'Duah': Invocations to Allah- VI

Alhamdulillah Summa Alhamdulillah, it is purely by the grace of Allah that I continue my sermon on the subject of duahs. 

In Bukhari's book of Hadiths, Kitab’ul Manaqib, there is mention of a duah for Hadhrat Jabir Bin Abdullah (ra). The introduction is as follows: the narrator relates that Hadhrat Jabir (ra) said: My father Abdullah died in a state where he was in debt... and certainly it is very important that when someone dies leaving a debt/ some debts, then the first thing to do is that his children have to repay his debts.

Hadhrat Jabir (ra) said: I was very worried because there were only a few dates with me [in my property], and that was not enough to pay off all of his debts. So I went to Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) and said to him: These few dates that I have are not enough to pay off my father's debts, and I [then] have to keep paying that debt for many more years... and he said to the Holy Prophet (pbuh): “Come with me, so that his creditors don't abuse me.”

Since his creditors were all Muslims, he thought that when they would see Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) with him, they would not abuse him. Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) told him to go and collect all the dates and put them in a pile. Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) then went around the dates making duahs. Then he sat down and advised the creditors to forgive Hadhrat Jabir bin Abdullah (ra).

Jabir (ra) said: 'I paid all my creditors in the form of dates until all of my father's debts were completely paid off. And as much as the amount of dates which Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) had given as payment, a similar number remained thanks to the prayer that Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh) made'.

'Duah': Invocations to Allah- V

Allah says in the Quran: “Invoke your Lord in humility and secretly; Indeed, He does not like transgressors. And do not do mischief on the earth, after it has been set in order, and invoke Him with fear and hope; Surely, Allah’s Mercy is (ever) near unto those who do good.” (Al-Arraf 7: 56 & 57)

[In light of these Quranic verses, Huzur (atba) spoke about the importance of making peace, and keeping peace, and to invoke Allah in secret, and the best way to invoke Allah in secret is when you wake up at night for the Tahajjud prayer, where you meet Allah in secret, whereby no one knows about it and you invoke Him. A person may not invoke Allah only at night, but also during the day in his Zikr. Allah may not accept a duah right away, or the next day or in a week, etc. After many years also He can grant that duah and fulfill it. 

Do not do like the woman who despite being in prayer but each time someone came at her neighbour’s place, she used to count the number of people by placing pebbles and then she used to count the number of people who came through the number of pebbles which there were. In the end, it is these very pebbles which formed a barrier between her and Heaven and finally she fell into hell. On the other hand, there is the example of the prostitute upon whom Allah has mercy because of a good deed she did. On day, she saw one of the creatures of Allah, a thirsty dog. She put herself to great trouble only to quench the thirst of the dog. She went to seek water for it and removed her shoe and used it as a recipient to hold water so that she could give it to the dog and quench its thirst. In the end, Allah admitted her to Paradise for her good deed.

You should never create disorder on earth after you have secretly invoked Allah. You should not nullify your invocations and prayers by doing evil upon the earth. And you should not dare to say that despite multiple prayers that you have done, but Allah is not fulfilling those invocations. You should never doubt the ability of Allah to fulfill those duahs. On the contrary, a believer should always trust in Allah and be confident that Allah will listen and grant him his prayers. 

The Murder of Tahir Naseem

Charged with the offence of 'blasphemy' and facing legal proceedings for the last two years in Pakistan, Tahir Ahmad Naseem was murdered by a fanatic youth on Wednesday, 29 July 2020. Apparently, the assassin was able to sneak inside a Peshawar courtroom where a judge was presiding over the case, and  shoot the victim down at point blank range, to silence him forever. Media reports testify that while the gunman Faisal Khan was immediately apprehended by the police; the murder is being openly celebrated as a 'victory of Islam', with many Mullahs competing among themselves to declare the murderer a 'Ghazi' - soldier of Islam-, turning a horrific murdered into national hero! 

Eid-ul-Adha Sermon 2020

The Eid-ul-Adha is not a celebration like any other. It is not a celebration of joy and rejoicing like Eid-ul-Fitr. On the contrary, it marks the spirit of sacrifice of Hadhrat Ibrahim (as), the great prophet, ancestor of our beloved Prophet Hadhrat Muhammad (pbuh).

This great sacrifice was perpetuated to serve as a lesson to humanity. Everyone knows this story. I myself have delivered several sermons on the story of Hadhrat Ibrahim (as) and his son, Hadhrat Ishmael (as). Read the sermons I have delivered in previous years on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha; I don’t have to come back to the same topic again.

What we don’t know and what we need to know is the lesson to be learned, especially from this sacrifice. Without this particular sacrifice, Hadhrat Ibrahim (as) could not have established himself as the Comrade of Allah (Khalilullah). Imagine yourselves; after having become a father at an advanced age when you had no children, after having made many supplications (duahs) to Allah (swt) to give you a child, an heir of your own seed, and behold! When Allah (swt) grants you this child, and where He accepts your invocations, He now tests you to know how much love you have for Him… Is the love that you have for this child stronger than your love for Allah? So He tests you in this way.