Sweat for Allah
By Omar Suleiman | 2026-01-06T19:05:20.838698+00:00 | Topic: Allah
Sweat for Allah
By: Imam Omar Suleiman
Opening
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim
Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wa la 'udwana illa 'ala al-dhalimeen wa al-'aqibatu lil-muttaqeen
Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik ala abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam tasliman kathira
Introduction: Ibrahim - The Extraordinary Young Man
Dear brothers and sisters, I want to start off with a reflection on a very powerful ayah in the Quran. And I know it departs a little bit from the topic, but I hope that you'll be able to connect the dots as we go along.
Where Allah talks about one of the most extraordinary young men that has ever walked the face of the earth. In fact, this deen that we follow is his deen. This way that we follow is his path. And Allah tells the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to follow his way:
"So follow him" (Quran 6:90)
And that is Ibrahim (عليه السلام). The one who Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) saw in the highest heaven whenever he traveled on the night of al-Isra' wa al-Mi'raj.
And the one whom Allah says:
"He has chosen you and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty. [It is] the religion of your father, Abraham. Allah named you 'Muslims.'"
Some of the scholars said that Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was the one who actually did the naming of calling us Muslims. And some said Allah did.
But surely, you know, a man that accomplished amazing things who till today in every major rukun of this deen, we commemorate his sacrifice, we commemorate his effort in the salah when we do a salah Ibrahimiyyah:
"O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad as You sent prayers upon Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim"
Hajj is about following the pillars of Ibrahim (عليه السلام) that Allah taught him and that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) reinforced.
Ibrahim: An Entire Nation
And in particular the ayah that I want to look at, that I want you to reflect upon for a moment. Allah says about Ibrahim (عليه السلام):
"Indeed, Abraham was a [comprehensive] leader."
Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was a ummah by himself. He was an entire nation. He was a ummah. And when you read the tafsir of this ayah, it's very interesting because the scholars struggled with this concept. First and foremost the linguistic meaning of the word ummah.
And if we come to the conclusion that ummah represents a community, represents a nation, then what does it mean in regards to Ibrahim (عليه السلام). So some of the scholars they said that what it means is that Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was a ummah (أُمَّةً كَانَ) because all of the arguments that Ibrahim (عليه السلام) put forth to his people throughout his entire youth until he got married. So a good portion of his life, all of the debating that Ibrahim (عليه السلام) did.
Ibn Kathir calls him, (أَفْصَحُ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ) the most eloquent of the prophets. Everything that he put forward. We read his arguments in the Quran.
And you know what? Allah tells us that by the time Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was finished with his people, with all of those arguments, and his father instigated the murder of Ibrahim (عليه السلام), and he was thrown into the fire, stripped naked in front of the people, humiliated. And then he left that fire, and he left his people. And he said:
"My Lord, grant me [a child] from among the righteous."
That not a single person from his people believed in him except for his wife and his cousin Lut (عليه السلام) who was in another locality anyway.
The Magnitude of Ibrahim's Sacrifice
Can you imagine that? The arguments that he put forth to his people were extraordinary arguments. And he strove like no other human being could strive. But with all of that, nobody believed in him.
So in that regard, for a while Ibrahim (عليه السلام) really did represent the ummah. But it means something much more powerful than that. As the majority of the Mufassaleen have pointed out, which I find phenomenal, that they say that what Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was able to accomplish, the good that Ibrahim (عليه السلام) put forth, an entire nation could not put forth.
And that's why Allah called him an ummah. Everything about him was invested towards the da'wah, was invested towards spreading this message. Emotionally, he invested himself into this message. He committed himself to the cause. You know how hurtful it was for him to hear those words from his father?
He loved his father. If he didn't love his father, he wouldn't have been making du'a for him the entire time until Allah forbade him from doing so.
He loved his father. And to have your father reject you that way, to have your people reject you that way, he emotionally invested himself so much into this da'wah, physically invested himself to the point that again, he was going to be killed had Allah not saved him and made the fire:
"cool and safe"
upon him. And we all know, I mean, you know, subhanAllah, that statement, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt. We all know that's a big lie. Emotional hurt, emotional abuse is much more severe than physical abuse, right?
And that's why, you know, when we were growing up, many of you might have this, the same, you know, the same understanding that, you know what? Growing up, if you did something bad, you really wanted your parents to just hit you, just get it over with. But the worst moments were when your dad would put you in the corner of your mom and say, I'm disappointed in you.
You really let me down. I can't, you know, I don't even know what to make out of this. It's like, dad, could you just smack me across the face and just get it over with? You know, there's the belt. This is much more painful than that, right? Because that emotionally hurts you. You know, that really, it beats you down on the inside. And Ibrahim (عليه السلام) was beat down inside out for this cause.
Ibrahim's Continued Da'wah
And you know what's amazing? When he leaves Harran to Egypt, he continues the da'wah. Allah tells us about the person who, the king, the oppressive king, who says to Ibrahim (عليه السلام) when Ibrahim (عليه السلام) says:
"My Lord is the one who gives life and causes death."
And Nimrod says:
"I give life and I give death."
How do I give life and I give death? Nimrod said, well, here's a guy that was gonna be killed and I'm gonna let him go. And here's a guy that's innocent, I'm gonna kill him. See, I give life and I give death too.
"So Abraham said, 'Indeed, Allah brings up the sun from the east, so bring it up from the west.' So the disbeliever was overwhelmed [by astonishment]."
So Ibrahim (عليه السلام) continued his da'wah from Harran to Egypt to Iraq. Everywhere he went, he was completely, entirely invested in the da'wah to Allah. And that's why Allah calls him by himself a ummah, an entire nation.
And from Ibrahim (عليه السلام) all of the ummah would come out, just by himself.
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: Another Example of an Ummah
And one of the proofs of that is that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) referred to one of his sahaba in the same way. And that sahabi was Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه). The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:
"Indeed, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud is an ummah by himself."
Now let's study Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) to understand that for a minute. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) was a young man in the time when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) received the message. He has no lineage, he doesn't... SubhanAllah, no one to take care of him, no tribe, he's one of the low people of society. He's a young shepherd. That the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) walked by with Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) one day. And he was in charge of some sheep and the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said Can we have something to drink? Can we have some milk to drink?
And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said, No, because I am a Ghulam Mu'tamin, I was trusted with this flock. I can't give you anything. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said Bring us a sheep then, a goat that doesn't produce milk. And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) saw the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) say, Bismillah.
Put his hands on the udders and the milk came out. Gave a drink to Abu Bakr, drank from it, gave a drink to Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه). And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) praised the traits, the attribute of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) which was his trustworthiness.
Ibn Mas'ud's Early Dedication
This same Ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) goes and accepts Islam. One of the first to accept Islam. Goes out from the very start. He's the first person to recite Quran publicly. Despite having no protection, no one to take care of him. He doesn't care. He believes so wholeheartedly in this message that he goes out and he starts reciting Surah Al-Rahman.
And the people are listening to him. They're saying, what is that? And then they realize this is from the poetry of Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) as they called it. And they jumped on him. And they beat him unconscious. Broke his collarbones. And when Ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) woke up from that beating, that throbbing.
They said to Ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) why did you do that? You know the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) didn't tell you to go recite publicly. We're not yet in that stage of public da'wah. Why did you do that? And he said, Wallahi, I want to do the same thing today. I wanna go back and make them listen to the Quran and they can beat me up again. I don't care. He didn't care.
And he is the one, who when the public da'wah started officially with the Islam of Umar ibn Al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه). He is the one that called the Islam of Umar, victory, izzah, honor for the deen. Why? Because now he could go out and give da'wah freely without having to worry about any of that stuff. That's Ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه)
Ibn Mas'ud at Badr
Ibn Mas'ud is the same one who would climb on the chest of Abu Jahl in Badr. And Abu Jahl would look at him and would say:
"You have climbed the difficult mountain, O shepherd of sheep."
Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am? Look how arrogant Abu Jahl is. He is a huge human being. And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) stands on top of him. And he says to Ibn Mas'ud:
"By the way, who is winning the battle?"
He is about to die. Who is winning the battle? And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) tells him:
"Victory is for Allah and His Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and the enemy of Allah."
And Ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) would take the life of the Fir'aun of this Ummah.
The Physical Description of Ibn Mas'ud
Now Ibn Mas'ud (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) what makes him so amazing is that Ibn Mas'ud was a dwarf physically. Physically speaking, he was... he had a deformity. He was short. And some of the Sahaba at one point even made fun of him. As the incident is narrated that Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) was climbing the Araq tree to get the Siwak. And a wind blew him into that tree and his legs were exposed.
And the Sahaba laughed at him. And Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - salla allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, what are you laughing at? They said, Ya Rasulullah, look at his... you know, his legs are small. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) was a short human being.
You know, it's said that the sitting person would be at eye level with him when he was standing. He was a short human being. And the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - salla allahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
"Those two legs that you're laughing at are more heavy on the scales on the day of judgment than the mountain of Uhud." (Sahih Muslim 2614)
Why? The man gave everything for Allah and His Messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - salla allahu alayhi wa sallam). He was an ummah by himself. He's a nation. He taught this ummah the Qur'an.
Ibn Mas'ud's Mission to Iraq
You know, Umar ibn al-Khattab (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) when Iraq was giving Umar a hard time, Umar (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) said, look, I'm gonna send you a guy that if you give him a hard time, that means for sure that you are at fault. Because there's no way that he's gonna do anything wrong. He sent him Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu). He said, it pains me to send him to you.
But he sent him to Iraq because he said, you know, maybe that will fix the situation over there. And when Umar (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) the next time he saw a group of people coming from Iraq and he started to ask them questions, everything that they answered with was Qur'an. Where are you going to? Al-Bayt al-'Atiq, the Kaaba.
Where are you coming from? Fajr al-'Amiq, a dark valley. He's just asking them questions they're answering with Qur'an. And he says, afeekum Abdullah ibn Mas'ud. You have Abdullah ibn Mas'ud amongst you, don't you? Yeah. He taught the ummah the Qur'an. His entire life was invested towards the deen.
Abu Bakr's Unmatched Faith
And so what Ibn Mas'ud (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) accomplishes, an entire nation doesn't accomplish. And that's why Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - salla allahu alayhi wa sallam) says about Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) the greatest human being who ever walked the face of the earth who was not a prophet. And Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - salla allahu alayhi wa sallam) says:
"If you took the iman of Abu Bakr and put it on a scale and put the rest of the ummah, all of the iman, all of the faith..."
You imagine all of the Umars and Uthmans and all the sahaba, all the tabi'een, the Hassan al-Basri's, the Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak's, the Malik ibn Dinar's, the Ibn Taymiyyah's, the Al-Ghazali's, the Zahid's. You put all of those people on one side and you put Abu Bakr on the other side, Abu Bakr's iman was heavier than all of their iman. All of us sitting here today, one man outdoes billions in his iman.
Why? Because everything about Abu Bakr (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) was (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ - la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah). He invested himself physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally. He gave it his all, blood, sweat and tears.
It was all for the ummah. It was all for (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ - la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah)
Allah's Expectations vs. People's Expectations
The point that I'm trying to make dear brothers and sisters is that Allah has given us certain capabilities and Allah has certain expectations of us. And the expectations that Allah has of us is different than the expectations that people have set for us. Many of you, your parents would be satisfied if you just prayed on time, were nice to them, fasted, attended halaqas here and there. They'd be happy.
They'd say, alhamdulillah, I'm good. You became the trophy hafidh kid and didn't completely humiliate them. Alhamdulillah, great. My kid's doing alright. Or you know what, maybe a little bit more. You know, get involved with YM or mass youth or whatever it may be and really put your heart into it.
That's good enough. Okay, alhamdulillah, good. You know, that's all a parent could ask for. But Allah has other expectations for you. Look, the father of Ibrahim (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ - alayhis salam) didn't want Ibrahim (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ - alayhis salam) to be a prophet. He didn't have expectations from him, but Allah had expectations of him.
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ - radi allahu anhu) had no parents to set expectations for him. But Allah had expectations for him. I can't see that.
You know, the point is, is that Allah sets expectations for you. And I always mention this example because I find it so significant.
The Power of Individual Dedication
You look at what some individuals have been able to accomplish. And you know what, you go to almost any community in the United States today. And if that community is awesome, if you study it enough, you can trace it down to one person.
You can track down one or two or three individuals who are doing everything, right? And that's a problem because they might get burned out. More likely than not, they'll eventually get burned out. But it's usually on the back of one person.
You go to some communities, you see, mashallah, you know, in terms of youth activities, social activities, Quran, hadith, whatever it may be, interfaith, social work, social justice, like that community is doing an awesome job. And then you find out it's just one, they just have an incredible imam, or they have an incredible director, or they have an incredible, you know, brother or sister that's behind the scenes organizing all this stuff. It almost always happens when you go and you study communities.
Now, the reason why the sahaba accomplished so much is because they were all awesome, right? They all had that drive, they had that motivation. But subhanallah, in our day and age, it's just a fact that it's very few, you know. There is:
"A [large] company of the former peoples * And a few of the later peoples" (Quran 56:13-14)
just a few from the later generations that take on that task, that really put their hearts and dedicate themselves to this message.
The Example of Shaykh Ahmed Deedat
And I always use the example of Shaykh Ahmed Deedat (رَحِمَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى - rahimahullah ta'ala). What that man accomplished by himself, entire ummah would not accomplish in our day and age. In fact, what he accomplished with his eyes when he was paralyzed, and he was just writing letters with the last few years of his life with his eyes, debating with people, sending letters to different people, debating with his Christian nurses, and one of his Christian nurses accepting Islam because he used his eyes to give her da'wah.
We don't even do that with our full capability, with our entire bodies, right? But when Allah puts that inspiration inside of you, you dedicate yourself.
Self-Reflection Questions
And so the question is with these last few minutes, I really didn't... That was supposed to just be the introduction to the talk. But the question is that I have for you, and then I'll let you think about it.
How much of your free time goes towards (لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا ٱللَّٰهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ ٱللَّٰهِ - la ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah)? When you're sitting alone, how many of your thoughts are occupied by the situation of the ummah? And you're standing in front of Allah. Serious things, important things. When you are sad, what is it that usually gets you sad and gets you down? Right?
Is it that your football team lost the game? Is it that your favorite celebrity, your favorite athlete broke up with their girlfriend or broke up with their boyfriend? What is it that gets you down? Is it that you get a flat tire or you dropped your phone and you broke your phone and you don't have internet for today? What is it that gets you down that actually burdens you, that actually weighs heavy on your heart and on your thoughts?
What is it that keeps you up at night when you're not able to sleep? Is it that somebody threw a really nasty comment at you on Facebook? Do you realize how shallow of a generation we are sometimes? Right? What keeps you up at night? Seriously.
That somebody made a comment that you didn't like, somebody said something to you and I'm gonna show them. What meaningful things keep us up at night and occupy our thoughts? And when I get tired and I consume my body and I consume my health and my time, the greatest two blessings that are neglected as the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - salla allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, you know, what is it being used for?
When I'm tired, physically, emotionally, exhausted, what is it being used for? And if it's for something other than the cause that's going to determine your fate and whether or not you will be in paradise or hellfire (وَالْعِيَاذُ بِاللهِ - wal'iyadhu billah) then there's a big problem there because that makes you a neglectful person and it makes me a neglectful person. It makes us a people of heedlessness and ghaflah.
Closing
And so I ask that question, I ask Allah to forgive me for the lengthy introduction and if this talk wasn't more practical, but I hope throughout the conference, inshallah ta'ala, there will be more practicality in the talks and this was hopefully just an introduction to the conference.
"Indeed, Abraham was a [comprehensive] leader."
Ibrahim (عَلَيْهِ ٱلسَّلَامُ - alayhis salam) was an ummah. We ask Allah to make us the most glorious ummah, to make us people who live up to the job description of:
"You are the best nation produced [as an example] for mankind. You enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong." (Quran 3:110)
in enjoining good and forbidding evil.
And we ask Allah to forgive us for our shortcomings.
جَزَاكُمُ اللهُ خَيْرًا، اللَّهُمَّ آمِينَ Jazakumullahu khayran, Allahumma ameen
I say these words and seek Allah's forgiveness for me and you, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings