Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and the end is for those who are righteous. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner, the guardian of the first and the last. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant, His Messenger, His Chosen One, and His Friend. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and upon his family and companions.
The Nature of Dunya and Akhira
And we spoke about the nature of this dunya and how short it is, and the nature of the akhira and that it is eternal. And we also spoke about moments and days of our existence and how we should not envisage this dunya as being a wanting or desiring, constant pleasure and happiness and enjoyment. And neither should we think that this dunya, all of it, is difficulties and struggles and calamities or afflictions.
Rather there are moments of this and there are moments of that. And then we spoke about the different type of fitan, tests or struggles which Allah may place in a person's life. And the different situations in which these fitan may occur.
And we ended the first part of the lecture with mentioning and emphasizing the importance of dealing with every single difficulty with tawakkul and sabr and raja. With reliance and dependence upon Allah and remaining patient and having raja. And raja is having hope in the relief from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Importance of Hope and Patience
Ayyuhal kiram, raja, raja, we mentioned this is an act of ibadah. Just as tawakkul, reliance and dependence upon Allah is a form of worship. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala orders with tawakkul and praises the people of tawakkul.
And also sabr, patience, this is an act of ibadah. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loves those who are patient and He commands us with patience and He praises the people of patience. Also raja, also having hope in relief in Allah and relief from this situation.
And having hope in the meeting with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And doing righteous actions and not losing hope and not becoming despair. And also having hope in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, this is an act of ibadah.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He loves for us to hope in relief from Him. And He praises those who have raja, hope and those who do righteous actions. And those who do not lose hope in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Most Severe Major Sins
In the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, the messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he mentioned the most severe major sins. And he said salallahu alayhi wa sallam, the most severe sin is committing shirk with Allah. And that is to set up a partner with Allah or to direct an act of ibadah to other than Allah.
He said wal-amanu min makri Allah, wal-amanu min makri Allah. And to feel safe from the punishment of Allah. Wal-qunootu min rahmat Allah.
And to feel despair from the mercy of Allah. Wal-yaasu min rawhi Allah. And also to lose hope in relief from Allah.
So these, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, he called them akbarul kabair. From the most severe major sins. The first of them, al-ishraaku billah.
Committing shirk with Allah. Directing ibadah to other than Allah. Wal-amanu min makri Allah.
And feeling safe from the punishment of Allah. And this is the attitude of the munafiqoon. And the yahood wal nasara.
They think that they have an ahad with Allah subhanah. They have a contract with Allah subhanah. Such that punishment will not touch them.
So al-amanu min makri Allah. Having the audacity to do sins. And then at the same time, feeling safe and confident from the punishment of Allah subhanah.
This is from the traits of the munafiqoon. Wal-qunootu min rahmat Allah. And losing hope in the mercy of Allah.
Such that a person thinks that my sins are so severe. Allah will not forgive me. My sins are so severe.
Allah subhanah will not accept my tawbah, my repentance. This in of itself is a sin. And then al-yaas min rauhillah.
Losing hope in relief from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanah, He calls this a type of kufr in the Qur'an. In surah Yusuf, Allah subhanah said in the Qur'an.
Walaa tay'asu min rauhillah. And do not lose hope in the relief from Allah. Innahu laa yay'asu min rauhillah illa alqawmu alkaafiroon.
And nobody loses hope in relief from Allah. And has despair from the relief of Allah. Except al-qawmu alkaafiroon.
Navigating Difficulties and Struggles
And there is no doubt that difficulties and struggles. There is a bitterness in them.
And it is difficult for a person to navigate through those difficulties. And it is difficult for a person to navigate through those struggles. So every museeba, all of the shada'id, every calamity, every affliction, every difficulty.
It has its bitterness. However, a Muslim has to be positive. And proactive.
And remain optimistic. And have hope in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he knows that Allah subhanah has decreed that after difficulty there is ease.
Verily, with difficulty there is ease. Once more, with difficulty there is ease. And also, a person should realize and appreciate the greatest blessing.
And that the greatest blessing is Islam and Iman. And therefore the greatest loss is not the loss of something which is materialistic. But rather the loss of Iman.
And the loss of a person's Islam. So the greatest ni'mah that we have in this dunya is the ni'mah of our Islam, our Iman. And through our Iman, there is the salah of this dunya and the akhirah.
The rectification of this dunya and the akhirah. The greatest loss, and there is no loss greater than this, is in the losing of a person's deen. And of a person's Iman.
And the weakness of a person's Tawheed. As for losing something materialistic or temporary from this dunya. Or there being a diminishment in this.
And this is something which is easy. This is not something which is that severe. And Allah subhanah said in the Quran And to not be like those people who forgot Allah.
They turned away from Allah. They neglected Allah. So Allah caused them to forget themselves.
The meaning of this ayah is that if we turn away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We turn away from that which is in our betterment in this life and the hereafter. So in being connected to Allah subhanah is us actualizing and attaining our benefits in this life and the hereafter.
And turning away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is us losing our own selves. And forgetting our Maslaha. Because how can a person forget his creator.
And forget the purpose behind his existence and creation upon this earth. And then he hopes to attain that which is beneficial for him in this life and the hereafter. And this is why Allah subhanah said وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ نَصُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنْسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ To not be like those people who forgot Allah.
They turned away from Allah. And so Allah made them forget their own selves. Meaning Allah made them forget why they are upon this earth.
And how they can attain and realize success in this life and the hereafter. أُولَيْكَهُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ And they are the people of disobedience.
Advice for Maintaining Hope
And I'm going to offer, by the permission of Allah and his Tawfiq, small pieces of advice which will help us maintain our hope and our Raja' in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And knowing there is relief in Iman from any struggle or difficulty which we are experiencing. The first piece of advice is that it is not permitted for a Muslim to question Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's not permitted for a Muslim to say, why did Allah do such and such? Why is it me that he has chosen? Why is it my son, my daughter, my house? What about this person or that person? So we are not allowed to have the audacity to question Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala regarding his actions.
Rather, we have to look at our behaviors. So we do not question the decree or the will or the action of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, but we question our reaction and our behavior. And that all of this is a test.
How can a person have the audacity to question the decree of Rabbus Samawati wal Ardh? The Lord of the heavens and the earth. The one who created me and you and created everybody besides us. And he is Al-Aleem, the all-knowing.
And he is Al-Hakeem, the all-wise. And he is Al-Khabeer, the all-informed. And he is Al-Qadeer, the all-able.
And so therefore the principle which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala states in the Qur'an is That Allah is not to be questioned in that which he does. Rather, they are the ones who are questioned. So we, from our Iman is Having Iman in the decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Having Iman in the Qada of Allah. Having Iman in the decree of Allah that everything good, everything harmful is decreed by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala decrees everything with a Hikmah from Him.
And this Hikmah, this wisdom is divine. And this is with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we as Muslims, as people of Iman, who have Iman in the Qadar of Allah We do not question the Hikmah of Allah jalla sha’nahu.
And neither do we know the Hikmah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And in how many cases have we suffered some form of loss and difficulty But that very loss and that very difficulty has resulted in a great amount of goodness Maybe a month or a year or even decades later. And then when a person thinks back and he thinks all of this Ni'mah which I am in right now Perhaps it's because of that difficulty that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had decreed back then.
And had it not been for that difficult situation Then I would not have made these decisions and these moves And I would not be in this blessing which I have been blessed with. So this is the first principle and the first advice When going through any difficulty, any struggle, we do not question the decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Rather we look and analyse our own actions.
The Importance of Social Connection
The second piece of advice, ayyuhul kiram, is Do not isolate yourself, especially in moments of difficulty or struggle. Don't lock yourself up in your room. Isolate yourself or break off from those who are around you.
And also try not to remain unoccupied. Meaning take up, whether it's work, whether it's a hobby, whether it's anything Even if it's something from the dunya, whether it's a sport or a hobby or something like that To fill up your free time. Because when a person is going through a difficult situation Having free time and then isolating yourself can cause many problems.
And it can lead to a lot of emotional and mental ill health. Because when a person is unoccupied and there's nothing to distract that person From the difficulty they are going in And when a person is isolated and has isolated themselves from others Then every moment they are only thinking about that difficulty. Whereas if a person is busy with something, proactive with some action With some work, with some hobby or anything And is always mixing and socializing with people Naturally their mind is distracted from that problem.
The difference is that whilst we try to be proactive And to take up some hobby or some action or some work And socialize with people, however, we do not connect our hearts Neither do we rely upon those actions or those people. So we do those matters, but our heart is connected with Allah. And we rely upon Him in our Tawakkul.
Allah created the dunya and He created Asbaab And these Asbaab lead to Nataaj. So Asbaab are the causes which Allah has placed upon the earth. The means that we have to fulfill.
And these causes and fulfilling these means, it brings about certain results. And this is also Sunnatullah. This is the nature which Allah has created upon in this dunya.
If a person wants to have children, then there is marriage. And therefore marriage is a Sabaab which brings about, by the permission of Allah The result of having children. If a person wants a life which is comfortable, then he has to work.
And therefore working is from the Asbaab which Allah has placed upon this dunya. And whilst we partake and fulfill those causes and those means and avenues We do not connect our heart to those means and avenues. Rather, our heart remains connected to Allah.
And this is what is found in those people who lose hope in the mercy of Allah. It is because their heart has moved away from Allah And it has restricted itself to only the cause or the avenue, the means which is Dunya Which Allah has placed. So we as Muslims, this is the meaning of At-Tawakkul.
At-Tawakkul, it is Sidq al-I'tamadi ala Allah. Ibn Uthami, he defines At-Tawakkul in Kitab al-Tawheed and in the book of Aqeedah. He said, At-Tawakkul, Sidq al-I'tamadi ala Allah.
Maa thiqati bihi, wal akhd bil Asbaab. At-Tawakkul, it is for a person to have true reliance, complete dependence upon Allah. Maa thiqa, and having complete trust in Allah.
That Allah brings about relief and Allah decrees from His wisdom. Maa al-akhd bil Asbaab. Along with fulfilling those causes and those means which Allah has placed upon the earth.
So if a person restricts themselves to only Tawakkul and trust in Allah but then does not go out physically and fulfill those causes and actions, this is not At-Tawakkul. And if a person relies upon those means which Allah has placed upon the earth but then forgets about relying upon Allah, depending upon Allah, having trust in Allah, then this is also a weakness in Tawheed. So the first mistake, meaning focusing and concentrating on the Asbaab, the worldly materialistic causes and means and avenues, and forgetting Allah, just focusing on the Asbaab, this is Naqsun fil Tawheed.
This is a lack of Tawheed and a weakness of Tawheed. And restricting yourself to just At-Tawakkul and not fulfilling those Asbaab which Allah has placed upon the earth, this is Naqsun fil Aqal. This is a weakness in a person's thinking and intellect.
And this person does not understand the true concept of At-Tawakkul. And Umar ibn Khattab is narrated that he saw a group of people and they would restrict their times and they would always focus on the Masjid and remain in the Masjid. And he asked them, why are you remaining upon the Masjid? And they said, نحن المتوكلون على الله We are those who have reliance upon Allah.
And Umar said بَلْأَنْتُمْ مُتَوَاكِلُون You are not those who have trust in Allah, you are pretending to have Tawakkul upon Allah. Because you have not understood the true concept of At-Tawakkul. At-Tawakkul is being proactive and working and partaking in those Asbaab, those causes and those means along with dependence and trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Remembering Blessings
The third piece of advice, ayyuhul kiram, is especially when going through moments of difficulty or struggle to speak about and remember the blessings which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has favoured you with. And no doubt, if a person remembers and speaks about the ni'm, the blessings especially in times of difficulty, this weakens and lessens the impact of the struggle or the difficulty upon a person. So we should not concentrate on just the difficulty which we are going.
For every moment of difficulty, Allah has blessed us with thousand other blessings that maybe he has tried other people with. So a person maybe going through, for example, a level of poverty, then remember that Allah has blessed you with Aqal and Allah has blessed you with an intellect, Allah has blessed you with good health, Allah has blessed you with family, Allah has blessed you with warmth, Allah has blessed you with Islam, Allah has blessed you with Tawheed, Allah has blessed you with security, Allah has blessed you with safety, Allah has blessed with you that you are able to walk and talk and speak. So there is a small difficulty in one aspect of your life, but in comparison to this, there are blessings in every other aspect of your life.
And therefore, why concentrate on that struggle and that calamity and forget all the other blessings which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given a person. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in the Quran, فَأَمَّا بِنِعْمَةِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ As for the blessings which your Lord has bestowed upon you and favoured you with, speak about them and show shukr to Him. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, وَإِذْ تَأَذْنَا رَبُّكُمْ لَإِنْ شَكَرْتُمْ لَأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ And when your Lord proclaimed that if you show shukr to Him, I will increase you.
And this is from the benefits of appreciating the blessings and focusing on the blessings as opposed to the difficulty that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala increases us in that blessing. And there is a story which is mentioned. This is not a hadith.
It's a story which is mentioned in some books regarding the Salaf. Allah knows whether it's an actual story or a story which is mentioned for an impact or for a lesson, a mu'ithah. Al-muhim, it's mentioned that there was a man at the time of the Salaf and he was suffering with many health problems.
It's mentioned that he had lost his hair and he was suffering from leprosy in his skin. And he was blind in both eyes. And he was paralyzed in his hands and paralyzed in his feet.
And this person, in this situation, it was heard that he would always say الحمد لله الذي عافاني مما ابتلا به وفضلني على كثير من العالمين He would say all praise is for Allah, the one who has saved me from that which He has tested others with and He has made me better than many people. So a man passed by him and heard him saying this statement thanking Allah for blessings, thanking Allah for saving him, thanking Allah for giving to him. So the man said to him مما عافك What have you been saved from? أعمى, you are blind.
أبرس, you are suffering a skin disorder. أقرأ, you have lost your hair. مشلول, you are paralyzed in your hands and your feet.
فمما عافك So what have you been saved from? What are you thanking Allah for? And this man, he replied, he said وَيْحَكَ يَا رَجُلُ Woe be to you, O man! جَعَلَ لِي لِسَانًا ذَاكِرًا Allah has given me a tongue by which I can remember Him. وَقَلْبًا شَاكِرًا And Allah has given me a heart which shows gratitude. وَبَدَنًا عَلَى الْبَلَاءِ الصَّابِرًا And Allah has given me a body which is patient over these tests.
So SubhanAllah, this person, this story, and as I mentioned, this is not a hadith. But the lesson or the admonishment here is that despite all of these problems, he would thank Allah for the blessings and focus on the blessings. The fact that he has a tongue by which he can make dhikr.
And the fact that he has a heart and an aqal by which he is able to show shukr. And the fact that he has a heart and a mind by which he can show shukr. And the fact that he has a body by which he can demonstrate as sabr.
Knowing Our Lord
The fourth piece of advice is that we have to know our Lord. And we have to know our Lord in times of difficulty and in times of ease. And the Messenger ﷺ, he said in the hadith, وَعْرَفْ رَبَّكَ فِي الرَّخَاءِ يَعْرِفُكَ فِي شِدَّةٍ And remember your Lord in times of affluency and goodness and ease.
And Allah Subhanah will remember you in times of difficulty. And this is because the case with the majority of the people is when they are going through and facing moments of struggle, they become close to Allah Subhanah. And their heart becomes attached to Him.
And they remember Him. And they begin to raise their hands to make dua to Him. And then when Allah Subhanah gives that person relief and ease and blessings, then they forget Allah Subhanah.
And they distance themselves from Him. So the Prophet ﷺ taught us that remember Allah, be connected to Him. Worship Him in times of ease.
And then when you're going through times of difficulty, Allah Subhanah will remember you, meaning Allah will aid you. And Allah will help you and give you tama'nin, a tranquility in your heart. And know that goodness and all goodness is in tawheed, meaning knowing Allah Subhanah.
And worship Him Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And misery and loss and wretchedness is in ash-shirk. And the greatest most severe calamity is dying a death of shirk.
And therefore, connect your heart to Allah Subhanah, as opposed to other men and women. And invoke Allah Subhanah, as opposed to calling upon other men and women. And know that your Lord, He is Ar-Raheem, He is the Most Merciful.
And He is Al-Ghafoor, the Oft-Forgiving. And He is Al-Kareem, the Gentle. And He is Al-Mannan, the One who bestows blessings.
And He is Al-Lateef, the Subtle. And all the other beautiful names and attributes of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And He is Al-Jawad, who is Generous.
And Allah Subhanah, He becomes happy when you ask Him. And then He is happy even further to respond to your supplication. So therefore, why would you disconnect from a Lord who is Ar-Raheem, Al-Ghafoor, Ar-Rahman, Al-Mannan, Al-Jawad, Al-Kareem.
And He is happy with you asking. And happy to give. And instead connect yourself to men and women, who when you ask them, they don't like you asking them.
And they hate to give you even if they do give you. And they don't have these great attributes of perfection and kindness.
Holding Firm to the Sunnah
And also from the piece of advice, is in moments of difficulty and struggle, Tamassak bi Sunnah, is to hold on firm to the Sunnah of the Messenger.
And to stay away from all forms of bid'ah, innovations. Because goodness, all goodness is in abiding by the Sunnah. And when we turn away from the Sunnah, and we turn away from Halal and Haram, the boundaries of Halal and Haram, this is when there are problems in our lives.
And this, many Imams, many counsellors will tell you, anybody who has an understanding of Islam, when people come to you and they speak about difficulties in their money, their finances, their relationships with their wife, their children, etc. You can usually trace this back to some Haram which a person did. So that person took a business loan from a bank, and now they are having business problems.
That person was involved in a relationship which was Haram, and now they are having problems in their relationship. Because Islam is there, the Sunnah is there, the Ahkam of the Shariah, the Halal and the Haram, the boundaries of Islam, those limits, they are there for our benefit, not for the benefit of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So when we live a life within the boundaries of Halal and Haram, and we don't exceed those boundaries, then this is safety and success in our Dunya, and in our Akhirah.
And every time we move away from the Sunnah, and we move away from the Shariah, and we exceed the limits of Allah, then we are inviting problems upon ourselves. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, تِلْكَ حُدُودُ اللَّهِ فَلَا تَعْتَدُوهَا Those are the limits and the boundaries which have been set by Allah, so do not exceed them. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in the Qur'an, فَلْيَحْذَرِ الَّذِينَ يُخَالِفُونَ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ أَنْ تُصِيبَهُمْ فِتْنًا That let those people who oppose His command be aware of being afflicted by a Fitna.
So this shows us that sometimes Fitna, difficulties and struggles, we invite them upon ourselves by moving away from the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ and from the limits of the Shariah.
Learning from the Salaf
And the sixth and last piece of advice is especially when you are suffering moments of difficulty or struggle, look back and read into the lives of the Salaf and think about the difficulties that the Salaf they went through. The pious Ulama and A'im and Muslims who came before us, look at their lives and the difficulties and the struggles that they went through.
And if you compare your difficulty and your struggle to the struggles and the sacrifices they make, you will not consider your weakness, your struggle to be anything at all. And no doubt, the greatest Salaf was the Messenger ﷺ. And no doubt, the most severe difficulties and sacrifices were faced by him and he had to make them. Remember that whatever difficulty or struggle you are going through, you will never face not even a tenth or a hundredth of that which the Prophet ﷺ went through.
Before Prophethood, he ﷺ, he was beloved to all. Everybody would love to socialize with him. As you know, he was known as As-Sadiq Al-Ameen, the trustworthy, the truthful.
And then after Islam and after he began calling to Allah ﷻ, that same person who was beloved by all, a friend of all, everybody loved socializing with him, that same person who was As-Sadiq Al-Ameen, now he became a liar. And he was exiled, and he was punished, and he was withheld from his, his rights were withheld, and he was violated, and his Sahaba was violated, and he was exiled from his lands. The same person who they used to call As-Sadiq Al-Ameen, now they would call him As-Sahir, Al-Majnoon, Al-Kahin, the madman, the poet, the fortune teller.
And in all of this, how did the Prophet ﷺ react? Sabr, patience, and Tawakkul, dependence on the guidance of Allah, Ar-Rajaa, having hope in the mercy of Allah, remaining optimistic and looking forward, because he worships a Lord ﷻ, who has all of those beautiful attributes and descriptions.
And the Messenger ﷺ in his seerah, you know and you will have studied, how for three years, him and some of his companions were sanctioned and boycotted, and they spent a number of years and months out in the valley, and nobody would approach them, and nobody would have relationship with them, and nobody would feed them, and they had no access to their families or their social life, or their wealth and provisions, and they were forced to eat from that which is found in the deserts and the valleys. And in all of this, how did he react ﷺ? Sabr, with patience, and Tawakkul, and Ar-Rajaa, having hope in relief with Allah ﷻ.
I remember the time when he was forced to leave Makkah, and he had to go to Ta'if, hoping that perhaps in Ta'if, there would be people who help him, and support him, and support his da'wah. And instead, he faced humiliation from the people of Ta'if, so much so, that they threw stones at him, and his feet, they bled. And in all of this, he never lost hope in the mercy of Allah ﷻ, and he never became pessimistic, he remained optimistic, having Sabr, and Tawakkul, and Rajaa upon Allah ﷻ.
And when the angel of the mountains came, and he said, O Messenger of Allah, verily your Lord has heard what those people have said to you. وَإِن شِئتَ And if you want, I will destroy these people between these two mountains.
And the Messenger ﷺ, he refused. And he said, لَعَلَّ اللَّهَ أَن يُخْرِجَ مِنْ أَصْلَابِ هَذِ الْقَوْمِ قَوْمًا يَعْبُدُونَ اللَّهِ Perhaps Allah will bring out from the very progeny of these people, a group of people who worship Allah alone. وَلَا يُشْرِكُنَ بِهِ شَيْئًا And they do not commit partners or ascribe partners to Him.
So in this severe difficulty, he maintained Sabr, and Tawakkul, and Rajaa, and optimism, and he never lost hope in the relief and the victory of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then after this, whilst he was in Makkah, he would see his companions being punished in front of him. And there was nothing he was able to do.
So much so, that large groups of his sahaba, of his companions, meaning his close friends, the circle who are close to him, many of them had to migrate to Habasha, to Abyssinia. Not once, in fact, twice. And in all of this, he remained Sabr.
He had Sabr, and patience, and Tawakkul, and Rajaa in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then after this, he was forced to flee Makkah, which was his birthplace, and where his wealth and property, and his memories and sentiments, all of them were in Makkah. And he had to move to Al-Madinah.
And in this move, and all of the difficulties with this move, he remained Sabr, and Tawakkul, and Rajaa in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He remained patient, and hoping and relying upon his Lord, and hoping for the mercy of Allah, and relief from Him.
And even after he moved to Al-Madinah, the problems did not stop. There was war after war, and onslaught after onslaught. There was Badr, and Uhud, and Khandaq, and all the other wars which he had to face. And in all of these wars, and these attacks, and onslaughts, he had demonstrated Sabr, and Tawakkul, and Rajaa, hope, in the mercy of Allah, and relief from Allah, and having certainty in his Lord.
And then while he was in Al-Madinah, how many times were there assassination attempts upon him. And that Yahudiya, she poisoned the Prophet ﷺ in the food that he was eating. And the effects of that poison, it remained until he passed away.
And just before his death ﷺ, he mentioned how he could feel the effects of that poison from that Yahudiya who had tried to poison him. And in all of this, he remained Sabr, and Tawakkul, and Rajaa in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Hopeful in relief, and victory from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And also in Al-Madinah, in his personal relationships, he ﷺ, he had seven children. Three boys, and four daughters. All three of his sons, all of them, they did not pass their infancy.
Within the first months, 18 months, two years, all three of them passed away. The Prophet ﷺ, he did not bury one son, two, rather three of his own sons. He buried them with his own blessed hands.
And in this loss, and this struggle, and he is Bashar, he is also a human being, but he remained patient, and relied upon his Lord, and remained optimistic, and positive, having hope in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and relief from him. And also his daughters, from his four daughters, three of them passed away during his lifetime. And each one of those three were at the peak of their youth, when they were 30, 31 , 32, 28. This is when his daughters passed away, three out of four. Each one of them, he ﷺ buried with his own blessed two hands in his lifetime. And despite this personal loss, and this struggle, and this difficulty, he remained sabiran, patient for the sake of Allah, mutawakkilan a'ra rabbihi, reliant upon his Lord.
Rajian, hopeful in the mercy of Allah, and relief and victory from him. So we see that throughout the life of the Prophet ﷺ, every struggle that we have faced, he also faced. And this is the meaning of the ayah, لَقَدْ كَنَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ Verily there is for you in the message of Allah a great role model.
Because every single difficulty that we are facing, there will be examples in the life of the Prophet ﷺ and his sahaba which they also faced. And they faced them more severe. And in all of them, they reacted and they behaved with iman, with yaqeen, with sabr, with tawakkul, with arraja.
So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to lessen the masa'ib and the difficulties that the Muslims are going through. And that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us and bestows upon us a strength of sabr, of patience, and true tawakkul, and having raja, hope in him. And he bestows upon us a heart which is content, and a heart which is fearful.
And we seek refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. اللهم إني أعوذ بك من علم لا ينفع The Prophet ﷺ he would make a dua. اللهم إني أعوذ بك من علم لا ينفع Oh Allah, I seek refuge in you from knowledge which is of no benefit.
And I seek refuge in you from actions which are not accepted. وإني أعوذ بك من قلب لا يخشع And I seek refuge in you from a heart which does not fear you. ومن نفس لا تشبع And I seek refuge in you from desires which are never fulfilled.
ومن دعوة لا يستجاب لها And I seek refuge in you from supplications which are not answered. هذا والله أعلم وصلى الله على نبينا وسلم وبالله التوفيق
