Zaid Noor - 6-13-25

This is happening after the Prophet ﷺ and the companions have had to endure 22 years of persecution, of opposition, of torture at the hands of the polytheists, the pagans of the city of Mecca. The Prophet has had to see his followers being beaten, being laid bare on the hot sand, being killed in front of his own eyes. He himself has had to face some of the worst forms of treatment from his own family at times.

And then when the Muslims migrate to Medina, one might think at that point they're safe, they don't have to worry. But even then, they were not left in peace to worship Allah. Even then, the polytheists of Mecca, the mushrikeen, attacked and provoked until Allah gave victory to the Prophet ﷺ. As the Prophet ﷺ said, صدق وعدة Allah was truthful in his promise.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4114)

And Allah is the one who aided and supported his slave. And Allah is the one who strengthened his armies. And Allah is the one who conquered. Allah is the one who gave victory. So when the Prophet ﷺ comes into Mecca with a force of 10,000 strong sahaba, and they come in victorious. The companion said, the Prophet ﷺ was so low on his animal, it was almost as if his chest was going to touch it.

And one of the companions who later she became Muslim, Hind radiyallahu anha, who was originally an enemy of the Muslims, and she is the one who hired Wahshi to kill Hamza radiyallahu anhu, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ. At night she said that, I was waiting to hear the screams of people being killed, of pillaging, looting, of all sorts of horrors, because that's what would happen when an army would conquer a city. Traditionally, that's what would happen. And she didn't hear that, she wasn't aware of that.

So then she went out, and when she went to the haram, she found all the companions worshipping Allah, praying to Allah, doing dua, crying. And she became Muslim. And so the Prophet ﷺ is going out for hajj after all of this, just to put it in context, with a group of 30,000 sahaba.

The Prophet ﷺ tells them, that, oh my companions, learn your manasik, learn your rituals from me now, because I don't know if I will ever be able to perform the hajj again with you. And so people come out in droves, 30,000 strong. Imagine you have a sports team that wins the Super Bowl, or wins the championship, the finals, and everyone's come out, everyone's wearing the same jersey, what a powerful feeling that is.

Think about the feeling the sahaba felt, companions felt with the Prophet ﷺ going for hajj. And Jibril ﷺ tells the Prophet ﷺ to tell the companions to say the talbiyah, لَبَّيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَّيْكَ very loud, and on their journey, just to give you some idea of who the Prophet ﷺ was. The Prophet ﷺ, the sahaba said to him, that why don't we make you a saddle, a very nice means of conveyance, and the Prophet ﷺ said no.

Then they said, why don't we just build something softer that you could ride on your animal with, and the Prophet ﷺ said no. And he himself, with 10 dirham, a small amount, poultry price, he went and bought a sheet, and he put that on his animal, and he rode with that. And he even did not like it that they put his belongings on another animal, so that that animal was only being used to move his stuff, he didn't want that either.

The Last Sermon of the Prophet ﷺ

And on this journey, when the Prophet ﷺ reached Arafah, as we just, alhamdulillah, were able to witness the day of Arafah, the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah, the Prophet ﷺ gave a speech, which is widely and famously known as, the last sermon of the Prophet ﷺ. And I'm not going to quote the entire thing, but the Prophet ﷺ, he mentioned something that was so beautiful in that. Some lessons that we can take. The first thing the Prophet ﷺ, he told us that, he asked the Sahaba, do you know what day this is? What day is this? The companions they knew, this is the day of Arafah.

The Prophet ﷺ said, Al-Hajju Arafah, the Hajj is Arafah, showing the importance of that day. And then he said, do you know what month this is? This month of Dhul-Hijjah, one of the most sacred months. And do you know where you are? This place is one of the most sacred places.

And then the Prophet ﷺ said, let me put this into context for you, that if somebody was to go for Umrah or for Hajj, and if you've been there, you know the feeling, the emotions. And someone was to walk by the Ka'bah, and take a tissue, sneeze into that tissue, and then wipe it onto the Ka'bah. What would be the reaction? Hundreds of thousands of people would jump on that person, we'd pray their janazah right after.

And the Prophet ﷺ actually mentions a similar narration. But the Prophet ﷺ he says that,

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1741)

That the same way that this place, this day, this month, this place is sacred, the same way that it's sacred to you, Allah has made your life, your wealth, and your honor and dignity, sacred just like that. And in another narration, the Prophet ﷺ he mentions about the Ka'bah, that how amazing are you, the Ka'bah, how amazing are you, مَا أَعْظَمُكِ How incredible are you, مَا أَطْيَبُكِ How fragrant are you, how beautiful is your fragrance.

And then the Prophet ﷺ says, however, وَالَّذِي نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهِ لَحُرْمَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِ أَعْظَمُ The believer is more sacred. His life, his property, his honor and dignity, is even more sacred to Allah than you are. The Prophet ﷺ is telling us something.

The Rights of Muslim Brothers and Sisters

Can we imagine someone violating the Ka'bah in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, in the presence of the companions? Impossible. But we so easily will violate the rights of our Muslim brothers and sisters. We so easily will violate the rights of our friends and our neighbors.

And this is something the Prophet ﷺ even mentioned in the hadith. He said that, do not fight one another after I'm gone. Do not cut the necks of each other. Don't kill each other after I leave. He was worried that we would forget that,

That we are all brothers and sisters. That because we believe in Allah, and we believe in the Prophet ﷺ, then my relation with you is stronger than that of blood.

And that is what the Prophet ﷺ wanted to share with us as one of his final messages to the ummah. How is my relationship with my brothers and sisters? When I'm exiting from this parking lot, and someone comes in front of me, is that going to be World War III for me? Am I gonna start cursing that person's whole lineage? Or am I gonna say, this is my brother, this is my sister, it's okay. Go for it. Bismillah. When I have a interaction with someone in a business, how is my character going to be with my Muslim brother and sister? Am I going to give them the benefit of the doubt? Am I going to be someone who gives them excuses? This is what the Prophet ﷺ wanted from his people, from his ummah, from us. That how do we treat each other? How do we treat our brothers and sisters? Because that is a direct reflection of how we are with Allah.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2956)

Unity Beyond Differences

O people, all of you are from Adam and Eve. Adam ﷺ and Hawwa ﷺ. As Allah said in the Quran, O people, إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى We created you from male and female وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ and We made you into different nations and tribes, different families, different ethnicities, different languages, different colors. Why was this the case? لِتَعَارَفُوا so that you can get to know each other, so that you can recognize each other. Everyone brings something special to the table. Everyone has different skills. Everyone has different specialties. Everyone has different experiences that they can contribute to the ummah. And then Allah tells us that إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ. That the most noble, the most dignified amongst you is not the one who speaks Arabic or doesn't speak Arabic, because the Prophet ﷺ said, an Arab is not superior than a non-Arab, a non-Arab is not superior than an Arab, except in taqwa, in piety, in God-fearing, in being someone who is mindful of Allah. وَالتَّقْوَى هَاهُنَا, and taqwa is here in the heart.

No one can see that. Allah says that your dignity and honor is because of your taqwa, and no one knows what your taqwa is except for Allah. No one knows. So how can we claim superiority over someone else?

So my dear respected brothers and sisters, the Prophet ﷺ could have spent the last sermon talking about hajj, the manasik of hajj, or salah, or siyam, fasting, praying. He could have spent the entire sermon just talking about zakat, about the mandatory charity, but the Prophet ﷺ, he spent the entire last sermon talking about the rights that we have on each other.

So I ask Allah to make us of those who are able to respect and give the same honor and dignity to the lives, the property, and the honor of our brothers and sisters that we would give to the Kaaba. I ask Allah to make us of those who treat every single person with the same respect that we would want to be treated with. I ask Allah to make us of those who have absolutely no racism in our hearts. I ask Allah to make us of those who treat others like the Prophet ﷺ treated them.

And I ask Allah to make us of those who follow the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, both in our taking care of the rights of others, as well as taking care of the rights of our Creator, our Rabb, our Lord Allah. I ask Allah to alleviate the oppression of all of our brothers and sisters, especially in Palestine and Gaza, and all over the world. I ask Allah to help them, give them victory.

I ask Allah to put it in our hearts that we have concern for them, and that we help in whatever way and capacity that we can. I ask Allah to forgive our sins. I ask Allah to forgive the sins of all the Muslims all over the world. I ask Allah to accept whatever good that we've done in this month. I ask Allah to continue to give us tawfiq, and guide us to do that which is pleasing to Him. And I ask Allah to enter us all into Paradise, the highest levels of which, in the company of the Prophet ﷺ.