The Neglected Sunnahs

The Neglected Sunnahs

Opening Invocation

In the name of Allah, the most Merciful, the most Compassionate. And peace and blessings be upon Sayyidina Muhammad and his family and companions. O Allah, open upon us with your wisdom and spread upon us with your mercy, O Lord of Glory and Honour.

And peace and blessings be upon Sayyidina Muhammad and his family and companions. There is no power nor strength except with Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. Alhamdulillah.

Seeking Permission and Introduction

First of all, I would like to ask permission from my sheikh and his wife, Abdullah Ibn Bayyah. I don't like to speak in front of him, so I ask permission from you. I ask permission from you. May Allah reward you well.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said:

(Unknown)

"Whoever brings my sunnah to life, it's as if he brought me back to life."

The Vision of Imam Abu Hanifa

Abu Hanifa (رضي الله عنه - raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) saw in a dream that he had the bones of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) before him and he was assembling them, putting them together. And he asked one of the people who knew about dreams what that meant. And he said that he would be one of the people that clarified his teaching to the people.

Constitutional Law vs. Statute Law

Because the shari'ah the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) gave us is more of a constitutional law than statute law. Law is divided into constitutional law, which is when you look at the principles that you have, the legal principles in law, the qawa'id of law. And then you have statute law, which is the qawa'in al-muqannina, the laws that you follow. It's prohibited to stop at a stoplight, to go through a stoplight.

Why is that prohibited? Why is that a law? Because there's a constitutional idea that the preservation of life and the protection of life is something that the government is supposed to do to protect people's lives. So the government acknowledges that if we don't have traffic laws, statute laws, then lives are harmed. So much of what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) gave us are constitutional principles, legal principles that we then in turn, our usuliyoon, our scholars of usul, look at them and look at the maqasid or the intentions behind them and then implement them.

Preservation of Religion

Now one of the intentions of our religion is the preservation of religion itself, hifdh al-deen. This is at the root

of the Islamic tradition. And how is the religion preserved? It's preserved through worship, through manasik.

We're now in the layali ashar. We're in the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. And each month has things that we do that are specific to that month because every month has those devotional practices that you do. There are four jum'ahs in every month. There are five prayers each day. And then certain things happen in different months that are also acts of devotion, Ramadan. So all of these things Allah has given us.

The Greatest Gift: The Messenger of Allah

But the greatest gift that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى - subḥānahu wa taʿālā) has given this ummah, the greatest gift, is the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam). And there's no doubt about that. The Qur'an itself is a miracle of the Prophet. The Qur'an is mu'jizatahu. The Qur'an is proof of who he is. We forget that.

That the Qur'an is kalamullah, but that kalam is a mu'jiza in order to indicate that this man is speaking on my behalf. And he's speaking to you, my creation. And through him, I'm going to speak to you what my intentions are for you. And it's not only through his words, but it's through his actual behavior.

The Impact of the Prophet's Character

Because we forget that the Prophet's hal is the thing that impacted people more than his words. He was a man of few words. People walked into his presence and believed. Imam al-Ghazali said that iman is a very unusual thing. He said iman is not something that you can limit to baraheen, proofs, or kalam, ilm al-kalam, dialectical theology.

He said anyone who says that is iman is mubtida. He said iman can come to a person in a dream. It can come to a person from a state. It can come to a person from meeting a righteous person. Iman can come into your heart.

Modern Examples of Faith Through Character

I met an atheist, somebody who'd been an atheist. And he told me the moment that faith came into his heart was when he met Dr. Abu Bakr Sirajuddin, who some people know as Martin Lings, who wrote the book, The Life of the Prophet. He said he was a confirmed atheist. And the moment he met that man, he said iman enters his heart. He said, because I had never seen piety embodied in a human being before I met that man.

Now that is a human being living in the early 21st century. Rahimahu Allah. He died last year. But that is a man who was living in the 21st century. How was it then for people whose hearts were open that met the Messenger of Allah?

The Bedouin's Recognition

Imam al-Ghazali says a Bedouin came into the presence of the Prophet and immediately he believed. By seeing the Prophet he said:

"By Allah, this is not the face of a liar." And this is what the Arabs call

firasa. The ability to see in people's faces something of their reality. And he saw that he's not lying. If he's not a liar, then he's truthful, he's sadiq. And he believed.

The Truly Neglected Sunnah: Embodying Character

So one of the things that we have forgotten of the sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) is that he himself literally trying to embody his character. This is the neglected sunnah. There are people that wear beards. The beard is a sunnah that people who don't even believe in Islam can share. There's a website called Beards for Peace. And the only reason I know about that website is because I gave a talk and somebody actually from Beards for Peace is a non-Muslim organization. They grow beards for peace. And they said, thank you for joining us. Like they were thanking me because I had a beard. So there's people that... Beards for Peace. That's a sunnah of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) that he wore a beard. It's a sunnah of the anbiya.

The Sunnah of Dress and Humility

So that aspect, there are people... The Prophet wore a short izar. His izar was short. And he said:

"It's something that there's more piety in wearing a short thing. It lasts longer. It's cleaner." If you have a long... It gets thread worn. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said that. But it's also a sign of piety. Why? Because you're worried about najasa. And things getting on that thing.

Abu Bakr and the Long Garment

Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه - raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) complained. He said, ya Rasulallah, because the Prophet said that people that do that out of arrogance, that it's in the fire. And Abu Bakr was a man who... Some people... Do you know people that are always pulling up their pants? There's people like that. Their pants are always slipping down.

Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه - raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) was somebody whose izar was always slipping down. And he said, ya Rasulallah, he said, my izar slips down. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said, you're not amongst those. In other words, you're not wearing your izar long because you're arrogant. Because the Arabs, some of the Arabs used to wear long izar to show that they were wealthy. Because they could replace them as they got threadbare. So it was an act of batar. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said that that's not who Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه - raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) was.

Categories of Sunnah: Sunan al-Huda and Sunan al-Zawa'id

So there's people who have... Take the outward sunan which are good. The outward sunan are beautiful. Anything that you do that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) did. Imam... In the ta'rifat, Imam al-Jorjani said that there are sunan that he called sunan al-huda. And then he said, there are sunan al-zawa'id.

There are sunan al-huda which are those sunan that you do because shara'ahu. And Nabi (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) it's part of his practice. It's either manduub, his sunan. Sometimes there are times when it's manduub or it's sunan muakkadah. We have different mustarahat, technical terms for these things. But the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) did things like the two rakats before fajr. He did those constantly.

But then there are sunan al-zawa'id. This is what Imam al-Jorjani calls it. And he said, these are like the way the Prophet sat, the way he dressed, the way he combed his hair, the way he ate. He did these things. And he said, to follow those is a good thing. He said, it's fadila to do that.

Ibn Umar's Love for the Prophet

There's a story that Ibn Umar (رضي الله عنه - raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu) once was on his horse and he came to a place and he moved the horse. He literally moved the horse. And one of the men there said, why are you doing that? He said, I saw the Messenger of Allah do it. He said, there used to be a rock there. He said, I don't care. In other words, I saw the Messenger of Allah do that, I just want to do it. Because it was something he... That's mahabba.

The Nature of Love

"Indeed, the one who loves is obedient to the one they love." That's something when you love somebody, you do what they do. And there's lyrical poetry is filled with these examples. People that fall in love, they go to extremes. They'll do anything. They'll learn a language because the person that they love knows that language.

Really, they'll learn. There's people that will learn Arabic because they fell in love with an Arab. They won't learn it for Quran or Hadith. But because Laila is Arab. Khalas. Seriously, that happens. People fall in love. And suddenly they're like, fa'ala yafa'alu fi'lan. And they're doing it not for anything spiritual, just so they can say, ya Laila, inni yuhibbu ki. That's what they want to do. That's love. Mahabba is an amazing thing. People will go to these extremes for love.

The Gift of Beautiful Voices

He's got his own voice. There's a qira'a shadda, that Allah gives people voices, whoever He wants. There's people that have beautiful voices. I was once, this is a true story. I was once in a place and I heard the most beautiful voice. A talking voice. He was just talking. It was such a beautiful voice. And I turned around and it was a singer named Lionel Richie. I'm not making this up. And I said, man, you don't have to sing. Just talk. And he looked at me and said, I love it. That's a true story.

Meeting Marvin Gaye

I also met Marvin Gaye in London. I was walking and he had a Nigerian hat on. And I thought he was a Muslim. I'd just come out of the mosque and I said, salam alaikum. He said, wa alaikum salam. And I said, are you from Nigeria? He said, no, I'm from America. And I said, really? That's a Nigerian hat. He said, I have a lot of fans in Nigeria. And then I realized it was Marvin Gaye. That's who it was. But he said, wa alaikum salam.

So, according to Abu Hanifa, if somebody says that, you should think that they're Muslim. If they give you the peace or anything like that, you should have ihsan adhan with them and think that they're Muslim. Wallahu

alam. So, love is an amazing thing.

The Two Prophets: Orientalist Misconception

Now, one of the things that we have neglected about the sunnah, and this is what I want to talk about. If you look at the messenger of Allah, the orientalist present two different prophets. They have a Meccan prophet and they have a Madani prophet. Literally, if you read the books of the orientalist, they will say the prophet Muhammad was a very wonderful man when he was in Mecca. He was very peaceful. He was very loving and he was like a prophet. But when he got to Medina, he changed. His personality changed. This is very common. And there are several books now out attacking our prophet and this is the premise of their attack is certain things that happened in Medina.

Understanding Changing Circumstances

What you have to understand is the prophet is not a different prophet. He is the same prophet, but his circumstances changed. And when circumstances change, people have to behave according to their circumstances. And this is why I want to explain the neglected sunnah. There are many of our ulama, and Allah yurhamuhum wa yujazihum ahsan ma jaza al ulama an hadhi al umma. They are great people. But some of our ulama believe that many of the verses that were revealed in Mecca were mansukha. They were abrogated.

The Highest Principles of Civilization

Quran) وَذَرْنِي وَالْمُكَذِّبِينَ (73:10 Quran) وَاصْبِرْ عَلَى مَا يَقُولُونَ وَاهْجُرْهُمْ هَجْرًا جَمِيلًا 88:22( لَسْتَ عَلَيْهِم بِجَبَّارٍ - I mean, these things in the ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ Quran 23:6), all these ideas of turning the other cheek and bearing things patiently they said ayatul saif nasakhat hadhi al ayat. And you will see this in some of the commentaries. You'll see this.

Fakhruddin al-Razi in his tafsir, Mafatih al-ghayb, says, these are the highest principles in human civilization. And there is no way that they have been abrogated. These are the highest principles. But what you have to understand is those principles for government, they're abrogated.

The Role of Government vs. Individual

In government, when you are a ruler and somebody comes to redress their wrong, you cannot say to the person, you know what, forget about your wrong, I forgive you. If somebody comes and somebody stole their car, and they come to the judge, and the judge says, I know he stole your car, but let's forgive him. That's not the role of a judge. The role of a judge is not to show rahma, to show mercy. The role of the judge is to redress wrongs.

When the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) came into political power, he became a governor. Then his certain things that he did changed from his behavior in Mecca. This is a very important point to understand. Because Muslims fail to understand that his behavior in Mecca is still applicable to every individual Muslim that's not in state authority.

The Meccan Sunnah Remains Valid

If you do not have state authority, the sunnah of the Prophet in Mecca is muhkamah, the way he behaved, the way he had patience, the way he prayed for the people that were harming him. This was his character. This was his sunnah. And he did not deviate from that sunnah. But when he came into state power, when his ummah was threatened by genocide, and this is why the Prophet is different from Jesus.

Understanding Christmas and the Christian Perspective

We're in the days when these Christians... I was the other day in California looking at all the lights in my area. And it's very beautiful to see that. Some people call it light pollution. Some people call it a waste of energy. But people put up Christmas lights. And this is ihtithal. It's a way of celebrating the coming of Christ, the birth of Christ. It's their mawlid.

And so when you look at that, Jesus... And this is part of the trouble that Christians have with Islam, is their only understanding of a Prophet is Jesus. It's Isa. They don't know a Prophet in power. They've never seen a Prophet with authority. They've never seen a Prophet as a general. They've never seen a Prophet as a father. They've never seen a Prophet as somebody who distributes vast quantities of wealth. And this is unique about our Prophet.

The Most Influential Person in History

If you look at this extraordinary book that Michael Hart, a Jewish historian, wrote about the 100 most influential people in human history, he put the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) as number one. And I believe that is an honest assessment from a non-Muslim Jewish man who is just simply telling it like it is. There has never been a human being in human history that was more successful than this man. And show me. Show me one. Prove it to me historically. Show me a man.

Here we are in Toronto, Canada. Several thousand people and we are celebrating the Messenger of Allah. We are here because we believe that he was al-Sadiq al-Masduq. That's why we're here. There's no other reason for us to be here.

The Complete Example: From Oppressed to Governor

But the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) did not just show us how to be oppressed. He did not just show us how to be oppressed. He showed us also how to govern. He showed us how to rule. He showed us magnanimity. He showed us how a conqueror should behave.