When God Sends You a Dog or a Drunkard

When God Sends You a Dog or a Drunkard

Virtual Khutbah with Sh. Omar Suleiman

Opening

As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَيْهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا

مَنْ يَهْدِ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ

وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ لَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ وَهُوَ حَيٌّ لَا يَمُوتُ بِيَدِهِ الْخَيْرُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَفِيُّهُ وَخَلِيلُهُ أَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ وَبَلَغَ الرّسَالَةَ وَنَصَحَ لِلْأُمَّةِ وَكَشَفَ الْغُمَّةَ وَتَرَكَنَا عَلَى الْمَحَجَّةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ لَيْلُهَا كَنَهَارِهَا لَا يَزِيعُ عَنْهَا إِلَّا هَالِكُ

فَعَلَيْهِ أَفْضَلُ الصَّلَاةِ وَأَتَمُّ التَّسْلِيمِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنِ اسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ آمِينَ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ

أُوصِيكُمْ وَنَفْسِي بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَقَدْ أَمَرَنَا بِالْحَقِّ وَقَالَ تَعَالَى

ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ

We begin by praising Allah by bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for one God and we bear witness that Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salallahu alayhi wa)

sallam is his final messenger. We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him and those that follow their blessed path until the day of judgment and we ask that he make us amongst them Allahumma ameen.

Introduction: Recognizing Blessings and Tests

So dear brothers and sisters as we're talking about unique opportunities and blessings and some of the things that we have in front of us right now that perhaps we're not paying too much attention to because we're so worried about that which we don't have. A lot of the has been about we don't have the opportunity to worship in the masjid now so let's make the most of the opportunity that we have to worship at home and also when I say rhetoric I'm not trying to degrade it in any way it's important it's an important message and it's one that you're going to be hearing from me in fact as we approach the blessed month of Ramadan. You'll hear the message of you know these blessings that have been taken away from us that we used to take for granted now when they come back to us inshallah ta'ala we'll pay closer attention.

A Different Perspective: Dr. Hassan Alwan's Insight

But I want to look at a completely different angle which I think is very important and it was a benefiting lecture or a lecture that I benefited from a short reminder from Sheikh Hassan Alwan, Dr Hassan Alwan may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless him where he was talking about this incident that gets quoted often from the hadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - salallahu alayhi wa sallam) about this woman who was a prostitute and she saw a thirsty dog and she gave water to that thirsty dog and so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgave her for her sins and she entered into paradise she entered into al-jannah but he gave a completely different perspective into it and I wanted to mention it but then draw on it a little bit more the profound intervention in what he mentioned in regards to that hadith.

Self-Critical Reflection

Oftentimes when we talk about why is Allah testing me this way we have to be self-critical and say how often did we used to ask why is Allah blessing me in this way and so if you aren't paying attention to all of the blessings that Allah had bestowed upon you consistently where you didn't used to ask why me as in why am I so blessed why do I have so much that's been given to me that I could make the most of and then when tests come around you say why is Allah giving me these tests there's naturally going to be an imbalance there.

Taking Responsibility for Our Sins

The same thing could happen when it comes to sins right now we don't blame God for our sins okay we take full accountability full responsibility for them. Allah has given us enough reason not to sin he's given

us enough blessings he's given us enough permissible outlets to where we don't have to go to the prohibited he's given us enough of a purpose to where we don't have to become subdued to our own desires but rather subdue them for the sake of that greater purpose he's given us enough to aim for he's given us enough incentive and he's given us enough right to where we don't have to lean towards those sins or to those things of disobedience and so every time we disobey him every time we do actually sin it's actually a form of ingratitude to it is a form of ingratitude right because as Imam Ghazali rahim Allah said very beautifully when Allah says in the Quran:

isn't God enough for his servants right what that means is that the only one that the shaitan that the devil can capture in a moment now all of us are sins the sinners right all of us have our sins all of us are sinners we will sin because we're the children of Adam and it's a part of but the only one for whom the devil will have a consistent hold on to pull away is the one for whom a lot is not enough and so if you're not taking advantage of immersing yourself in the blessing of what Allah has given you not just in terms of worship but in terms of purpose in terms of meaning to keep you engaged in things that are so fulfilling right fulfilling in terms of how you actually live this life it's a paradise of fulfillment it is a paradise of certainty that you have that you know that you're working for something meaningful you know that you're doing good things and things that will not go unrewarded right if you have that then you're not going to blame Allah for your sins right you're not going to say well why did Allah put me in this situation or why did God test me with this sin okay because Allah does not force you into sin and when we sin we have to take full accountability and we have to own that sin and that's the first thing that allows us to overcome that sin is to be able to look in the mirror and to say I did it I'm responsible now that I know I'm responsible here's how I'm going to get over it and I'm going to seek his mercy because ultimately it's his mercy that will save me and that will pull me out of this mess that I've made for myself right but you'll see some people like well I was tested with that sin or I was forced into this or forced into that no I have to own the sin I have to own the sin and if I don't have the understanding in which you know before the hardships came around I used to ask you know why did Allah give me so much and how did Allah gave me so much and I had a great uh appreciation and gratitude for all the blessings that were constantly descending upon me then I'm not going to be able to come to terms with the hardships that have suddenly presented themselves to my life right and then and then take those and I'll actually throw those blessings against the wall and pay attention and magnify those hardships rather than the blessings that used to be there for me and that are still there that I'm not paying attention to right because ultimately even as we're looking at the hardships that we're engaged in right now or that we're uh that we're forced to engage right now we still have blessings that we're not paying close enough attention to okay.

The Hadith of the Woman and the Dog

the same thing is true when it comes to good deeds and sins so what's the narration and what is the intervention uh to this narration the prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) mentioned that there was a woman that was a (زانية - zania) that she was an adulteress and um as she was one day walking and in one narration the prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) mentioned as a man as she was one day walking saw a dog that was thirsty and so as she saw the dog that was thirsty she said that that dog became thirsty the same way that i was thirsty okay so that dog became thirsty the same way that i was thirsty and this is an important point here that i understand that i was thirsty and allah blessed me and right now there's a dog that's in front of me that's also thirsty and allah has blessed me to be able to give water to that dog the same way that allah gave water to me when i was thirsty and so took the extra time to take his shoe or her shoe and go down to the well and fill it with water and then came back to the dog and gave that dog that water so that person thanked allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and allah thanked them and entered them into jannah okay entered them into paradise.

Bukhari 3467, Muslim 2245

Who Sent the Dog?

there's so much of this that's so beautiful and so much for us to capture but i want you to pay attention to one thing which i had never paid attention to before uh my beloved brother had brought this up in a beautiful reminder who sent the dog to that woman who sent the dog to that woman why did allah put the dog in that woman's path right and the mercy of allah in presenting her an opportunity by putting that dog in front of her to invite her back to him to invite her back to him to give her an opportunity to repent she could have easily overlooked that dog and said let me get back to everything that i'm that i'm in right now you know i'm busy right now i have a lot to do she could have easily overlooked it but allah put that dog in front of her to give her an opportunity to invite her back to him allah who does not allow a single uh leaf to descend without his permission put it in front of her and invited her back with that simple act of repentance that could then turn her back to allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and secure her eternity with him and under his blessings for everything that allah subhanahu wa ta'ala offers in terms of so that's the first thing who put that dog in front of that woman why would allah subhanahu wa ta'ala send that dog to that woman to give her an opportunity despite her disobedience of him for so long here it is and how many of those moments have passed in front of us.

Opportunities We Might Miss

and subhanallah sometimes you might ask yourself you know why why is this happening to me in terms of you know this annoyance that's in front of me right that could actually be a moment of major blessing subhanallah the prophet mentioned:

الْيَدُ الْعُلْيَا خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْيَدِ السُّفْلَى

Bukhari 1429, Muslim 1033

the upper hand is better than the lower hand and sometimes you're annoyed because someone asks something of you and like why did that person ask that of me instead think you know alhamdulillah what is it that allah is inviting me to by putting me in that position right to where that person asked of me and so that's why ibn al-qayyim narrates that that he used to say to the beggars he used to say welcome to the one who allah has sent to give us our good deeds without asking anything from us in return like this is a blessing it's a complete blessing i'm not seeing the decrease of my wealth i'm seeing the increase in my reward that allah sent you there that you were put there for a reason right that is an opportunity for me to benefit from and i could have easily overlooked you the same way that that woman could have easily overlooked that dog.

The Connection of Personal Experience

now there's an important connection here which is that that woman made that connection because she too was thirsty and had she not been thirsty she might not have recognized that thirst and that's why the prophet of allah peace be upon him the prophets like some had experienced hunger he'd experienced what it was like to be an orphan he'd experienced what it was like to lose his spouse he'd experienced what it was like to lose children he'd experienced poverty he'd experienced all of those hardships so the prophets like some recognized things in people's faces he recognized pain he recognized hunger he recognized poverty when he saw it he recognized the sadness of an orphan at feeling left out he recognized all of that because the prophets like some had been put in that situation and often you cannot understand someone else's vulnerability unless you've been vulnerable in the same way even if it's to a lesser extent you just can't get it unless you've experienced it even to a lesser extent and so that woman being thirsty in those moments drinking that water and then seeing not not in another human being right in a dog in an animal right that that dog was thirsty just like she was thirsty and making the connection that that thirst is the same thirst that i had and allah subhanahu wa ta'ala provided for me.

The Story of Abu Hanifa and His Drunkard Neighbor

how does that extend beyond simply providing water and simply simply helping someone out in that way you know right now we've been talking about how because of how unprecedented this era is we're having to adjust and find things to do find ways to serve that are different find ways to check up on people that are different everything has changed for us right even the notion of charity has changed now to an extent right we have to adjust we've got to be flexible we've got to think about things in a broader sense and then you look in the stories of the salaf you look in the stories of the predecessors and you ask yourself how did imam abu hanifa out of all people end up with a drunkard neighbor how did abu hanifa that righteous man end up with a neighbor who would stay up all night drinking and shouting and causing all sorts of disturbance to where abu hanifa could not sleep properly at night you know out of all people imam abu hanifa having a neighbor like that you know and he's up at night and he's thinking you know he's hearing this man every single night this young man say they lost me they forgot about me

what a what type of a young man have they overlooked i've been overlooked i've been forgotten in society and what type of a young man have they forgotten like what have they missed out on by losing sight of me and he's shouting this every single night and he's the neighbor of imam abu hanifa and abu hanifa hears him every night and yes it's annoying and perhaps if you're abu hanifa you're thinking out of all people to end up with a neighbor like this why did i end up with a neighbor like that okay but abu hanifa stops hearing the man and instead of saying alhamdulillah thank god he's moved on he goes and he inquires about the man finds out that you know which is usually the case with alcoholism right that it was connected also to his debts and that he owed a lot of people money and that he was being held because of all the money that he he wasn't able to pay people abu hanifa goes and pays his bail pays his bond frees him okay frees him and as he frees him subhanallah uh the young man comes out and looks and he says why you right i mean why would a person like you free a person like me you know i he would even think that you you were probably relieved to get rid of me but have we lost sight of you oh young man have we forgotten about you oh young man.

The Story of Malik ibn Dinar

similar story about imam malik beautiful story and there is a connection that people often don't make which is similar to the woman who gave water to the thirsty dog imam malik was once walking in the streets of iraq and he saw a drunkard man that was a drunk man that was shouting out allah allah allah foaming at the mouth shouting out allah allah allah and people were ignoring him people were pushing him to the side and malik ibn dinar rahimahullah ta'ala went to him and he took the cuff of his jubba and he his cloak and he wiped the man's mouth he cleaned him up and he took him home and that night uh imam malik had a dream uh and it was said to him that we have purified you the way that you have purified your brother we have purified you the way that we have purified your brother and the next day malik ibn dinar rahimahullah ta'ala sees him in the masjid cleaned up looking completely different fresh repentant coming back to his lord and he asked me what happened to you and he said the one who came to you in your dream came to me in mine and guided me right so i'm i've been guided by that.

The Key Connection

subhanallah now what's the connection that's often lost malik ibn dinar rahimahullah ta'ala before becoming the great imam that he was was also a drunkard was also someone that was an alcoholic that would lose himself drink himself to sleep that caused all sorts of catastrophes and tragedies in his life which i'm not going to go into now while he was like that and so he saw that young man and he thought you know what there's a reason why that person's been put in my life there's a reason why i see that person in the alley allah did not cause me to stumble upon this man for no reason and i know what that looks like so just like the woman saw the woman that was thirsty saw that that dog was thirsty for the same water saw that that young man was thirsty for the water of guidance the way that he once was thirsty for the water of guidance so he didn't overlook him.

The Prophet's Empathy

and sometimes you see subhanallah that people that made turns in their lives and repented you know see people that are at a point in their journey that they were once at and are so condescending and see no hope in them and see no good in them whatsoever instead of thinking you know i remember when i was at that point too i remember being like that and sometimes unfortunately we we've never been in a position to where we can relate but at at least you know i know what it's like to be vulnerable i know what it's like to be searching as the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam is told that he was found an orphan he was found poor he was found searching and allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave him wealth protection and guidance now the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam searching for guidance is not like someone who was an adulterer murderer a drunkard an idol worshiper the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam could not relate to that but the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam certainly could relate to being in a position of looking for guidance and certainly the way that the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam felt as he was searching for guidance in hira waiting for some answers and that revelation to come to him the way the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam felt in the fatrah in the pause of revelation certainly the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam with all that he already is in terms of:

Empathetic, deeply empathetic and well guided, so engaged and immersed and invested in your guidance, right? Certainly the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam's own experience of looking for guidance affected him and impacted him when he saw someone that was searching for guidance as well.

Application for Our Current Moment

And so that's something that's similar with both the woman that's giving water to the dog and the Imam, the great scholar that's seeing a drunkard in an alley or having a drunk neighbor that they otherwise could turn their backs on, right? That I remember being like that and I remember being in that in that situation and not having someone pay attention to me, okay? What does this mean for us in this moment? SubhanAllah, right now is an opportunity for us to think and there are so many hadith that I could go over. The man who entered into Jannah, strolled in paradise because he removed something harmful from the road and that harmful thing from the road was something very small. It was just a disturbance to the people.

Whether Allah puts a bad neighbor in your life or Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala puts you know an animal in your life that's around you or a coke can in the street, anything, right? What are these opportunities of repentance that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keeps on putting in your way, right? What are the opportunities for repentance that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keeps on putting in your way?

Stories of the Salaf

And you know we find numerous numerous stories of the Salaf, these great pious predecessors because right now we're thinking about all those great acts of worship that we're gonna miss out on, right? That we're not gonna be able to do this and we're not gonna be able to do that and you find numerous stories of the Salaf, numerous stories of the pious predecessors. One who enters into Jannah who shows up in a dream of his students and they say how did you get to paradise and he says all of the books that I wrote, all the work that I did, all the preaching that I did, all of that amounted to nothing but one night while I was writing my book late at night a bug came and started to drink from my pot and I let it drink to its fill without shooing it away and that's what got me into Jannah. Two raka'as in the quiet of my home.

I was out in the masjid. I used to pray all the time. I used to be in you know doing all of these public acts of worship and private acts of worship. I had all of these different things but it was just these two sincere prayers, two sincere raka'as, two sincere sets of prayer that I prayed at home and it was in the middle of the night and it was the most sincere two raka'as that I ever had and that's what got me into Jannah right. It was the deed that I wasn't paying attention to or the deed that I you know maybe I did not consider to be of the same weight as all those other deeds that were in front of me but Allah considered it to be of a great enough weight that with his mercy he grew it to where it overcame all of my sins and that's that's the beauty of this journey is that you have all of these ahadith, all of these narrations, all these prophetic narrations about how much this deed is worth and what to do with this deed and how much virtue can be assigned to this particular act but when when you meet your Lord at the end of the day it's not gonna be about the quantifiable reward that comes with this particular deed in that deed. It's gonna be that Allah saw you in a moment of sincerity begging for his mercy, paying attention to what other people did not pay attention to, doing something on the side, doing some small act of sincerity and saying yeah Allah this is for you.

Abdullah ibn Umar's Wisdom

You sent me this opportunity and I'm gonna take advantage of it. Something popped up in front of you right something popped up in front of you and you took advantage of it. You did something good with it and that's what gets you into Jannah and that's why you can find someone as great as Abdullah bin Umar may Allah be pleased with him and his father, great companion of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam saying:

that if I knew that Allah accepted one prostration from me then I would wish to die because that's all you need is just that one accepted deed.

Practical Application

So pay attention to what Allah is sending your way right now and these things that other people overlook and always be attentive to those things. Opportunities for repentance, opportunities for repentance. The greatest blessing is to be in Allah's favor and the greatest opportunity is a deed that will put you closer to that and so while we're thinking about all these blessings that we're missing out on right now, pay attention.

There are some small things, it could be a dog or a drunkard or a coke can like I said, it could be a small donation button that you almost overlooked. It could be a small opportunity to just think about someone and call them and say salam. How beautiful is that you know that it could be that small call that you made that phone call that you made you were thinking about it and you were like you know what yeah I've only got three more minutes to this next meeting that's enough let me just call someone and just say salam and check up on someone.

It could be those two rakahs that you pray at night maybe it's not the 27th night of Ramadan or the odd nights of Ramadan it's just this one night that you felt really really immersed in your prayer and you made a sincere supplication you said Allah forgive me and yes that prayer could be far more sincere and grant you a greater chance in the hereafter than a prayer in Masjid Al Haram in front of the Kaaba on the 27th night because what makes the difference is going to be your sincerity and you're paying attention to those opportunities that Allah gave you and making the most of them.

Conclusion and Ramadan Message

and inshallah ta'ala next week as we enter into Ramadan that's what we're going to be talking about in the virtual khutbah. Hasn't Allah given you something to do so that's the title that I'm giving it to you right now inshallah ta'ala and I pray that Allah allows us to live to see those moments of Ramadan and allow it to be a Ramadan in which we are forgiven and which we are accepted in which we are freed from a not entered into a Jannat Al Firdos in which we are surrounded by the Angels throughout in which we are under Allah's pleasure throughout. I pray that Allah allows this to be the best Ramadan for us.

May Allah allow us to live to see it. May Allah allow us to thrive through it. Allahumma Ameen.

جَزَاكُمُ اللهُ خَيْرًا

Please pray four rak'ahs. This is not a replacement for your Jumaa Khutbah.

وَصَلَّى اللهُ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ