As-Salaamu
‘alaikum warahmatuLlahi wabarakaatuhu
_BismiLlahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem.
AlhamduliLlaahi was-Salaatu was-Salaamu ‘alaa
man laa nabiyya ba’dahu._ _Rabbi-sh-Shrahlii sodrii, wayassirlii amrii,
wahlu-l-‘uqdatan min lisaanii yafqahuu qawlii._
The topic of discussion today
is The Attitude of the Sahabah. The life of the companions is vast topic, and
I have to admit my inability to fully deal with it. What we will be discussing
here will in sha Allah be on an aspect of the life o the companions that we can
relate to - ```CONTENTMENT```.
(ii) In the galaxy of the
Sahaabah, the companions, each and every one of us will have a companion that
we can take solace in when in times of difficulties and tribulations.
When we talk of the life the
companions of the Prophet ﷺ, it doesn’t mean we have a
total biography of them from the time they embraced Islam to their death. What
we will be taking about are standpoints in their lives that distinguished
them from others and tested the level of their eeman (faith) in Allah عز و جل .
These standpoints are found in the life
of every individual. They are points in our lives when our faith in the
Almighty is put to test, and they determine our ranks with Allah, _subhaanahu
wa ta'aalaa_.
[(iii) All the
companions were tested in their faith. Some were tested with their frequent
meeting with the Prophet ﷺ; some were tested with their families; and others
were tested with wealth. Each and every one of the companions, may Allah be
pleased with them had his/her own journey to Allah. Bilal, a slave of African
origin, may Allah be pleased with him was able to gather knowledge from his
master who apparently was a key enemy of the Prophet ﷺ and embraced Islam.
(iv) Ibn ‘Abbas
once said to me (’Ata bin Abi Rabah),
“Shall I show you a woman of the people of Paradise?”
I said, “Yes.”
He said, “This
black lady came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, ‘I
get attacks of epilepsy and my body becomes uncovered; please invoke Allah for
me.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said (to her), ‘If
you wish, be patient and you will have (enter) Paradise; and if you wish, I
will invoke Allah to cure you.’ She said, ‘I
will remain patient,’ and added, ‘but I become
uncovered, so please invoke Allah for me that I may not become uncovered.’
So he invoked Allah for her.” (Bukhari)
From this hadith, we are
going to learn the meaning of *contentment* as opposed to *depression*.
(v) 📍 In another
hadith, the Prophet ﷺ asked Abu Dharr, do you consider excess of provision as
wealth and lack of provision as poverty? Abu Dharr responded in the
affirmative. The Prophet ﷺ then said, “Wealth in essence is
the *ontentment of the heart. No amount of calamity will depress a man with
contentment.”
The hadith of the Prophet ﷺ
and the woman with epilepsy👆🏼👆🏼is the exact
definition of one who is content in life.
(v) 📍📍 Today,
our definition of a good life, is that of wealth, health, affluence,
prosperity and children. Yes, this defines good life, but does not encompass
the whole definition of good life. The condition of this woman in our world
today would warrant her sadness and depression, yet she was content. The hadith
does not mention that if Allah cures her she would not be grated _jannah_. Yet
her focus was on what Allah had for her in the hereafter. This woman lived with
epilepsy, died with epilepsy and she was happy; and on tongue of the Prophet ﷺ
she would be granted jannah. *This is contentment.
(vi)📍Today, a man
goes to the hospital and the doctor suspects he has cancer –
that’s the end of happiness for this man. He goes through
such a depression that his dog eats better food than he does. Today people die
from HIV, not out of the activity of the virus, but out of depression.
The man next to you is sad
and depressed, you ask him what the reason is; you will realise it is because
the network is bad, and he cannot browse.
```This is how low we have
reached```
(vi)📍📍Today,
our women have eating disorders because they think looking slim and attractive
to the opposite sex is the purpose of life and everything about happiness. Most
ladies who look anything else other what they consider the ‘ideal
life’ have
a depressed life.
```Living like this will
continue to drag away from Allah``` Allah سبحانه وتعالى says, ```And whoever
turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life...```
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
(vi) 📍📍📍
We however, tend to confine ourselves in movies when we feel sad. For how long
have we forsaken this Qur'anic treatment?
As long as we continue to
forsake the solution to depression, we will never feel good.
*There is no treatment for
depression in the hospital!*
Taking antidepressants is
like increasing the volume of the radio when you hear noise from the rear of
your car. You wouldn't hear the noise, but it's there. The car will breakdown
one day in the middle of nowhere.
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
(vii) So once, Ali, may Allah
be pleased with him comes home and there is no food in the house. Fatimah, may
Allah be pleased with her is hungry; the children are hungry. Ali, may Allah be
pleased with him asked his wife, Fatimah to go to the Prophet ﷺ and find out if
he could help them with some provisions. Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her
enters the house of the prophet, and transmits her sentiments to the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ said, O Fatima, if you wish I will give you five sheep that
someone gave to me, or I will teach you five words that Jibril thought me. She
said, “I prefer those five words.”
So the Prophet ﷺ thought her those five words; _Yaa Awwal-al-awwaleen, wa Yaa
Akhira-al-aakhireen, wa Yaa
Raahim-ar-raahimeen, Yaa dhal quwwatil mateen, Yaa ar’hamar-raahimeen._
Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her sends these words home –
she was happy… her husband was happy.
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
(viii)📍Fatimah was
the daughter of the Prophet ﷺ, and no father will ever wish to see his child in
that state that Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her found herself. No words
in any language can describe that emotional scene between the Prophet ﷺ and his
daughter in that state. The Prophet in that difficult situation was able to
compose himself and teach Fatimah, myself and you the purpose of life.
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
(viii)📍📍The
Prophet could have given Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her both the dua
and the sheep, but he did not do that. Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her
paid a price for that dua. Today, I type this dua on a full stomach, you read
on a full stomach. We cannot understand the joy it brought to Fatimah and Ali,
may Allah be pleased with them. We would have to knock on the door of Fatimah
to explain to us the joy it brought to her and her family.
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
[1(ix) We learn from this
hadith that the companions did not tie their joy and happiness to this world.
It would have been justifiable on all grounds for Fatimah, may Allah be pleased
with her to have gone for the sheep. You and I might possibly not know this dua
by now.
The companions were sleeping
hungry and they were happy. Today, we lay on our beds full, and we cannot
sleep.
*We should convince ourselves
to understand that Allah in control. This will put an end to our sadness, our
depression, our restlessness and insomnia.
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
(x) Having Allah by our side
does not mean sailing in a with no
storms. It means sailing in ship that no storm can sink.
```Gone are the days when one
person works in a family and ten other people are happy. Today, ten people are
working and at the end of the day, no one is happy.```
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
📍📍There is a
story of a rich man who met a fisherman sitting on the shore, ideal. The rich
man asked him why he was not working. The fisherman told him he has finished
the work for the day. The rich man then told him that, “You
could work more and buy a bigger ship.” The fisherman asked
him, “Then what?” the rich man
answered. “Then you will get more money, build a house, buy a
car, then you can go on vacation to relax.”
The fisherman answered, “But I am relaxing
now."
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
(xi) We do not have to go
through all those stages in life to be happy. Today, that’s
the life we are all living. We live well above two-thirds of our lives in
search of money. By the time the money is ready, we are diagnosed with cancer,
and … (may Allah protect us)
So what is Good Life?
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
(xii) So what is Good Life?
One has a good life when he
focuses on the reward of the afterlife for every single thing that happens to
him in this world. Secondly, that person is satisfied and pleased with what
Allah has given him.
These traits were
encapsulated in the life of the companions of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased
with them. With anything that will befall us, a companion might have gone
through a similar or the same situation, let’s
find out how they reacted and composed themselves in those times of difficulty,
adversity and affluence, as there are great lessons to be learnt from their
lives.
✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
Lastly, these companions, may
Allah be pleased with them, had their eemaan (faith), tested to the highest
levels, and they passed.
Why then do we take role
models other than them?
These are the *Stars of
Islam*, let’s seek light from them in the dark.
_Fii amaaniLlahi_
_was-Salaamu ‘alaikum
warahmatuLlahi wabarakaatuhu_
Assalamu alaikum
warahmathullahi wabarakathu.
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