A legacy is something Sacred left behind by those who were selected.
These people received and later taught what they received to those whose hearts were open and willing to accept.
Over 1000 years had passed since our beloved; Muhammad (saw) has passed on. Who lived after him?
Unto whom did he pass his spiritual and sacred knowledge?
Unto whom did his companions pass their knowledge to?
Why is there this gap?
Who are our heroes?
Tonight I wish to spend about ten minutes telling you about our heroes
Their names shine like the brightest stars, they are those whom the prophet (saw) spoke of when he said
إِنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِ اللهِ عِبَادًا يَغْبِطُهُمُ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ وَالشُّهَدَاء
Among the servants of Allah there will be those whom the Prophets and the martyrs will yearn to be like.
It was said: "Who are these, O Messenger of Allah, so we may love them'' He said:
هُمْ قَوْمٌ تَحَابُّوا فِي اللهِ مِنْ غَيْرِ أَمْوَالٍ وَلَا أَنْسَابٍ،
وُجُوهُهُمْ نُورٌ عَلَى مَنَابِرَ مِنْ نُورٍ
These are people who loved one another for the sake of Allah without any other interest like money or kinship.
Their faces will be light, upon platforms of light.
They lived as travelers and upheld the Spirit of Islam;
By travelers, I mean that they never attached themselves
As permanent dwellers of the Dunya
They understood that earth was temporary
They were therefore travelers to the next life
They represent the essence of what Islam is…
Beyond all the fiqh and behind the dress, they gained some Nur of what Allah expected from the Human being
3 things I have experienced:
Those who reject the legacy, tend to focus on outer appearances
Those who embrace the legacy, they focus on the heart
Those who reject the legacy, tend to quote out of context
Those who embrace the legacy, they quote within context
Those who reject the legacy, have not connected with our history
Those who embrace the legacy, they have a hero for every century
Muhammad (saw) had an intense and an overwhelming sense of love and compassion for the poor. His message was that of Oneness and of anti-oppression
When a funeral passed by, Muslim or Jew, he stood up out of Respect, out of respect for the creation of Allah this legacy was passed on, among those whom Allah chose to be repositories of true Sunnah of Muhammad (saw), we find
Among them was Abu Hanifa
His neighbor who would spend his nights immersed in wine
Now and again sing a couplet:
"People have let me go to waste me, who would have been useful to them in battle and siege."
One day he was arrested and Abu Hanifa noticed the silence at night, he did not hear the man singing.
He went to the Jail and told the man, I have not let you gone to waste. He took the man and put him back in his house to be his neighbor once again. This man became one of his greatest students
Among them was the friend of Allah, Fudayl bin Iyad
Who said: "The believer conceals (the sin of his brother) and advises (him), while the evildoer
disgraces and condemns (him)."
Among them was Bishr the barefoot
He would remove his blanket or coat in winter, when asked why, he replied, 'I remembered the poor. I had no money with which to help them, so I wanted to share with them physically.'
From them was Abu Bakr al-Shibli and Abu Yazid al-Bistami
It was said to al-Shibli:
"Charitableness was mentioned in the presence of Abū Yazīd al-Bistāmi and he said,
'I wanted Allāh Almighty to make me a bridge over the back of Jahannam so that people could pass over my back and not be wretched."
Al-Shibli said, "But I want Allāh to make me fill Jahannam so that no one has a place in it
and I will ransom this weak creation by myself."
In the Tafsir of ibn Kathir we find that the true believers who were well off, fairly wealthy, they would separate the food from the orphans and the poor, we find the same thing happening today but reasons today differ so much from the reasons our heroes had.
Today it is because some of us regard ourselves as superior or on a higher class than the poor,
Our heroes separated their food because they feared that by mixing the food, they might be oppressing the poor and orphans by taking some of their food unintentionally this was the spirit in which they lived
The most important things which I thank my lecturers for drilling into us is the following two qualities, which, if strived for, is a key to a lock, which opens the door of nearness to Allah:
1. Sabr when those around you belittle or disrespect you. These scholars were examples of this,
When you are insulted or when people who skinner behind your backs (According to Imam Ghazali, backbiting is so evil, it is worse than committing Zina), when they do this, then do not get them back by backbiting or insulting them back, be quiet and be the better person, be the example, be the Muslim
2. Never imposing your opinions on others Example: you have your view or your way of doing something, or you want it this way, remember that your way is not the only way, don't reduce Islam to your own way and your own views grow up and look around, everything is diverse.
Never force your ways on others and bad mouth other ways which differ from yours, never force others to accept your ways.
It is even Haram to force people to accept Islam according to the text of the Quran
Adam (as) committed a sin, he was not arrogant, he repented and he was forgiven, his reward, the rest of humanity as his children, every good deed done by every human being is add to the rewards of Adam(as)
Shaytan also committed a sin, he never repented, he could not admit he was wrong, he was arrogant and was not forgiven Arrogance is a quality of the devil. It is a quality of pure evil.
The Prophet (saw) said, “No person with an atoms weight of arrogance will enter heaven”.
When Muhammad (saw) was asked, what is arrogance, ' he replied “Batral haqq wa ghamtun-Nas” - Rejecting the truth, we someone tells you the truth, you reject it, you do not care what he/she says, you just ignore it and reject it, wa ghamtun-Nas – and you belittle this person,
These are the qualities of the devil, evil qualities.
When one tells the truth, you cannot hear him because you cannot accept that you have made a mistake, you cannot accept the truth, because of this, you belittle this person in front of him, or by backbiting about him, Adam admitted his sin and was forgiven, Shaytan was arrogant and arrogance, even an atoms weight of it, will be a barrier between he self and heaven
I end off with the following:
From them was Abu Yazid al-Bistami
Abū Yazīd was asked, "Show me a deed by which I will approach my Lord."
He said, "Love the friends of Allāh in order that they will love you. Love his saints until they love you.
Because Allāh looks at the hearts of His saints and He will see your name engraved in the heart of His saints and He will forgive you."
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