Ummah, Ummah."

The Prophet Remembers His Mother

Then after a long while, he looked at Baraka and Baraka hugged him tightly and he began from that day calling her, "Ummi Baada Ummi" - my mother after my mother.

Brothers and sisters, can you imagine with me, a six year old child witnessing his mother's death before his eyes. He never saw his father. He was a yateem, an orphan, a true orphan. And now he is entrusted to a woman whose lineage is unknown, whose name is unknown except for Baraka, the generous, Baraka means blessing.

And she was the slave of his family. She now becomes the mother of Muhammad ﷺ. Who is this woman? How great is she, subhanAllah, for Allah to choose her? This is planned out, thousands of years ago, planned out.

The Prophet Remembers His Mother

And Rasulullah ﷺ is only six, do you think how much he will remember of this? Well let me take you a few decades after that.

Rasulullah ﷺ remembered this moment subhanAllah even until he was about 50 something years old. When he was coming to Medina and he went past a grave in Al Abwa, he sat down at this grave and he began to cry. And Umar saw him.

He said to him:

"What's making you cry, Ya Rasulullah? Tell us so that we may cry with you."

And he said:

"This is the grave of the mother of your Prophet. I remembered and recalled her kindness towards me when I was small."

So Rasulullah ﷺ remembers. So at 6 years old she dies. He remembers her hanaan, her empathy, her kindness before he was even 6. Up to the age when he was 50 something years old and he's remembering crying, "I remembered her hanaan upon me."

I asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to place her in Jannah and he did not respond to me. And some ulema, they go with this saying that if this hadith is authentic then this is evidence that the parents of Rasulullah ﷺ died on shirk وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ . But Rasulullah ﷺ is crying remembering even with that her empathy and her kindness when he was a child.

Marriage to Zayd ibn Harithah

So my brothers and sisters that death before his eyes was intense. It was intense. Baraka then went with Rasulullah ﷺ and raised him.

Now she was like a mother and those who describe the relationship it's kind of a funny one. It's like this child who speaks to his mother like a friend. He used to joke with her, she used to joke with him.

Light heartedly. To the point where he became 25 years old and he married Khadija. Baraka is with Rasulullah ﷺ in his house right up to the age of 25.

He went with Abdul Muttalib then from there to Abu Talib and Baraka is with him all the way. Every step of the way. He's sleeping, he's bathing, he's going and coming, his words, his everything.

Baraka was there. I don't think anyone, anyone in the life of Rasulullah ﷺ spent more time and saw more of Rasulullah ﷺ's childhood and adult to his death than Baraka. Yet subhanAllah we don't hear about her much.

Marriage to Zayd ibn Harithah

At the age of 25 Rasulullah ﷺ became married to Khadija. And the first thing he did on the first night, he went to Khadija's house because she is the one who gave him ma'war. Khadija, she was wealthier than Rasulullah ﷺ and she is the one who gave Rasulullah ﷺ to live with her in her house.

There's a big story to that, subhanAllah. And then he said to Baraka, he said to Khadija, "I want to introduce you to someone very special to me." He called Baraka in and she said, "This is Khadija" and he said to Khadija, "This is Baraka, Ya Khadija, innaha ummi ba'da ummi - she is my mother after my mother."

And he said to her, "Ya Baraka, I am now married. You are unmarried. It's time for you to get married."

And Khadija said to her, "Ya Baraka, it's true. Wallahi I have the best man for you who lives in Yathrib, in Medina." They were still in Mecca that time. "In Medina. If you want, I will spend and pay for you, Khadija. I will spend and pay for your wedding and everything that you need. Because the man is not very well off."

She said, "Ya Rasulullah" - well, at that time he became Rasul. Baraka was among the first to embrace Islam. Which means she was the first among the slaves to embrace Islam. Khadija was the first among the women to embrace Islam. Abu Bakr the first among the men and Ali the first among the children, the boys. Baraka the first among the slaves.

She said, "Ya Rasulullah, Wallahi I cannot bear leaving you and going away. How can I get married and leave you? I need to look after you."

Rasulullah said, "No, Ya Baraka, I cannot bear living without you being married. You have desires, you have your needs as well. You must get married."

And this is the way Rasulullah taught us young people whoever of you is able to get married then get married. Able to look after a family, especially the men, more on the men. If you are able to look after a family, then get married. And Allah will assist you.

So then she went and married this man from Medina and Allah gave her a child named Ayman and so she was known as Umm Ayman.

Umm Ayman lived with Abu Ayman for about 2 years and he died in a battle, so she became widowed again, back to the house of Rasulullah ﷺ but this time with a child, Ayman and Ayman was a child raised in the household of Rasulullah ﷺ, so he was among the young Sahabis, Ayman.

Time passed and Rasulullah ﷺ made hijrah to Medina and there was his adopted, formerly adopted son Zayd, we all know about Zayd another young man, he had been married to Zainab bint Jahsh, that's what her name was and then it didn't work out, they became divorced and later on Rasulullah ﷺ married her big story to that and Zayd became a single man.

So one day Rasulullah ﷺ was sitting with his young companions very young, between your ages similar to your ages and Zayd wouldn't have been more than 25 years old at that time maybe even less, early 20s. Baraka at that time would have been close to her 40s mid 30s on top of that a widow, on top of that her lineage is unknown, on top of that not very attractive at that time physically.

She entered, Rasulullah ﷺ called her in, she entered he said something to her and she left then he said to the people:

"Who wants to marry a woman of Jannah, of paradise?"

They all put their hands up "Me ya Rasulullah, a woman of Jannah that means she will take me with her to Jannah a woman of Jannah must have an amazing character I'll have a beautiful life with her in this life I'll be happy forever, I'll have Jannah on earth and Jannah in the hereafter."

He said "Good, she is my mother."

All the hands went down nobody wanted to marry her. Subhanallah but Zayd kept his hand up.

He said "Ya Rasulullah I will marry her."

He said "You'll marry a woman of paradise?"

He said "No one but her ya Rasulullah."

Close in his mid 20s she is in her mid 30s he didn't care about that what he was looking for is the Iman the character and surely Rasulullah would not recommend someone unless she is something amazing. Subhanallah these are the first qualities we look for.

Her Character and Final Days

She grew up and she was one of the people of paradise she went on battles with Rasulullah. There was a time when she loved the battles so much she wanted to inspire and motivate the companions so she used to try her best to stand up and please Rasulullah she wanted to make him happy.

So one time she stood up and said a sentence in Arabic telling them march towards the enemy and don't look back be brave and the way she said it, she put the grammar backwards back to front in Arabic Baraka didn't speak Arabic very well she was a Habashiya.

And Rasulullah when he heard her he laughed and he said "Be quiet you don't know how to talk." Then when I talk about the relationship between Rasulullah and Baraka it was like that "Be quiet you don't know how to talk it's embarrassing the way you're talking" and she laughed she said "Come on get out of here" that's the relationship.

Rasulullah died and Baraka was still alive when he died they found her crying immensely who wouldn't but then they approached her. "Rasulullah is in Jannah you're crying and you knew that Allah was going to take him away his mission has ended you're meeting with him in Hawd."

She said to him "Wallahi I'm not crying about the death of Rasulullah I know that he has died I'm a believer in that but the reason I'm crying is because the Wahi used to come down frequently and now I know there is no more Wahi between the heavens and the earth this is what I'm crying about."

So her Iman was high. Baraka lived in the Khilafah of Abu Bakr the Khilafah of Umar and the Khilafah of Uthman she lived on and Zayd died and she lived on as a widow the last husband was Zayd she never married anyone after him.

That was Baraka who died at the Khilafah of Uthman.

---

Lessons from Her Life

Don't hear much about a therapist, a person who loved Rasulullah, one full of Iman, optimistic, the one whom the family of Rasulullah could not live without and the one whom Rasulullah found comfort with after the death

of Abu Talib, Khadija and the other people around him.

My brothers and sisters in Islam this is one story which I wanted to bring to your attention to point out the following:

Number One: The merit of a person is not based on their lineage or their colour or their status in society or their wealth. No. For we don't even know her name except Baraka and Ummu Ayman we don't know her lineage and she wasn't physically very attractive.

Number Two: The merit of a person does not have to be known and become popular. Your merit is with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Baraka was one of those who only cared what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saw of her and her merit with him subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Number Three: Showing off our good deeds. Baraka was one of those who did not show off her good deeds she did not care whether people saw her or didn't see her.

Number Four: Very importantly, a short tongue. She only spoke what was necessary and that which benefited. For us, as Allah says in the Quran:

"Many of your conversations many of them are non-beneficial" (Reference: Surah An-Nisa 4:114)

إِلَّا - except of sadaqa and sadaqa here means anything that you possess and you give when you're not obliged. It doesn't mean only money the things that we speak with, the smile that we give the service that we give is all called sadaqa and Baraka was one of those.

My brothers and sisters in Islam this is the story I had for you. I hope insha'Allah you can go away with something to talk to your family about insha'Allah and teach your children about how Islam puts merit to the people who are not popular and we don't go after popularity and how Islam rises and raises people who are not very well known in the community but their actions and their merit to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is what means everything to us.

---

Question and Answer Session

Question 1: Are the people who died before Islam revealed to Muhammad will enter Jannah?

Not all of them. Some of them were according to the hadith that we hear about and not all of them so not all the people were revealed to Rasulullah will enter paradise or enter hellfire but he did mention someone by the name of Waraqa ibn Nawfal.

When Rasulullah was still in his twenties Khadija took him to him and he said "If I were to live to the day when your people expel you from Mecca I will be the first to support you" and Rasulullah said that he is in Jannah because he was a monotheist who followed the religion of Ibrahim alaihi wa sallam.

There's only a few people Rasulullah knew about. Rasulullah was revealed about some people but some people he didn't know.

Question 2: How can a youth who lives in a non-Islamic surrounding protect his iman?

Good question subhanallah but long answer. The advice I can give - I know that this is something your parents will tell you all the time - I think marriage plays a big role in helping your iman but at the same time you have to maintain your marriage and look after it properly otherwise your marriage will make your iman fly out the window as well.

The basic guidance of Rasulullah helps you anywhere:

Number One: He said:

"Fear Allah wherever you are."

What this means is that let's say you're out at university or you're in the street or you're somewhere else where haram has attracted you has come to you if you're a person who develops a habit where you have taqwa of Allah wherever you are then the next moment you're in the masjid the taqwa kicks in inshallah and you make istighfar.

Secondly:

"Do not befriend except a believer."

This is something very important in an un-Islamic country or a place where non-Islamic surroundings. It is absolutely crucial for you to choose friends who remind you of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. You walk with them you go to them even if they are a bit older or younger have them as your friends and be together. You can't be alone you can't do it alone especially if you're single. So you need a surrounding, you need people who remind you, hit you on the head sometimes when you forget you hit them on the head when they forget. You need those types of friends.

Some advices inshallah - you know dhikr. Adhkar are so vital and so crucial to your iman it's unbelievable. I live in Australia when I came to Malaysia I could already see the signs in my own family. My family is with me here I could already see the signs in them and me just by merely hearing the adhan in the mosques in the masjids having dhikr around you plays a humongous role in your iman.

Now don't expect that when you do that you're going to go outside and as soon as you see something haram or meet something haram that you're going to be an angel. No, you're not expected to be perfect. Don't you get that out of your head. Some people they think iman that's good to think that you're losing your iman.

Aisha was asked at one time who is a mu'min? How can you tell? She was extremely scholarly Aisha so she said these following words. I read them subhanallah these statements I've never heard before. She said "The mu'min is the one who does not think they're mu'min and the one who is not mu'min always thinks that they are absolute mu'mins."

Your iman comes and goes your iman is your friend sometimes it leaves you when you're in haram your desires take over but this is something I can tell you if you stick with your adhkar and you make it a habit give yourself about 40 days. You make your adhkar and make it a habit it works wonders because when you come back you regret badly even from the smallest thing you regret it, you cry.

And you know what Allah says in the Quran, He doesn't say those who are it doesn't whenever Allah speaks about mu'min he describes something about them. He speaks about their emotions and what happens to them and usually there are many many verses in the Quran where Allah mentions the mu'min and sins, like they sin they remember Allah after sinning so there's something related to it.

Iman is not that you become this super being that nothing affects you anymore no, it does still affect you it's the whole idea your iman comes back, hits you hard with your adhkar you remember Allah and you feel so dirty. If you don't feel dirty after that then know that your iman is low but when you feel really dirty your iman is actually high, it's the other way around.

And you know what Allah says in Surah Al-Anfal:

"Behold, as a matter of fact the real mu'minin are these - the ones who when dhikr of Allah is around them, when they remember Allah or someone reminds them immediately their hearts began to react they feel guilty, they feel regret, they feel love they feel remorse, they feel emotional they feel anxious, they feel all these things and when Allah's verses are recited, their iman rises higher." (Reference: Surah Al-Anfal 8:2)

So that means their iman was low their iman rises higher and then they rely on Allah subhana wa ta'ala. So when you stick to these dhikr my brothers and sisters you will always have a back up when you come home you've done sins your iman is heightened again and you repent and you make istighfar.

Story of Zayd and Lowering the Gaze:

You know Zayd radiallahu anhu, a young man, Zayd he was about 14, 15 at that time, just reached puberty. He was walking with Rasulullah and with Rasulullah was another companion and Rasulullah is talking and he's looking forward, but with the side of his eye he can see Zayd.

So Rasulullah he used to treat the youngsters so tenderly, he could see Zayd from the corner of his eyes, they're walking and a woman passed, a woman passed and Zayd's eyes went with her just like this and Rasulullah is with him. You'd think to yourself, if Rasulullah was with me look I'll be flying with the angels.

Rasulullah is with him and Zayd, he loves Rasulullah but a woman passed, this hormonal thing reacts and Rasulullah kept talking and he'd move his face back like that he'd talk, another woman passed his face would go like this, and Rasulullah keeps talking and he'd just move his, without Rasulullah looking, he's walking, he's talking to his companions, and just move his face again and again, subtly.

So if Zayd, with Rasulullah his Iman is up and down because of his desires, but what happened his friend is Rasulullah, reminding him when he goes back.

What did the companions used to say? When we're not with you, we feel like we're the worst of the worst, but when we're with you we feel like we're going to Jannah straight away and Rasulullah said:

"You are with those whom you love."

We love you so much and the sahabas, they said wallahi there was not a better day than that day when he said you will be with those whom you love because we sin so much and we regret we're going to hell fire, but when we love Rasulullah inshallah that's a good tiding.

So what I'm trying to say to you is this my brothers and sisters dhikr plays a big role, your salat, wallahi it's unbelievable but the way you've got to do salat is you've got to mean it, you've got to really look after it you've got to love it, you've got to make it like the way you love your hobbies. This is my salat mine, I'm going to go and pray because it's me, it's mine.

And you make for yourself like routines, say to yourself, you know what inshallah tomorrow I'm going to start praying on the time, not in time on time, I'm going to say as soon as the adhan goes I'm going to be one of those who pray on time or you might say to yourself, you know I haven't been praying the sunnahs all the time, there's 12 sunnahs I'm going to start praying them.

You make that decision, you see there's something about you making your own decision. You make your own decision you decide, come up with an islamic idea for yourself and do it say, grab that husn al muslim and say "I'm going to say subhanallah wa bi hamdihi subhanallah al azim 100 times every day at duha at 9am, 10am" you make that decision it has enormous wonders on your iman.

Because your heart gets dirty and it gets cleansed and you just feel it you just feel it. In Sydney back in Australia I said to these brothers, young people I said, pray fajr at the masjid for 40 nights 40 days. I came back 25 or 26 days later to Sydney and one brother said, "Wallahi brother it works." 26 days and I'm on a roll subhanallah till today he hasn't left it, 3 years later.

What I'm trying to say is this make a decision about something that Allah loves but you make it and make it very personal and make it a routine, subhanallah your iman stays with you and keep changing it around, keep changing it around and don't feel bad like don't feel bad that your iman is not always at it's height if it goes up and down and you bring it back up with your dhikr and with your regret then you have iman alhamdulillah, that's the iman that's iman.

As Allah says in the Quran:

"And those when they do a *fahisha*, *fahisha* means dirty, dirty acts or they wronged themselves by doing some sins they remember Allah so they seek forgiveness."

So *iman* is accompanied with people who regret and do sins and come back and go. Brothers and sisters this is kind of a brief very quick advice I can give you.

Question 3: Problem with lowering the gaze

My brothers and sisters this is an epidemic and we do live we have to say it in a hyper sexualized world. It is a struggle and I agree with you with lowering the gaze.

You know Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Source Name)

"The first look is yours the second look is against you."

Don't go looking for hours with your first look. The first look is accidental the second one is against you, but he said it in such a way that it's a minor sin, meaning he knows it's hard, it's difficult. So when you say (أَسْتَغْفِرُ ٱللَّهَ - astaghfirullah), when you pray when you give *sadaqa*, when you say *salam alaikum* to someone, when you say *la ilaha illallah* it wipes it away.

My advice to you is this number one, lowering your gaze is not something that you can do perfectly, no one can, everybody suddenly they get their desires to get the better of them. I've seen even the best of people but the difference between the person who doesn't fear Allah doesn't have any sense of *iman* or regret and the person who does, they both look sometimes but what happens, one of them goes back and does something to erase it and the other one enjoys it and tells his friends about it that's the difference.

So my advice to you is not a medicine or a cure to lower your gaze forever and never be able to look but there is no such solution. Allah created a desire in us to test us with it, it's there, and Rasulullah ﷺ said the first is yours, the second is against you, meaning it's always going to happen.

So let's just cut to the chase and let's not be super human beings none of us are super Muslims, boy or girl, men or women we all have weaknesses and these weaknesses however, the difference between a person who is weak

and fears Allah and a person who doesn't fear Allah is that the weak person does something about it.

Now when you go on the internet for example and there's these problems then the only answer I have for you is this my brothers and sisters you must stop you must and you can you can because if it becomes an addiction it's going to be very difficult to stop but you can stop.

Some people stop when they get caught by someone who they thought "I would kill myself if I get caught by this person," we don't want to get to that. Some people they stop when a tragedy happens to them, we don't want to get to that. You can stop, don't ever say to yourself you can't.

Pornography is something that causes a person to become sick and ill. You need, the only solution for *ghadal basar* is fear - fear, fearing hellfire, fearing the punishment fearing the embarrassment fearing the physical harm, the illness the sickness.

So my brothers and sisters, the best advice I can give you right now simply for lowering your gaze is if you do look then do something to erase it do something to erase it and one Sahabi said "Ya Rasulallah is saying La ilaha illallah one of the Ibadat that erases it?" He said "Among the best." So if you follow it up with that Insha Allah you'll keep it maintained and balanced.

And if you are stuck with it in secret no need to tell anyone about it leave it to you and Allah and do your utmost effort to do anything to stop it, you can stop.

Question 4: Is it allowed to celebrate the birth of Rasool Allah ﷺ?

I follow the opinion that it's not allowed it's not allowed to celebrate the birth of the Prophet but I'm not one of those who go out as if the world has ended when someone celebrates Mawlid Rasool. Now some people they go to extremes with Mawlid so how to celebrate the manner of how to celebrate also matters to me I agree.

This is something scholars have differed upon, and some of them they went through strictly the Hadith and Sunnah that if Rasool Allah did not celebrate his own birthday then are we better than him and his Sahabas to celebrate his birthday I go with that opinion.

If you want to get closer to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, then why don't you do what the Sahabas used to do. I don't think we loved Rasool Allah more than the Sahabas or the Tabi'een or the Atba'at Tabi'een, we're talking about 300 years in the making, three generations with 300 years where no one ever celebrated Mawlid Rasool, and I think they loved him more than us.

So if we just enough with that, Insha'Allah we can understand that celebrating Mawlid Rasool is not really from the Sunnah. However, if at the time of his Mawlid we actually don't know when Mawlid Rasool ﷺ is, we know it was on a Monday we know it was something like Rabi'ul Awwal, something like that but nothing is authentic.

Very important, please do not put down those brothers and those mashayikh though some of them are full of knowledge. One of my colleagues, mashallah is a doctorate, he's got a doctorate in Tawheed and Aqeedah and he Subhanallah, celebrates Mawlid Rasool. We have long conversations together about it, however the way he does it is this way.

He says "Ya Akhi, we live in a non-Muslim country and honestly, in this week we don't specify the day, but why don't we just, you know, use this time in our khutbah for example you're having a daris that day, instead of talking about another topic, talk about Sirat Rasool, talk about his birth talk about his merits, his akhlaaq his character, and when you say in this time Rasool ﷺ was born don't specify it."

Then it'll be an occasion where young people come to actually listen and learn a little bit more, in that sense I kind of agree with him but don't specify a day and turn it into a celebration type, where we have nasheeds and we have fireworks and we have dancing, we have things like that, we don't do stuff like that inshallah ta'ala. وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ

Question 5: How can you make tawbah for wronging other people?

Very good question wonderful question. Making tawbah from wronging other people is the most crucial one and the most dangerous one because Allah forgives but people may not forgive isn't that correct? Allah may forgive without even you asking but people may not forgive even for the smallest things.

So Rasul ﷺ taught us something if you have wronged someone you have to go to them and seek their pleasure. The ulama spoke a lot about that especially about backbiting go to them and seek their pleasure.

So if you had wronged them and they know about it go to them. There's a little story about Abu Bakr another sahabi where they argued about a piece of land which Rasul gave to share between them and he said "This little section was mine" the other one said "No Rasul meant it for me" so Abu Bakr accidentally said something that hurt the other sahabi.

They all stopped and Abu Bakr cried he grabbed him and said "Take your revenge say the word back to me." He said "No by Allah I will not say it back to you." So he went to Rasul to complain and the sahabi reached there and Rasul said "Is it true what Abu Bakr said?" He said yes. "Is it true you did not say the word back to him?" He said yes. He said "Please don't say anything back to him say ghafar Allahu laka ya Abu Bakr."

So the sahabi kept saying "Ghafar Allahu laka ya Abu Bakr" until Abu Bakr's beard was soaked with tears.

Now the point of that story is do anything that it takes to make it up to the person whom you've wronged. That's one. If he or she still doesn't forgive you and you've tried everything you can then you've done what you can go back and make dua for them every time they mention make dua for them until you die. Wallahi this is something I did once every time that person mentioned I made dua for them and whenever they are mentioned in bad you mention them in good, in front of the people that's one way of compensating.

Now if that person never forgives and you die and they never forgive, well then that's subhanallah ask Allah to save us from arrogance, I hope they're not arrogant people because you are not more merciful than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah is wronged more than anyone else. So you've done what you can.

And there's this beautiful hadith which I read about Rasulullah in a book called Madarij al Salikeen. The hadith says about al sirat where the believers when they're crossing going to jannah they reach the last station and two believers are stopped and they say "I have a right with my brother," and Allah loves them both.

So then Allah says to one of them or sends an angel to say, "Forgive him if you want," and he says "No I don't want to forgive him," and then Allah says to the angel, "Say to them to look behind them" they look behind them and they see a beautiful palace like the palace they've never seen before and they say "Would you like that palace for yourself?" and they'll say "Yes, I would do anything for that palace."

And say "The reward of that palace is for those who forgive their Muslim brothers and sisters in Islam," and he forgives them and they both hold each other's hand and enter jannah.

So if it's not dealt with here, Allah doesn't let it go if he loves you both, on the day of judgement he will settle it, by rewarding one of you to compensate you for what you've tried, and forgive you.

Now if you have backbitten the person and that person doesn't know about it, you've wronged that person and they don't know about it this is when he knows you do everything, but if they don't know about it, what should you do?

Ulama said, number one, you can go to them and apologise to them but if you know that by apologising to them it will make the matter worse then go back to the company of people whom you wronged him in front of and make sure that you fix what you said in front of those people in public to them, and show them that you had wronged him, and take their oath not to repeat what you had said and then after that whenever that person is mentioned in bad you mention them in good, or if it's true, be silent and make dua for that person.

That's the way inshallah, or you can give a sadaqa on behalf of that person. These are the ways that we compensate for wronging other people if the wrong had caused damage to them, we have to fix the damage.

You know for example in the Qur'an:

"Whoever is killed by mistake from the people, then you have to compensate their family with blood money, if their family forgive you then you're off, but the point is you need to look after their family, because they have no more." (Reference: Surah An-Nisa 4:92)

If it was a man for example a husband, no one to look after, the point is if there's damage, you need to fix that damage subhanallah.

The Story of Malik Ibn Dinar

Story of Transformation

Malik ibn Dinar is the story here, beautiful, good for the young people as well. Malik ibn Dinar was a highway robber, he used to stop people on the roads in the deserts and steal their food and money. He used to be an alcoholic drink a lot of alcohol, but he was a muslim. We have lots of those around alhamdulillah.

This person, he used to drink alcohol and he used to be a highway robber and no one really liked him. So one day subhanallah he sees a young, a poor man who had just come up with a bit of money for the day, he had worked all day and earned this bit of money and he needed to buy seven loaves of bread or so for his children, he had seven daughters.

He wanted to buy six or seven loaves of bread and he found this last loaf of bread that was there, then another man who was wealthier after the seller had sold it to about to give it to the poor man for one ringgit the wealthy man said "I'll give you five ringgits."

Now the poor man can't afford to give more than that, that's all, he's got probably five ringgits to live on the other man offered him five ringgits and the seller was going to give it to the man who paid more, and the poor man started to beg, "Please I've got seven daughters, they'll go to bed without food and they'll probably starve tomorrow, please this is all I have."

But the wealthy man was too arrogant, he said "No I bought it, I gave more money." We have lots of these times.

So Malik ibn Dinar for the first time in his life felt empathy and for the first time in his life he did one good deed, this was his only good deed that Allah loved. So he comes up to the person and says to the wealthy man, "Give him his loaf of bread, he's telling you he's got children, what's wrong with you?"

And the wealthy man said "No, who are you, get out of my face" the wealthy man says "What, you Malik ibn al-alcoholic now you're a good man?" We always use this against people don't we.

So Malik ibn dinar, when he noticed this man's not listening to him what did he say, he said "Ok well I'll pay more" the wealthy man paid more, he said "No I'll pay more" until he bought the loaf of bread for the man, he said "And let your daughters make dua for Malik ibn dinar."

So this is a person who is desperate, he knows he's doing sin but he's addicted to alcohol, he can't stop his robbery subhanallah, he said "Let them make dua" and he probably used money that he has stolen.

So this poor man he took it and he gave his daughter that night, they made dua for Malik ibn dinar. Time passed and Malik ibn dinar wanted to get married so guess what, nobody would give him his daughter, sure an alcoholic and a robber.

So he had only one option, in those days we talked about slavery, he went to the market and there was a girl who was being sold. He bought her and he freed her then married her, that was the only way he could get married. Allah gave him a daughter named Fatima he named her Fatima, he loved her immensely.

When she was about 4 or 5 years old she was playing around and he came to drink alcohol, so she hit him on his chest. "What's this?" "My daughter doesn't like this alcohol." Every time, he found it cute, he didn't know subhanallah Allah has given him guidance, hidayah.

When Allah knows in the heart of somebody there is good, he guides them he brings someone to them, and this time he brought to Malik his daughter, Fatima. So she's hitting the alcohol bottle. Few months later, she became ill with a fever, so he carried her and subhanallah, she used to hit him on his chest, it became a habit.

And subhanallah she died in his arms. He became so grievous over her, he became so saddened he buried her, cried for her and he became more addicted to alcohol after that he kept drinking more and more to forget his sorrows.

He said "I kept drinking and drinking until one day I went unconscious from my intoxication and I dreamt as if the world had ended, the world was ending yawm al qiyam. I looked behind me, there was a huge dragon following me monster, I ran away from the dragon in my dreams I kept running until I reached the edge of a cliff, I looked at the cliff I wanted to jump but there was fire burning so I ran the other way and the dragon's behind me."

He said "I reached the beach sand, and on the beach there was an old man barely able to walk his beard was white to the ground. I raced to him, said 'Save me, save me,' and the old man couldn't even speak he could barely lift his finger up shivering and he pointed with his withered finger towards that direction."

He said "I followed in the direction of his finger I'm running and the monster's behind me and suddenly I reached some cliffs, a cliff and in that cliff there were pockets and out of that pockets came girls and boys, children - these are the children who died. They came out of the pocket and they all called out 'Ya Fatima, anqidhi abaki' - Fatima, save your dad save your dad."

He said "Suddenly I looked behind me in his dream and I see my daughter Fatima running to me, she stood between me and the dragon and she did this with her hand the dragon faded away, so I carried her and she looked at me and said 'Father, what's wrong with you?'"

He said "What happened, what's this dragon what's the old man, what's happening?" She said "Ya abati, your sins have grown too much your sins have grown too much until they became the size of that dragon. That dragon is a metaphor of your sins that dragon is the shape of your sins, you can no longer run away from them, they're going to consume you to the point where you can't get out anymore and that cliff, that's hell fire if you continue doing sins your sins are going to throw you into hell fire."

He said "Who is the old man?" She said "Abati, that's the only one good deed you have, when you fed those children couldn't you see it's not strong enough to even guide you, it can only just barely, and this is your last chance, Allah has given you a guidance."

She said "Then my daughter Fatima hit me on my chest as she usually does and she recited the following verses:

"Oh dad, has it not come time for those whose hearts are being guided by Allah, for those who have believed, for their hearts to come close to Allah and repent, and not be like those former people before us who received the Taurah and the Injeel they got so used to the Taurah and the Injeel that it became words used to their ears until their hearts became hardened and the Injeel and Taurah could not make them move anymore. Do you want to be like that? Many of them have corrupted themselves. In other words ya abati you hear the Qur'an everyday, are you going to be like them, you got so used to it that your sins are going to consume you, and your heart becomes so hardened to the point that the Qur'an cannot even move it?" (Reference: Surah Al-Hadid 57:16)

There are people who hear the Qur'an everyday, wallahi it does not move them. Rasulullah ﷺ will say, "Oh my lord," he will cry, complaining "My people have taken this Qur'an and abandonment, it no longer moves them."

Rasulullah ﷺ said it could be a person reading the Qur'an, while the Qur'an is cursing them, can you imagine someone reading the Qur'an with tajweed and ahkam and the Qur'an is saying "Curse you," because they read it for the wrong reasons and they don't practice any of it.

So my brothers and sisters Malik Ibn Dinar received those verses from Surah Al-Hadeed and he woke up with the last verses, he wiped his tears, he became sober and he said:

"Yes it is time."

Remember what we said before, about making a decision brothers and sisters, nobody can make that decision but you. You want to be guided, you you, say "I have made the decision now," wallahi that decision is the most powerful strength Allah has given any man decision making.

He went to Al-Masjid, went to the Masjid of Medina and there was Imam Al-Shafi. He lived at the time of Imam Al-Shafi and subhanallah, he had finished the same ayah أَلَمْ يَأْنِ and he was giving tafsir. Imagine Imam Al-Shafi giving tafsir on this ayah.

Imam Malik Ibn Dinar he stood up that morning from Fajr and he made the decision he said, "I have given up everything my alcohol is gone my robbery is gone my salat has come back, everything." He picked up his

family and he went to Medina and he became the student of the Imams there until he became one of the great Imams that we know till today Al-Imam Malik Ibn Dinar.

He has books some books that have been written, we read about him, the ulama after him, the people after him became ulama and his students and he said at the time of his death, close to his death he used to say, "Although Allah took away my daughter he brought to me the most beloved, which is Hidayah. Hidayah in place Fatima was my Hidayah and he brought to me the children of all the mu'mineen from all around the world to come and learn from me as a result. Fatima he took her away and gave me a thousand other Fatimas and a thousand other Muhammads. She was my Hidayah. La Ilaha Illa Allah."

This is a glad tiding and an inspiration but if Malik Ibn Dinar, an alcoholic - I don't think any of us here are like that, Alhamdulillah - then don't ever despair.

Closing Dua

And finally I finish it with this ayah where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

Which means: "O say to My servants who have wronged themselves and they burden themselves with regret, do not despair from Allah's mercy and forgiveness. Allah forgives everything. Allah forgives everything. As a matter of fact Allah is the greatest forgiver and the most merciful." (Reference: Surah Az-Zumar 39:53)

May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala accept our deeds, forgive our sins, encompass us with His mercy and grant us Jannah. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala forgive all our sins tonight and not leave us to leave this room with our sins washed away.

اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِنَا اللَّهُمَّ تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا ، اللَّهُمَّ ارْحَمْنَا ، اللَّهُمَّ لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا، وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Allahumma ihdina, Allahumma taqabbal minna, Allahumma irhamna, Allahumma la tu'akhidhna in naseena aw akhta'na. Wa salla Allahu 'ala nabiyyina Muhammadin wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.

Thank you for having me brothers and sisters.

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Summary of Key Lessons

1. Merit is not based on lineage, color, status, or wealth - Baraka's unknown lineage and humble status did not diminish her value with Allah.

2. Merit with Allah is what truly matters - Baraka cared only about what Allah saw in her, not public recognition or popularity.
3. Avoid showing off good deeds - Baraka performed her good deeds sincerely without seeking attention or praise from people.
4. Guard your tongue - Speak only what is necessary and beneficial, as Allah says in Surah An-Nisa 4:114.
5. Optimism and positive interpretation - Baraka always interpreted events in a positive light and brought comfort to those around her.
6. Character over appearance - The importance of seeking good character and faith over physical beauty, lineage, or wealth in marriage.
7. Never despair of Allah's mercy - No matter how far one has fallen, sincere repentance and return to Allah is always possible.

End of Document

الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ