I asked you for food and you did not feed Me

"I asked you for food and you did not feed Me" - Imam Yaseen Sheikh

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.

Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His aid, and seek His forgiveness.

And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the wickedness of our deeds.

And I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah alone, without any partners.

And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and by seeking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy, his compassion, his grace. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, his companions and the believers till the last day.

The Perfect Character of the Prophet

We're very blessed that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave us all the opportunity to come here to attend the conference with the theme based on the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We are here to celebrate and learn about the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We're living in times where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's personality, character is being tainted and disparaged in many quarters.

But despite all of that, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said regarding him:

"We have raised high your renown."

We have raised your name. We have raised your remembrance. There is no doubt in our minds that the model of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, his walk of life and his way of life is the most complete way.

And it is not until we restore that way of life and that mold of life into our own lives, we will never succeed. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Surah Ahzab called the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's character a beautiful character:

"There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern"

Indeed in the messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, for you there is a beautiful character.

But beautiful character means it's a complete character. Uswah hasanah means uswah kamilah, which means that beyond the way of life that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam showed us, there is no source of guidance and no way of life for the believer. And the placement of this verse within the Surah of Ahzab gives us another indication because this Surah is based on ethics and morals.

The Surah contains much guidance about the way we should navigate in this world. And then after mentioning and establishing the fact that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's model is the complete and most beautiful sublime model, Allah ta'ala then says that a believer has no choice but to follow his messenger. Allah ta'ala then says that he is the final messenger, which means that there will be no other way of life taught to mankind better or more sublime than the way that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam taught us.

It is after that in the same Surah that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us that we sent the messenger as a light and the one that gives light:

"And as a lamp spreading light."

So if we want light in our lives, if we want our lives to be enlightened and guided, it is absolutely essential that we restore the spirit of the sunnah in our lives. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam told us in a beautiful hadith narrated by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in his Musnad.

He said:

(Musnad Ahmad (Hadith 8595))

"Verily I have been sent to complete the honorable qualities and characteristics."

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam came to teach us beautiful qualities, the most honorable and chivalrous qualities Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam had instilled in him. And his teachings were promoting and encouraging those same qualities in others.

Character as the Foundation of Faith

And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's function was that of one who is a teacher. And as a teacher, we are to learn from him. Not only did he teach us through his words, he taught us through his actions.

And Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam told us in a beautiful hadith:

(Sunan Abu Dawood (Hadith 4682))

"The most complete of believers is the one who has the most sublime character."

In fact, the one who lacks character is one whose iman is incomplete. That's why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said in a hadith:

(Musnad Ahmad (Hadith 12406))

"He who has no amanah or trust, the one who breaks his promises and betrays, he has no faith."

Because character makes the individual. Allah Ta'ala negated deen from the individual who does not share with others. In Surah Al-Ma'un, Allah said:

"Have you seen the one who denies the Recompense?"

Have you not seen the one that rejects the religion? What are the actions that are equal to rejecting the religion?

"For that is the one who drives away the orphan"

He is the one who repels the orphan.

"And does not encourage the feeding of the poor."

And he does not encourage the feeding of the poor, the feeding of the destitutes, the feeding of the needy and the distressed.

Translating Seerah into Daily Life

So my dear respected brothers and sisters, whilst we have left our homes this weekend, and we've made the journey here to learn about the life of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) the sole objective is not to listen to stories and to keep the stories within this hall. But the objective is to learn how those stories and how the seerah transcends from beyond the books and how it translates into our daily lives.

How does the seerah become relevant to us? How does the model of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) become relevant to our way of life? How can we incorporate values? How can we incorporate morals? And how can we have sound ethics that would guide us on a day-to-day basis? Because the way that we are going right now, as consumers, as people that lack empathy and compassion for those that are underprivileged, there makes no difference whether we're humans or not humans. Because we're doing exactly what other creations of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala do. But what distinguishes us is the fact that we have the kalima:

There is no deity except Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah

in our hearts.

And this is our moral compass. This is what guides our actions. How did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) behave? And from his qualities and his character, what characters can we apply into our lives? What qualities can we bring into our context? This is a great and important discussion.

The Prophet's Passion to Serve Humanity

The one that I want to discuss in the next few minutes is the endeavour to serve, and the passion to serve humanity. The passion that was so deeply entrenched in the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) that his entire life he spent in the service of others. In fact, even before prophethood, we find in the hadith of Aisha radhiallahu anha, when she mentions the story where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) received the first revelation, Imam Bukhari has mentioned in his sahih, when he brought the first revelation back to his wife Khadija radhiallahu ta'ala anha, the words she said to him to console him and encourage him were beautiful.

She said, Allah will never waste your efforts or disgrace you. Because you are a man. You lift the burden of others.

You are a host to the guests. You help those who have no means. And you are at the forefront in helping people in avenues of truth, standing up for the needs of people.

And we see that not only did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) speak about this, but he transferred these qualities to his noble companions, the flag bearers of the sunnah.

And that's why we see Umar ibn al-Khattab radhiallahu ta'ala anha, during his khilafah and his reign, roaming the streets of Madinah munawwara, inquiring about the needs of people. How many leaders today are engaged in such activities? And we see the noble qualities of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) transcending beyond the walls of Masjid Nabawi, when his most close companion Abu Bakr Siddiq radhiallahu ta'ala anha, on the day that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) asked, who amongst you is fasting today? In a hadith of Muslim, Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu said, I am fasting today.

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) then asked, who amongst you has visited the sick today? Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu said, I have visited a sick person today. Then he asked, who amongst you has fed someone today? And Abu Bakr radhiallahu ta'ala anhu said that, I have fed someone today. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, whoever has all of these characteristics combined within him, will enter paradise.

And it was because of these sublime characteristics that Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu had, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said:

"But the righteous one will avoid it - [He] who gives [from] his wealth to purify himself"

The one who is most God-fearing, Ibn Abbas radhiallahu anhu said, this is Abu Bakr radhiallahu anhu, he shall be saved from the hellfire. Why? The one who gives his wealth for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So he becomes purified, so he can cleanse himself.

Our Role in Society

My dear respected brothers and sisters, we need to ask ourselves a very important question. What is my role in society? What is the role of Muslims in society today? What is our responsibility in our neighborhoods and our cities? Is it sufficient that we build masajid and educational institutions and schools? Is that how we want Islam to spread? Or are we wanting to keep Islam confined within the walls of the masjid and the school? How are we going to bring Islam to the streets? How are we going to take the message of Islam to others?

What is our role in society? How are we benefiting people around us? In another hadith, Nabiya Kareem sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

Mankind is the family of Allah, and the most beloved of mankind to Allah is the one who benefits His family the most.

(Reference: Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat by at-Tabarani (Hadith 6026))

The entire mankind is like the family of Allah. And the most beloved of them is the one who is most righteous to the family of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So what is our role in society? Are we a means of benefit to people? Are we a source of benefits? Or are we a source of harm? Are people attracted to the deen because of our service? Or are people driven away? What does hunger look like in our eyes? Many of us don't even know what hunger looks like. Many of us when we hear the word hunger, we think about third world countries.

The Reality of Hunger Around Us

But many of us are neglecting the fact that there is hunger in our cities and on our doorstep. Many of us are neglecting the fact that there are 48.8 million people in the United States of America amongst whom are 16.2 million children that live in households that cannot provide the basic nutritional food. And there are times of the year that these families are living in poverty and through hunger.

This is the reality. The reality is that even the nutritional program and food stamps are being slashed. That people who are deserving of help are not being helped.

Which means that more and more people are suffering. Just 1.9 million people in New York City alone are affected by this. And let us contrast that with our situation.

The situation and the disparity that exists in this country is shocking. Absolutely shocking. Let us contrast that.

430 billion, a study was done in 2014, 430 billion pounds of food was available for consumers in retail stores in the year 2010 alone. Do you know how much of that was wasted? Do you know how much of that was uneaten? 131 billion pounds of food was wasted in 2010 alone. The United States government spends a billion dollars plus a year to dispose of uneaten food.

Uneaten food while people are going hungry. And where is this uneaten food coming from? From our residences, from our households, from the restaurants, from grocery stores, from many different places. The reality is that we are comfortable in our lifestyles.

Living the American dream with the white picket fences and our SUVs in the suburbs. But we're unaware of the hunger just around the corner. We're unaware of the hunger in our inner cities.

We have fed into this mindset of individualism and commercialism and consumerism and being competitive. Allah Ta'ala warned us about this in Surah Al-Takathur:

This competitiveness will destroy you. It will make you unmindful until you reach your graves.

This is the reality, my dear respected brothers and sisters. We are living in such privileged circumstances and situations while there are neighbors that are going hungry. Whilst the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told us in a hadith:

(Al-Adab Al-Mufrad by Imam Bukhari (Hadith 112))

Imam Bukhari brought this hadith in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad: He is not a believer who eats to his fill while his neighbor is hungry.

Islamic Economic System

This is not what our religion has taught us. This is not the spirit of the sunnah. We have a very different understanding of economics.

The Islamic economic system is one of redistributing wealth in society through the various avenues. Through the avenues of zakat and sadaqah through the avenues of education and teaching people. This is how Islam views wealth as being a means to navigate through life but not the sole objective of life.

In fact, even the places in the Qur'an where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala praises worldly things or Allah ta'ala has labeled them with good names are only to a limit. Allah said:

Seek Allah's bounty. Yes, wealth is Allah's bounty.

This is Zeenatullah The beauty of Allah said to us. Clothes have been called Zeenah. Food has been called Tayyibat.

Yes, this is what the Qur'an tells us. But at the same time, it is also called Dunya and Allah has said to us that Dunya is a place of deception. So the reality is that we view these things of benefits of value to us but that's all they are.

They are not the sole objective of our existence. The seeking of these things and to sort them out is not the sole purpose of our existence. It's not the only reason why we are here.

Rather, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us a responsibility and duty as khalifatullahi fil ard and Allah's vicegerents that we take care of the society around us. And this is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala system that he has created some people with more means and privileges, some underprivileged. So those that are more privileged can help the ones that are underprivileged.

Allah's System of Distribution

This is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala system. If Allah had wanted, he could have revealed everything and send down everything for the benefit of mankind. But Allah does not do that.

Otherwise, mankind would become destroyed. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said:

There is nothing but we have its treasures. You think shortage of food? You think Allah has shortage of wealth? There is shortage of clothes in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's store? No, there is no shortage at all.

Imam Ghazali rahimahullah gives us a beautiful example of this, of Allah ta'ala's favors and ni'mah never coming to an end. The fact is Allah could reveal all of this and send it down to everyone so nobody needs to struggle. But the reality is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants mankind to step up to the plates as khalifatullah fil ardh and take care of this basic need of society.

If Allah ta'ala sent all the rizq to the servants, then they would have become rebellious in the earth. But Allah takes down by measure of it. Allah sends down some of it.

He doesn't send down all of it. So my dear respected brothers and sisters, it's about bringing our faith into action. It's about translating what's in the Qur'an and sunnah into our daily lives.

The Righteous who Feed Others

The Qur'an encourages this on so many accounts. Allah ta'ala says:

The righteous are those who will drink from a cup of wine that is mixed with camphor.

It is a fountain from which the servants of Allah will drink. And they will be benefiting from it asunder, Allah ta'ala then says:

Who are these righteous people? The ones that fulfilled their vows. They feared the day of judgment in which evil and wickedness will be widespread.

This is the one. This is the quality that will bring a person jannah. He fed people because he loved feeding them.

The Hadith Qudsi About Feeding the Hungry

There's a beautiful hadith Qudsi. Abu Huraira radiallahu ta'ala narrates and Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, On the day of judgment, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will say to the servant:

(Sahih Muslim (Hadith 2569))

I was sick, you never visited me. You never cared for me.

The human will say, يا الله! The servant will say, يا الله! How can I visit you? But you are Lord of the worlds. Allah will say, Such and such servant of mine was sick. If you had visited him, you would have found me there.

So the benefits of visiting the sick, serving people, are benefits for us, my dear respected brothers and sisters. It kills pride. It kills greed.

It kills the desire for excess. It brings humility in our lives. Why is it that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) used to spend more time with the poor and needy? Why is it that the poor and needy were the ones frequenting his majlis and his gathering? Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) told us:

(Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 2896))

Perhaps you shall be sustained because of the blessings of your weak.

The First Message in Medina

There are so many virtues in the Qur'an and Sunnah encouraging us to step up to the plate and take care of this basic necessity in our community of feeding people. One of the first messages the Prophet (صلی الله عليه وسلم) delivered when he migrated to Medina Munawwara was what?

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi (Hadith 2485))

Feed the poor, join kin, spread the salam, pray at night while others are asleep and you shall enter jannah with blessings, with peace.

Our Duty as Muslims

I want to wrap up now. What I want to give us to go away, what I want us to take away from this session, inshaAllah after me there will be other distinguished speakers inshaAllah sharing similar messages on how we can bring the spirit of the Sunnah of sharing, caring and service into our lives. But what I want to leave with is this, that it is our duty as Muslims to be concerned about our cities. It is our duty as Muslims because we have been given this responsibility by Allah as his vicegerents to go into our communities and see the needs, to help the homeless, to help the hungry, to help the needy.

But not only does this benefit us as Muslims, it also makes us a very important element of our society and it raises the profile of Muslims. The best way for us to penetrate the hearts of others is to help them. One of the masjids in Scotland, in Scotland, one of the masjids opened up iftar for everyone in the community and this is an action item we can take back for our masajid.

One of the masjids in Scotland opened up iftar for the entire community, Muslim and non-Muslim. Just today a friend was telling me an imam of a masjid in Scotland and what happened? In that very year, 50 people took shahada. 50 people came to Islam in that same year that they opened up their masjid to serve people.

Building Comprehensive Service Centers

My dear respected brothers and sisters, all of these beautiful services we see in society being provided to those who are underprivileged are Islamic systems and IKNA is doing an amazing job in our inner cities around big major cities of this country providing relief. It is absolutely essential that we develop centers like this that not only cater to the hungry but also to the sick, also to those that lack education so we can give them the basic tools. Also for those who don't have money to give them financial assistance, for those who don't have clothes to give them clothes.

This is such an important task for us and I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives myself and all of us sitting here the energy to take this message back and to implement it in our cities because our deen is not one of theory. Our deen is one of practice. Our deen is one of action.

Allah said that taqwa is that you worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and you take care of others around you. This is in surah Al-Baqarah.

Examples of Sahaba's Selflessness

My dear respected brothers and sisters, if we open up the books for inspiration, we will find numerous stories of the sahaba radhiyallahu anhum, stories of ithar, stories of giving preference to others over them despite having a genuine need themselves.

Numerous stories of the sahaba radhiyallahu anhum giving preference to the needs of others above their own needs and for this Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala praised them in surah Al-Hashr:

They gave preference to those other than them. Even though they had a genuine need themselves.

So we need to think about diversifying our efforts and how we can help people that are underprivileged. How we can be a source of mercy and a source of inspiration for others. As the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:

(Sunan Abu Dawood (Hadith 4941))

Show mercy to those on earth. Rahman will show mercy upon you. If we want to attract Allah's mercy, we will find it with the poor and the weak. This is why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) stayed in the company of the poor and the weak.

If you open books like Riyadus Saliheen, you will see numerous chapters dedicated to this subject:

بَابٌ قَضَاءِ حَوَائِجِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

Chapter on fulfilling the needs of the Muslims. Chapters on helping the weak:

Numerous ahadith. Whoever removes the distress of one person, Allah will remove his distress on the Day of Judgment. This is a guarantee.

Closing Dua

May Allah give me and you and everybody the tawfiq inshaAllah to take this message back.