khalid-latif-Five Wisdoms

Five Wisdoms from the Prophet ﷺ

Imam Khalid Latif | The Islamic Center at New York University

Opening Salutation

I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

Opening Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. There is none worthy of worship except Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. And peace and blessings be upon the most honorable of prophets and messengers, and upon his family and all his companions.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. There is none worthy of worship except Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. And peace and blessings be upon the most honorable of prophets and messengers, and upon his family and all his companions.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. There is none worthy of worship except Allah, the Most High, the Most Great. And peace and blessings be upon the most honorable of prophets and messengers, and upon his family and all his companions.

In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Universe, the Master of the Day of Judgment.

I bear witness and testimony to the oneness of Allah, to His magnificence, His omnipotence, His might, His glory, to His being the Creator and Sustainer of all things, the Giver of life, the Guider of hearts, the Master of the Day of Judgment. And I bear witness to the fact that Muhammad ibn Abdullah is His servant and final Messenger.

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and upon all those who choose to tread in his path until the last day.

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The Context: Pre-Islamic Mecca

It is said that in the years before Islam entered into the Hijaz, the custom of the Meccan society was that the people wanted to have sons in their family. That no one at that time, none of the clans, none of the tribes, none of the people of the place of Mecca, none of them wanted to have any kind of daughter, none of them wanted to have any females, but rather they wanted to have sons, they wanted to have people who would carry on their lineage, they wanted to have men who would go forth and say that this is who my father was, that look at who I am the son of.

That even the Prophet ﷺ himself, his own grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, when he is having his sons, when he has his sons, he is praying to his gods, he is praying to his lords, that give me more sons, give me more people, that I might have my name carried forth. To the extent that it was custom at that time that when a young woman, when a daughter was born into a family, they would go to the stakes of burying that woman alive in the ground. They wanted men, they wanted sons, they wanted their name, their lineage to be carried forth.

This was the way that the people functioned at that time. But we know that our beloved ﷺ, the Prophet ﷺ, he was in the situation that none of his sons survived past an early age. That aside from Fatima, aside from his daughters, aside from the women that bore his name, he did not have any men, he did not have any sons, he did not have any males that would carry on his legacy, that would carry on his lineage.

The Prophet's Legacy: Words, Not Sons

And so rather than leaving behind any men that would carry on his name, the Prophet ﷺ instead left behind his words and his actions and his examples. That at any given occasion, in any given circumstance, whenever he was surrounded by his sahabis, those men and women of that best generation, whenever he had the opportunity to impart advice and knowledge upon them, he would do so in the most concise and lucid of ways.

Knowing who his audience was, knowing who the people were that he was speaking to, knowing them in terms of their specific weaknesses and strengths, this man Muhammad ibn Abdullah ﷺ, he knew that what he would say would carry forth beyond him, and so he spoke not only understanding that the people at that time would take heed of his words, but knowing that the likes of you and I today would also ponder upon the wisdom that he imparted upon us.

And so this man Muhammad ﷺ, and it says that his speech was categorized as being jawami', that it had a certain uniqueness to it, that every single word carried meaning, that he did not require lengthy speeches and lengthy orations to carry forth his meanings, that he did not need to speak for hours upon hours, but when he spoke concise statements, these too carried such power and profoundness.

The Hadith: Abu Hurairah and the Five Things

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And so it is said on one occasion the Prophet ﷺ, he is sitting with a group of his sahabis, and he says to them that I will tell you five things to do, that I will advise you of five things, which one of you will act upon the things that I am about to say, and then go out and teach those to people who will practice upon it as well.

And Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنهhe says that he is sitting in that gathering, he is sitting in that group with the Prophet ﷺ and the rest of the companions, and he jumps up before anybody else will say anything, and he says Ya Rasool Allah, I will act upon those five things, tell me what they are, without knowing what is going to come out of the mouth of the Prophet ﷺ, without having any kind of consideration or any understanding of what the Prophet ﷺ is about to tell him to do.

He says that Ya Rasool Allah, whatever you are going to say, let me be the one who has the privilege of actually carrying it out in my life.

And so the Prophet ﷺ, he takes his sahabi Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه by the hand, and taking his hand finger upon finger, he begins to count these five things.

First Wisdom: Avoid the Haram

Hadith:

(Unknown)

And the first thing that he says to Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه is: Refrain from doing the sins, refrain from doing things that are haram, you will be of the most virtuous of people.

And for our understanding, what we take away from this is that when we would describe somebody as being of the أَعْبَدَ النَّاسِ those who are the most virtuous of men, those who are the most virtuous of women, we immediately begin to think of people who have some kind of quantified aspect of worship in their lives. That mashallah, how virtuous is that person, how much Quran does he know? That mashallah, how virtuous and pious is that person, how many times is he praying and prostrating to Allah? That mashallah, how virtuous is that person, look at how much hadith he has memorized.

But the Prophet ﷺ, he is not recommending to Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه that ya Abu Hurairah go out and carry out on some kind of actions, go out and actually do something, but he is saying that if you want to be the most virtuous person, if you want to be amongst those who have the favor of Allah, don't go out and do something, but refrain from actually doing something that would cause you harm.

Understanding What Allah Has Made Permissible

That don't do those things that Allah Azawajal has deemed to be impermissible for you, that stay away from

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those things that he has said are not good for you, don't engage in those kind of activities that have been deemed to be unlawful by the deen and the law of Allah Azawajal, stay away from that stuff which is haram, it has no benefit for you.

Day in and day out when we are recommending to people as to how they should become better Muslims, so on and so forth, we are telling them to go out and do this, go out and do that, go out and engage in this activity, and we ourselves, because we have a love and adoration for Allah Azawajal, we will engage in whatever we can and we will think that look at how great we are because of the things that we are doing.

But we forget about those actions, we forget about those engagements that we are not supposed to be getting even close to, we forget about those things that in abundance we are doing that come from the category of being impermissible, and so too we forget this aspect that Allah Azawajal, as much as he has made so much halal for us, he has also made a minority of things haram for us, impermissible for us to engage in, and the Prophet ﷺ is saying to Abu Hurairah, that ya Abu Hurairah going forth in your life if you want to have success, stay away from those things that have been deemed haram.

Second Wisdom: Be Content with What Allah Has Given You

Hadith:

(Unknown)

Thereafter, the Prophet ﷺ, he tells them the second thing. He says: Be content, be happy with that which Allah has given to you, you will become the wealthiest of people.

And we would understand that on a daily basis, we engage in this kind of thought process that whenever we see somebody who has something that we might not have in our possession, our immediate thought is that, why don't I have that thing? Why am I not driving that car? Why is my house not as large as that house? Why do I not have these things? Why do I not have these material possessions? Why do I not have it? And more importantly, why do they?

And the Prophet ﷺ, he is telling his Sahabis that be content with what Allah Azawajal has given to you. So many blessings He has showered upon you, ni'mah upon ni'mah, blessing upon blessing, barakah after barakah. He has given you the ability to see, He has given you the means to speak, He has given you the means to walk and talk, all of these things He has given to you.

Recognizing Our Blessings

And despite the fact that the likes of you and I would abuse these and do things that we are not meant to do by them, still He gives us the ownership over it. And when we forget these things, we would then realize that look

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at the people who are around us, look at the people who are all over the world, the means and modes by which they are being tested, the things in which Allah Azawajal is causing them to be engaged in, the manner in which they are being tested on whether or not they would actually adhere to the Deen of Allah.

Nobody is blowing up our homes, nobody is bulldozing our houses, nobody is stealing away our children from us, nobody is putting a gun to our head and saying to us that you either renounce your Islam or I will take your life, nobody is putting this test in front of us.

But because we are so weak, because we are so weak, Allah Azawajal has put us in a place where our test is that we have been given so much in terms of material possessions, we just want more and more and more of it.

And the Prophet ﷺ he has said that when you are looking at the people and you want to be like somebody, look at a person who is greater in the Deen. But when you are thinking about yourself in terms of the dunya, when you are thinking about yourself in terms of your possessions, what you want of the world, look at somebody who has less than you.

And then you will understand and you will appreciate everything that Allah Azawajal has given to you, you will not want anything else.

The Best Dhikr and Dua

Hadith:

(Unknown)

And so the Prophet ﷺ he is telling Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه that ya Abu Hurairah, don't forget every blessing that Allah Azawajal has given to you, that in those moments when you are trying to understand why, in those moments when you are trying to contemplate and reflect upon the situation that you are in, don't think about everything that you do not have but reflect upon everything that you have been given thus far.

That the Prophet ﷺ he has said: That the best of dhikris لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الله and the best of dua is الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ to send praises upon Allah.

And we have mentioned it before but when we try to understand how can the word الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ actually and effectively be a dua and what the shuyukh say is that when you say this word الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ when you praise Allah Azawajal saying الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ that all praises to you يا الله، يا ربيnot only are you praising him for what he has given to you but in effect you are asking him that يا الله give me more so that I can continue to praise you for what you have given to me.

But we forget the ni'am and the blessings and all we focus upon are shortcomings and flaws that really have no effect on us in the long term at all.

Third Wisdom: Be Kind to Your Neighbors

Hadith:

(Source Name)

Thereafter the Prophet ﷺ thirdly he says to Abu Hurairah: That be good, be kind to your neighbors, you will be a believer.

And in this day and age when we try to understand primarily what we have to understand from this point is the word إحْسَان itself. That the Prophet in the hadith Jibril he is asked by the angel Jibril that what is this thing of إِحْسَان what is this thing of ,إحْسَان

Hadith of Jibril:

(Source Name)

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 50, Sahih Muslim 8

And the Prophet says that it is to act in such a way that you think that you can see Allah Azawajal, that you worship, you live your life in a way that you can actually see Allah Azawajal for you understand the fact that you cannot see Him but He can see you.

That when you treat someone with إحْسَان when you treat them with the kindness, when you treat them with the respect and the generosity that is due to them, this is the way the Prophet ﷺ has prescribed for us as Muslims, as believers to actually believe.

Hadith:

(Source Name)

Reference: Sahih Muslim 1955

That indeed Allah Azawajal has prescribed this thing of إحْسَان on everything.

Ihsan Even to Animals

And before we would even understand how we as human beings should be treating each other let alone our neighbors, let alone the people in the community that we have or we are a part of, we would see that even in our deen, even in the law, we have mandates as to how we would prescribe إحْسَان on the treatment of animals.

That the Prophet ﷺ on one occasion he sees one of his Sahabis with a knife in his hand and a goat in his other hand that he's about to slaughter with a knife and he goes to the Sahabi and reprimands him saying that, why are

you torturing this poor animal? That the animal knows that you will take its life by this thing, you are not honoring the rights of the animal by doing so.

That Umar رضي الله عنه on one occasion he sees a man that is about to slaughter an animal, a lamb, and he puts the lamb on the ground and he holds the lamb down with his foot and Umar رضي الله عنه goes to the man and starts beating him and he says, Ya Umar, why are you hitting me? Why are you beating me? And Umar says that, why are you disrespecting this animal? Who are you to not honor its rights?

And if this is the way our deen is telling us to treat those things that we actually consume, what do we think is the manner in which we should be treating the community in which we are living in?

Engaging Our Community

And right now there are so many who are trying to understand our deen, there are so many who are trying to understand the way of Islam, not for any reason other than the fact that our passivity is keeping us from going out and educating them about what our deen really stands for and all they have to go on is what they read in the headlines and what they see on the television, and it's because we are not honoring the rights of our neighbors, we are not honoring the rights of the community in which we are part of, we are not engaging the society in the way that we need to do.

And the Prophet, he is telling Abu Hurairah, be kind to your neighbors, you will be a believer.

Fourth Wisdom: Love for Others What You Love for Yourself

Hadith:

(Source Name)

And thereafter he says to him: That love for mankind, what you love for yourself, you will then be a Muslim.

And we would see even this point before this and the point after, the Prophet is making a distinction between Iman and Islam and in the interest of time we can't really go into it but the Prophet here is saying that and it echoes the Hadith that he tells us also that we will not enter into paradise until we love for our brothers what we love for ourselves.

Hadith:

(Source Name)

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 13, Sahih Muslim 45

And so when we are engaging on a daily practice, when we are going out and engaging the society and the world in which we are part of, we should not be treating other people, we should not be treating individuals in a manner in which we don't want to be treated ourselves.

I like to eat a certain food, I like to wake up at a certain hour, I like to watch a certain kind of TV show, I like to have a certain security, a certain comfort in my life, so too with the people around us. And so we have to treat the people in the way that we want to be treated. It might sound very elementary but here the Prophet is recommending it to his Sahabi and he is telling him to go out and tell the people after you as well that they need to do so also.

The Epitome of Selflessness

And again it is something that we have forgotten. It's all about me, it's all about myself, it's never about the other person that the Prophet is a personification, the epitome of selflessness. To the extent that this man Muhammad ibn Abdullah that when he leaves from this world, when all of us leave from this world and we are going and standing in front of Allah جل جلاله on that day and the only thing that we are thinking about is ourselves running here and there in utter chaos saying nafsi, nafsi, nafsi, myself, myself.

The Prophet's voice alone will be standing over everyone saying ummati, ummati, my ummah, my ummah. His only role was to serve the people around him and here he is telling his companion that don't think only of yourself but think of the people around you and treat them in a manner in which you would want to be treated.

Fifth Wisdom: Do Not Laugh Excessively

Hadith:

(Source Name)

And thereafter he tells Abu Hurairah lastly and fifthly that do not laugh very much because indeed laughter, excessive laughter will weaken your heart, it will cause your heart to die.

That in another hadith the Prophet he makes our nafs, he makes our qalb analogous to land and he would say that the things of this world, the laughters and the mirth and all of these kind of things, it would actually dry this land. But in order for it to have some kind of vegetation, for order to have some kind of vibrancy, some kind of life, for it to have the rains of mercy shower upon it, it would require the individual to actually shed the tears that would water that and cause the sustenance and the growth to come out of it.

And so by no means is the Prophet telling us to be the somber and serious individuals that we have become where we cannot engage the society around us, we end up engaging them in a very awkward way either coming into a place where we are highly exclusive or going to a point where nobody wants to talk to us.

But amidst the amusements, amidst the laughter, amidst all of the joyous occasions we should also take the time to think and reflect and let a tear roll from our face, let our tears come down from our face and reflect upon everything and anything that Allah جل جلاله has given to us. Whether there are tears of mercy, whether there are tears of fear, we should allow our faces to never be dry. Then may Allah جل جلاله protect us from eyes that are dry.

Not About Rituals Alone

But these are the things that we have to reflect upon and we are in a situation now where we are not doing any of it. That the Prophet he is not reflecting, he is not recommending to his Sahabi that Ya Abu Hurairah go out and pray a thousand nights, go out and pray a thousand rakahs every night of your life. Ya Abu Hurairah go out and tell the people that at every single month of their life they should be making a pilgrimage to the house of Allah.

That Ya Abu Hurairah go out and tell the people that they should be fasting every other day of the week. That Ya Abu Hurairah go out and tell the people that they should be committing the Quran and they should be carrying it in their hearts with memorization. All of these kind of things Ya Abu Hurairah go out and tell the people to engage in ritualistic practice.

But when the Prophet has asked his Sahabis, he has asked his companions, when he is leaving behind his advices, when he is leaving behind his legacy, when he is leaving behind his recommendations, his word, he is telling his Sahabi and in turn telling that Sahabi to go out and let it be known amongst the entire community so the likes of you and I 1400 years later can still be talking about it, that just treat the people good.

Character and Internal Development

That just have a good character, have a good personality, that yes we can't ever undermine the ritualistic practice and the obligations that are upon us in terms of our five daily prayers, in terms of fasting the month of Ramadan, in terms of performing the pilgrimage to the house of Allah in Mecca, and in terms of giving of zakah and charity to provide social equity in the community, but we should also not forget about the internal things, we should not also forget about the manner in which we have relations amongst the people that we are around, we should not forget about the way we treat one another.

The Prophet when he is standing on the day of Arafah, in the blessed place of Arafah near the confines of the city of Mecca in the month of Dhul Hijjah, he asks his companions, he asks his people that what place is this, what month is this, what day is this, and when they respond to him in accord, he tells them that the way that you treat one another, the rights that you have over each other, they are more sacred than this day and this month and this place, and we have forgotten it today.

His Legacy Lives On

He left behind us no male relatives that he had as his sons. He left behind us none of the people that could say that I am the son of Muhammad ibn Abdullah. He did not have to leave a legacy like this the way that the people behind him had to leave behind.

That they were remembered only by the fact that they had children that would say that look at who my father was, look at who my grandfather was. But the Prophet ﷺ to this day he is being praised because of the things that he had left behind for the likes of you and I in terms of the wisdoms that he had taught us about.

We have to become those individuals that reflect upon these advices and seek to implement them into our lives.

Summary of the Five Wisdoms

The Prophet on that day said:

1. Ya Abu Hurairah, stay away from the haram, you will be of the most virtuous people.

2. Ya Abu Hurairah, be content with what Allah has given you, you will be amongst the wealthiest of people.

3. Ya Abu Hurairah, be kind to your neighbors, you will be a believer.

4. Ya Abu Hurairah, love for people what you love for yourself, you will be a Muslim.

5. And Ya Abu Hurairah, don't laugh too much, laugh excessively, because excessive laughter will cause your heart to weaken.

That we have to reflect upon what we have the time to do so.

Closing Dua

سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ، may Allah guide us and protect us. May He bless us with knowledge that benefits us. And may He bless us with the tawfiq to understand and implement that knowledge into our daily lives. And may He guide and bless us all.

وَاللَّهُ تَعَالَى أَعْلَمُ وَبِاللَّهِ التَّوْفِيقُ

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَىٰ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

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