Ismail ibn Musa Menk Ali Ibn Abi Talib

They would go to the family and say, please don't make a mistake, this guy's got nothing. Look at what Uthman says, Uthman says, you know what? I will buy that armor from you, I'll pay you 400 gold coins for it. And one narration says 480 gold coins for it.

I will pay you so much for it, and give me the armor, you can take that and get married. Mashallah, what an honor, subhanAllah. So he got married, he actually took the money, according to some narrations 480, let's say 480 gold coins.

He paid for the armor, and as Ali ibn Abi Talib excited going back, wow, I've made some big bucks here, mashallah, tabarakallah. And he's going back, Uthman says, hey, come back. So as he's coming back, he says, you know what? You're gonna be getting married now, I'm giving you a gift.

What's the gift? This armor. SubhanAllah. I got the armor and I got 480 gold coins. Wow, from who? Someone who is married to the sister of the one I want to marry. Allahu Akbar, we have a lot of lessons to learn from this.

Modern Day Lessons on Supporting Each Other

Let's look at our relationships, would we be prepared to give someone money to get married to someone, subhanAllah. And they're not really deeply related to us as such. We wouldn't even give it to our own brothers. Your brother wants 400 of your bitcoins, no way, bro.

Not at all. May Allah forgive us. Sorry, I don't mean to interfere in the ruling of bitcoins, but I had to give the example. By the way, verge is a little bit better than bitcoin, for those who know. My brothers and sisters, I promise you, we're not prepared to let go of anything, subhanAllah. I see some of you are looking at me like, wow, he knows about it.

Okay, yes I do, I'm also a human being, mashallah. May Allah forgive us. And by the way, the Zimbabwean currency, when it was around, it was just like bitcoin, subhanAllah. They used to print as much as they could and that was it, subhanAllah. Suddenly one day they announced, it's no longer. We tasted that.

The Blessed Marriage and Its Lessons

So Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu was a fortunate man, very fortunate, subhanAllah. Here he is and he ended up getting married. What a blessed marriage. To whom? To the daughter of the best of creation. He chose not based on money. So that's the mistake we make today.

We base our choice on money, wealth. That's a family, they've got a lot of money. Trust me, they might have only money, nothing else. And sometimes Allah will take that away. In no time, I know of people who've made a decision based solely on money, and a year down the line, that family lost all their money. May Allah grant us deen and akhlaaq, and may He make us choose in the correct way.

Ali's Children and His Love for the Companions

So this was Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu, whose marriage and the beautiful story around it. He had such a brilliant relationship with Uthman ibn Affan radiyallahu anhu. He named one of his children Uthman. Now you might think, you know what, I only know of Al-Hassan and Al-Hussain.

From the daughter of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), he only had Al-Hassan and Al-Hussain radiyallahu anhuma. But after she passed away, and she passed away only six months after the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) passed away, who was her father. Do you know what happened? He married again. He had a few wives.

From them, the children he had, he kept the names of those whom he loved the most. And we are never told about this. So one of the sons of Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu, was called Abu Bakr ibn Ali radiyallahu anhu. Another son, he named him Umar ibn Ali radiyallahu anhu. Why? These were his best friends.

No one talks about this. They only say, oh, there was a big problem between them. No way. I would never name my child a name of someone whom I've had a huge issue with. No. It depicts the closeness of relation.

He named another child Uthman ibn Ali radiyallahu anhu. May Allah be pleased with all of them. This is an amazing, amazing thing that people don't speak about. I think we need to speak about it a little bit more.

May Allah grant us goodness. And that goes to show the names they kept were of value. Such that they had people with those names who were better than what they thought they were, subhanAllah. May Allah grant us a deep understanding.

Ali's Relationship with Abu Bakr as-Siddiq

Also with Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu. Whenever they saw Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu, they knew that we're going to find Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu close by. He's going to be close.

They used to walk together. Although he was much younger. If he was 30 years younger than Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), it means he was 28 years younger than Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu. But he used to love him so much.

Walk with him, follow him, go around with him. The day that Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu was appointed the khalif, someone told Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu. That Abu Bakr has just been appointed the khalif. He was still in his bedding.

He quickly got up, and he was putting on his clothing, rushing towards him. And he pledged allegiance as one of the first, subhanAllah. From the first batch, he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr. And he said, I pledge allegiance to you and you are indeed khalifatul muslimin. May Allah grant us an understanding. What a great man.

So wise at a young age. Very young age. So, subhanAllah.

The Prophet's Prophecy About Ali

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says about Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu. He says, O Ali radiyallahu anhu. Remember he was one of the greatest of the companions. The top ten. In fact he was fourth in rank.

Powerful. He says, O Ali, the people will be divided regarding your rank into two. Some will take you very high above your rank, and some will drop you very low below your rank. But those who are correct will be neither of the two. They will be the middle path. Those who know exactly what your status is.

And this was a miracle of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). He had prophesized something that happened later on. Some take him right all the way to godhood. May Allah protect us. And some drop him and remove him even from the fold of Islam. Astaghfirullah. But we are the middle path.

We say he was the most honored. We will never utter one bad word about him. Never. We will honor him and his entire family. And we know whenever you say Ali, you must say, may Allah be pleased with him.

رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ.

May Allah be pleased with everyone of us.

Ali as Scribe of Revelation

As he was young, he learned how to read and write. So sometimes when revelation used to come through, he used to be called by Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) to write it. Please write this down. Because he could write. So he was known as Katib al-Wahi.

That was an honor given to him, Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu. One of the ten who were told, you are from paradise. We've been speaking about that the last two days. And mashallah, mashallah. He was one of them. May Allah make us from among those who earned paradise.

The Battle of Khaybar and Divine Love

You know there is a very beautiful incident that occurred that brings a lot of joy to the heart. The day of Khaybar, when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had surrounded a place known as Khaybar, and they were going into the fortress, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) at the time of war, he made an

announcement in the evening. He says, tomorrow I'm going to give the flag to a person whom Allah loves. And he loves Allah.

So what happened is as the people were sleeping at night, they were all whispering to each other. Who do you think that's going to be? Each one hoping it's going to be him. I mean if you heard that tomorrow we're going to make a big announcement of a person who's won a huge prize, like later on today, we're going to be giving away huge prizes, subhanAllah.

You would love that that were you. You would wait. Wait for names to be called out, right? The following morning the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says, Ayn Ali Ibn Abi Talib.

May Allah be pleased with him. Where is Ali? And everyone says, oh wow, look at him. He is a person who loves Allah, and Allah loves him in return. That's confirmed by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) gave him the flag, and told him, oh Ali, you are going into this fortress, I make you the leader of those who are going in, and I want to tell you my piece of advice. And this was at a time of war. He says, oh Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him.

Wallahi la an yahdiyallahu bika rajulan wahidan khayrun laka min humrin na'am. (Bukhari hadith 3009)

Wallahi I promise you, oh Ali, if Allah uses you to guide one person to the straight path, it's better for you than the most valuable of material items of this world. SubhanAllah.

The Importance of Guidance Over Warfare

He says, oh Ali, take the name of Allah, and remember this advice of mine. Now I pause for a moment for us to learn a lesson from this. My brothers, my sisters, how many of us, when we see people who are misguided, astray, far away from Islam, perhaps they hate Islam, perhaps they are the enemies.

On this occasion it was a war that was taking place. But the Prophet says, be careful, you need to guide the people towards goodness. SubhanAllah.

What's happening to us today? Do we make an effort to guide people? When we see those who don't like us, they are Islamophobes perhaps, what do we do? Do we pray for their softening of the heart? Do we pray, for example, for their guidance? Do we pray for them to understand us better? Or do we spew hate in return the same way they did? I'm sure we have a lesson to learn from this beautiful hadith. Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu being told, if one person is guided, one, one, one, just one, it's better for you than anything that you can have in this world. The same applies to us in our lives.

Patience in Guidance

My brothers and sisters, make an effort. Make an effort to work on those whom you live with, those who

are around you, and be very, very patient. We give up on our own children sometimes. We give up on our family members, on our husbands, on our wives. Don't give up. Keep trying, keep praying.

I promise you, a day will come when you will smile forever and ever. Even if that means eight years down the line, or more, or slightly less. It's the plan of Allah. When the guidance is written, it will definitely come. SubhanAllah. May Allah grant us goodness.

So my brothers and sisters, remember something. When we read these stories, it's to ask ourselves, how can we benefit from its application here today? SubhanAllah. And how can we apply it? You need to understand. That's why I'm raising this. May Allah grant us a beautiful lesson.

Ali's Care for Abu Bakr's Family

This man, Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu, we were talking about his love of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu. Do you know how deep it was? When Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu passed away, later on, Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu decided to take care of his children, and married his widow.

SubhanAllah. Her name was Asma bint Umays radiyallahu anha. Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu married her, and was taking care of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu's son, known as Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. That was the love they had for one another.

Lessons on Marrying Widows and Divorcees

SubhanAllah. How many of us, for the sake of Allah, for the pleasure of Allah, would marry a widow, or someone who is divorced. I take a look at Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) and I look at his life.

He married those who were divorced or widowed. That's who he married. From the beginning to the end, besides one. There was only one. Who he married, who was neither divorced nor widowed, she was young, subhanAllah. The rest of them were people who were married before.

SubhanAllah. Have you thought of it? How many of us young people here, or even those who are slightly older, would consider someone who is divorced. What's wrong? She may not have got along with someone, she can get along with others, who knows? She might get along with you.

I know of companions, who used to say, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon them, they used to say, look, why don't you marry so and so? I was married to her, I didn't get along, but I have a feeling she will get along with you. Allahu akbar, subhanAllah. I think we've lost values and morals.

Avoiding Hatred After Divorce

My brothers and sisters, we believe, that if you divorce someone, that's it, you got to spew hate, like I say, mudslinging. You've got to keep on making sure that nothing good happens for that particular person.

May Allah grant us a deep understanding.

These are the superheroes. These are the ones who were told, for you is paradise. Do you know why? Because they had these qualities, that's why. They had beautiful qualities. Imagine someone passes away, and he knows, that's my friend, subhanAllah. That's my friend, he had a blessed family, let me take care of them, let me marry the widow, subhanAllah.

May Allah grant us ease, and grant us a deep understanding. At least let's take care of one another, let's understand, if a woman is divorced or widowed, it does not mean she is bad at all. Not at all. She might even be better than others. May Allah help us to understand this and realize this. So, this was a lesson we learned from Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu.

Ali's Wisdom About the Afterlife

Then, we take a look at some of his statements, subhanAllah. Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu, it's reported that one day, he was at the graveyard. Not the graveyard. And at the graveyard, there were a lot of people with him, and he decided to address the graves, in a way that would be a lesson for everyone.

So he asks a question to say, O people of the graves, the houses you were in, are already housing others. The wealth that you had, already belongs to someone else. The wives that you've had, are already remarried to others. Now tell us, we have given you what's happening this side, tell us what's happening on your side. SubhanAllah. And then he read the verse, where Allah says:

"The best provision that you can have, is piety. You want to prepare, you haven't taken your wealth, you haven't taken your family members, you have not taken your houses, but you will take your deeds. So do good deeds, my brothers and sisters, those deeds will help you in the hereafter. This man was very wise.

Caution About Attributed Quotes

He was known for his wisdom. So much so, that there are quotes of Ali, Ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu, that people have compiled. I do know that some of them, people just add the name of Ali, to give it value.

I don't know if you've seen that happening. You find a statement by someone, and when you don't know who it is, you just write Ali Ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu. That happens. When people want to legitimize something, they just put someone's name next to it.

And this is why we need to be careful. We need to be careful about these statements. If something doesn't really make sense, or you think perhaps, I don't think this is right. Do a little bit of research, and you might find that it was not his quote. It was not from him. People do it to a lot of others, whom they consider perhaps value.

They've done it to me, and yet I have zero value, compared to Ali Ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu. And people say, this quote, and suddenly I see my name next to it. I say, I've never said that. I've never ever said this, man.

But they say, no, we just wanted to add value to it. Forgive us, you'll get a reward inshaAllah. What reward? Cheating? You're forgetting the sin that you're going to get. May Allah grant us an understanding.

The Story of Ali's Armor and Divine Justice

So, there is a story that I'd like to end with, seeing that my 28 minutes are up. Can you believe that? I can't, I think I need a discount, guys. May Allah grant us 10 more percent inshaAllah. So, Ali Ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu who once lost his armor, an armor that he had, and it was so close to his heart. I'm not too sure if it was the same one that we spoke about earlier, but it was one of his armors, right? He lost it.

And sometime later, he was the Ameer. He was the Ameerul Mu'mineen, the Khalifatul Muslimin. He was in charge, and he had vast kingdom. When he arrived in Kufa, he saw in the market place someone selling an armor. Lo and behold, it was his. He looks at this Jewish man selling the armor.

He says, where did you get this from? He says, well, I'm selling it. He says, it's mine. No, it's not yours. I bought it from so and so, who bought it from so and so, whatever it was. He says, no, it's mine. Let's go, I take you to the Qadi.

Qadi meaning the court, the judge. Who was the judge? The judge was appointed by Ali Ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu. His name was Shurayh. Shurayh was a powerful judge. He was appointed by Ali radiyallahu anhu. Ali radiyallahu anhu is taking a Jewish man to that court. He sat in front of this judge whom he appointed. And he says, you know what? This Jewish man has my armor.

So Shurayh says, Ameerul Mu'mineen, now this was a just man, Ameerul Mu'mineen, as much as I would like to believe you, I need to ask you for evidence. Now that's a tough one. You don't have evidence, we cannot rule in your favor.

He says, I have evidence. The best of the youth, Al-Hassan, Al-Hussain, here they are, the grandchildren of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. They will bear witness that this armor is mine. So Shurayh says, I know, but children cannot bear witness for their fathers.

You know, there is an issue here. Clash of interests, as they say. So, if the children bear witness for their father, we won't accept it. You've got to bring someone else. And he didn't have others who were ready.

So Shurayh decided, Ya Ameerul Mu'mineen, with all due respect, with all absolute due respect, I need to tell you that I have ruled that this armor belongs to the Jewish man.

Guess what happened? Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu accepted it, he acknowledged it, he thanked him, he congratulated the Jewish man, and he's now going away. SubhanAllah. But the Jewish man says, Did you see that brothers, they gave me a discount.

You see, it's worth asking for it sometimes. When you don't open your mouth, even if you have braces, you don't open your mouth, subhanAllah, you know what happens? You don't get. You got to speak to be able to get. They gave me 10 whole minutes extra. So here we're going inshaAllah. Don't worry, I won't take up so much because there are prizes to come just now.

And I don't wish to actually spoil the show. But the Jewish man, subhanAllah, he looks at Shurayh, and he looks at Ameerul Mu'mineen, who appointed him. And he says, wow, subhanAllah, look at this. The Amir is actually being told that this is the Jewish man. And in the heart of the Jewish man, he knew, you know what, this does belong to him actually. So he says:

He says, I bear witness there is none worthy of worship besides Allah. And I'm entering the fold of Islam by bearing witness that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is indeed the messenger of Allah. If this is the quality that he taught, and if these are the people that he built, then I am part of them, subhanAllah.

The Impact of True Islamic Character

Question I have for you and I. When the non-Muslims see us, I think a lot of the times they run away from the deen. In a lot of cases. Why? Because we are not living up to what we should be. Where is the sense of justice? Where is your courtesy? Your humility? Your honesty? Your humbleness? Where is it gone? O Ummah of Muhammad, peace be upon him, these are the men whom he built.

What about us? Wouldn't we like to be the true ambassadors? Don't you want to be one of those who are going to paradise? Well those were the qualities of those who were told you are from paradise. What about us? Let's develop some of these qualities. When people see you, they should want to be like you.

When people see what you do, they should feel connected to you. When people see how you say things, and how you address them, they should feel respected, and they should really feel the connection, because you are human beings after all. SubhanAllah.

Let's learn to respect one another. Humanity at large, we are part of one family. We are related. Every one of us here is related. And all those on earth are related, because guess where we came from? The Prophet Noah, may peace be upon him. And before that the Prophet Adam, may peace be upon him. Our forefather. May Allah grant us ease and goodness. Imagine this beautiful story.

The Contrast with Today's Reality

The character and conduct of the people, the justice system, drew them towards Islam. Today a lot of things even drift. The Muslims away from Islam. You have a Muslim, a sister, a brother, they are struggling with a few things. And the first thing as you meet them, instead of as-salamu alaykum, you say astaghfirullah. I mean, is there a reply for that? Am I supposed to reply you somehow? You know when someone greets you, you're supposed to greet back with a better greeting.

So if someone says, as-salamu alaykum, what should we say? May peace be upon you. We say, wa alaykum as-salam. May peace be upon you too. Wa rahmatullah, and the mercy of Allah. Wa barakatuh, and the blessings of Allah. That's what we should say.

But nowadays you see someone, just because of the way they're dressed, you say astaghfirullah. Well, brother or sister, if that happens to you, I can teach you a better reply. If someone looks at you and says, astaghfirullah. Say, la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah. That's all you got to do. That's it.

And I promise you, they'll just look at you. And then you can tell them, look, the Quran says, when you greet me with a greeting, I'll greet with a better greeting, inshaAllah. So you know, you sought Allah's forgiveness for you. And I said, indeed, all might and power belongs only to Allah. SubhanAllah. There we are.

The Importance of Not Judging Others

But my brothers and sisters, on a more serious note, let's never judge people. You don't know the struggles of people. You don't know what they may be going through. One little push, one small good deed from you, might actually change their life. People are struggling. People are going through so much.

We're all going through so much. In the same way, we wouldn't like people judging us. We shouldn't judge them. Not at all. No one for that matter. Keep guiding. Keep being kind. And inshaAllah, you will see the doors opening, the doors of goodness.

Ali's Martyrdom and Final Lessons

Getting back to the life of Ali ibn Abi Talib radiyallahu anhu. He was actually murdered. He was murdered in the year 40 Hijri by a man known as Abdur Rahman ibn Muljim. And may Allah protect us from fitna.

The lesson I learned from it, and I'm going to close with this is, if people try to create disunity amongst you and hatred amongst you, don't allow that to happen. Do not allow that to happen. When people spew hate, don't let it filter into your heart. No.

We should never be tasting wrath from one another. But rather, when you see a fellow believer, you should feel so good. You should feel calm. You should feel that I have a brother, I have a sister. And in order to feel that feeling, you should give it to others as well.

The Problem of Internal Division

The problem today across the globe, we find that we are affected negatively more from members of our own ummah than anyone else. If you look at the fighting and the killing across the globe, a lot of it are people who read the shahada fighting one another. A lot of it are people who read the shahada killing one another. It's happening in our homes sometimes where we don't get along with those whom we have a million things in common with.

A Powerful Question for Self-Reflection

I want to ask you to take home today something powerful and that is, do I spread love or hate? Question. Take that question home with you. Do I spread love or hate? That's the question.

Wallahi, your life will change if you want to answer that with love. Your life will change. And that starts with your spouse, your parents, your children, your in-laws, your outlaws, whoever they are, sorry. Whoever they are, subhanAllah. Your community, those you agree with, those you disagree with, those whom you disagree very strongly with, subhanAllah. May Allah grant us all ease.

Closing

Barakallah feekum. I've seen he said three minutes to go. Mashallah, tabarakallah. Brother, I will give you those three minutes inshaAllah. So I'll end here and now. May Allah bless us all.

I say this. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad. Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi. Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdik. We bear witness that there is no god but Allah. We ask forgiveness and repent to You.