اَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَّ الشِّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ۝بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَانِ الرَّحِيْمَ۝
اَلْحَمْدُ لله وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلى سَيِّدِنَا محمد وَعَلَى اَلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ
We're continuing with the leftovers from the section of Ribat(رباط).
Uthman Ibn Affan(عثمان ابن عفان) said: Allah has instructed us to become Muslim and we did.
So we are the Muslims.
He then ordered us to make Hijrah(هجرة), so we did, the people of Makkah, and we are the Muhajireen(مهاجرين).
He then told us to fight Jihad(جهاد) and you did.
So you the people of Ash-Sham(ألشَّام), are the Mujahideen(مجاهدين).
Now here, it doesn't necessarily mean that people who are from Ash-Sham(ألشَّام),
he is talking about the people who are based in Ash-Sham(ألشَّام)
the Sahabah(صحابه), who went to Ash-Sham(ألشَّام) and settled there, for Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله).
Spend money on yourself and your family, and the needy around you!
Since if you go out with a single Dirham(درهم) and bought some meat with it.
And you ate it, you and your family would be rewarded as spending 700 Dirham(درهم)s.
The interesting thing here in this statement of Uthman Ibn Affan رضي الله عنه
is that, he even considers the money that you would spend on your family to be multiplied by 700.
What Uthman Ibn Affan(عثمان ابن عفان) is saying that as a Murabat(مرابط), any money that you spend,
even if it's for your food and the food of your family is multiplied by 700.
Because the purpose of you being there is Ribat(رباط) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله).
So anything that you spend as long as it's spent in a Halal(حلال) way,
and without Asraaf(أسراف) extravagance is multiplied by 700.
Ibn Nuhas(إبن نُحاس) says: The spending in Ash-Sham(ألشَّام) is multiplied if it is during the era of Uthman(عثمان),
because all of Ash-Sham(ألشَّام) was the land of Ribat(رباط),
it was expected that the enemy could descend on any part of it.
But now that applies only to the frontiers of it, which are exposed to the attacks by the enemy.
The frontiers would be the northern parts of Ash-Sham(ألشَّام) and also the coastal line,
because the coastline of Ash-Sham(ألشَّام) remained as the land of Ribat(رباط).
The Messenger of Allah said:
There will be people from my nation who will protect the borders, they will fulfill their duty.
But they will not be given what is due to them.
They are from me, and I am from them.
And this is in Ibn Al-Mubarak(إبن ألمبارك) and it is Hasan(حسن).
Rasool Allah ﷺ was talking about the obscure soldier,
who's manning a post he's guarding Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله عزَّوَجل).
He's very simple, nobody really knows about him,
but Rasool Allah ﷺ is saying that these are the ones, who are guarding the Ummah(امة),
and they are from me, and I am from them.
Abu Hurairah(ابوهريره) narrated the Messenger of Allah said:
Among, the best livelihoods of people is that of a man holding the rein of his horse in the path of Allah,
flying on its back, whenever he hears a call.
The Hadith(حديث) says:
يطيرو على متن
Now, horses don't fly,
but Rasool Allah ﷺ used the word Yateer Alaa Mat'ne(يطيرعلى متن)
on his back to mean that this man, whenever he hears the call of Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله),
he swiftly responds to it.
It is as if he is flying to go and fight Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله), and what is he flying for...?
He flies in search of killing or being killed.
ليقتل أو يقتل
And the man on top of a mountain peak or on the bottom of a deep valley,
establishing prayers paying his Zaka'at(زكوة) and worshiping his Lord, until death visits him.
People see nothing from him, but good.
And this is in Sahih Muslim(صحيح ألمسلم).
So again, this is in the time of fittan(فتن), the best way to live is either as a Mujahid(مُجَاهِد)
or as a person who is seeking Halal(حلال) Rizq(رزق) away from people away from the fittan(فتن),
away from the temptations.
Two men came to the companion, Abdullah Bin Al-Haris Bin Juzae Az-Zabedi(عبدالله بن ألحارث بن جزء ألزبيدي).
He said welcome, and he handed them a pillow.
So these two men are At-Taba'een(ألتابعين), they visited a Sahabi(صحابي).
But even though he was a Sahabi(صحابي).
He was the one, who was serving them,
you know, they didn't have the tradition of going in and kissing the knees or the hands.
These are At-Taba'een(ألتابعين), who came in to somebody who was senior.
This is a Sahabi(صحابي) of Rasool Allah ﷺ, he is old in age.
Nevertheless, when they came in he was giving them pillows to sit on.
They said: We did not come for this but we came for you to tell us something that would benefit us, a hadith(حديث).
He said:
Whoever does not treat his guests with generosity does not belong to Muhammad(محمد) and Ibrahim(اِبْراهِيْم),
it's is not part of the Hadith(حديث).
He's just telling them that I need to be generous to you.
Because whoever is not generous doesn't belong to Muhammadﷺ and Ibrahim(اِبْراهِيْم).
And when it comes to generosity we consider Ibrahim(اِبْراهِيْم), to be the father of generosity.
Ibrahim عليه السّلام, he received three angels, and he slaughtered for them, a calf, a whole calf.
And he could have presented them with something else
but out of his generosity, he slaughtered for them Ijl(عجل),
and this Ijl(عجل) might have meant a lot for the family of Ibrahim عليه السّلام, but he slaughtered it for them.
And the Ayah(آية) describes it, as in one Ayah(آية), Ijl Sameen(عجل سمين).
He is fat, and in the other Ayah(آية) Ijl Haneez(عجل حنيذ), it is roasted.
So we know from these two Ayaat(آيات) that it was Ijl(عجل) calf, and it was big, fat, and it was roasted.
So it was barbecued meat that he served to the angels.
But the problem was they didn't even eat it, because they were Malaikah(ملائكة).
Blessed is he, so this is the Hadith(حديث) that is telling them.
Blessed is he, who spends his night holding the rain of his horse in the path of Allah.
Having a piece of dry bread and water as his breakfast,
and woe to those who are feeding like cows, saying servant, take this and servant bring that,
all of that and they don't even remember Allah.
So they just eat and eat and eat without even saying Alhamdulillah(ألحمدلله), when they finish
or Bismillah(بسم الله) when they start.
What about the period of being stationed, how long should it be?
Imam Ahmad(اِمَامْ اَحْمَدْ) was asked, is there any period for being stationed he said 40 days.
So, you should have your 40 days Khurooj(خروج) in Ribat(رباط).
Abu Hurairah(ابوهريره) said:
For me to be stationed for one night, next to the sea,
and protecting the Muslims behind me is better than spending the night of Al-Qadr(ألقدر)
in the Masjid(مسجد) of Al-Ka'aba(اَلْكَعْبَه), or the Masjid(مسجد) of the Messenger of Allah.
And spending three days of Ribat(رباط) is equal to a whole year.
And the most complete period of Ribat(رباط) is 40 days.
This is by Abdur Razzaq(عبدالرزاق).
A man from Ansaar(ألأنْصَار) came to Umar Ibn Al-Khattab رضي الله عنه.
So Umar(عُمَر) ask him where were you.?
He said I was in Ribat(رباط).
Umar(عُمَر) said: For how long?
He said: 30 days.
Umar(عُمَر) said: You should have completed it 40.
Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه said:
If you spent three days in Ribat(رباط), then let the worshippers, worship as they wish.
Ibn-e-Abi Shaibah(إبن أبي شعيبة), and it is authentic.
What he means by that is, no one can compete with the Ajr(أجْر) of three days Ribat(رباط) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah عزَّوَجل.
Ibn Nuhas(إبن نُحاس) says:
The command in Ar-Ribat(ألرباط) is for a person to station himself to a vulnerable land, where the enemy is expected to attack.
The word Ribat(رباط) comes from Rabata(ربطة), which is to tie.
The Murabit(مرابط) does that with the intention of fighting the enemy or guarding the land,
or even to increase the number of Muslims in that land,
the more dangerous the land is, the more rewarding it becomes, whether it is a seaport, or otherwise.
Imam Malik(إمام مالك), does not consider Ribat(رباط) in Jeddah(جدَّة), to be Ribat(رباط),
because the enemy only attacked it once.
Imam Malik(إمام مالك) was also asked his opinion on the ones who live in the land of Ribat(رباط) with their families.
He said:
They are not considered Murabiteen(مرابطين),
because the Murabit(مرابط) is the one, who leaves from his home with the intention of Ribat(رباط) in a land of danger.
It appears to me that the one, who is living in an area of Ribat(رباط),
and the only intention, he has is staying there is the Jihad(جهاد) or guarding the land,
and this person has the ability to move to another place without difficulty.
My opinion is that such a person is Murabit(مرابط) and would be rewarded accordingly,
even if he is accompanied by his family.
The Sahabah(صحابه) and At-Tabieen(تابعين) used to live in the land of Ribat(رباط) with their families,
with the intention of Ribat(رباط).
Maybe what Imam Malik(إمام مالك) meant was, those who were born in the land of Ribat(رباط), and brought up there,
and they lived there because it was their homeland,
and the place where their families lived, and they are not there for the purpose of Ribat(رباط).
This is also the opinion of Ibn Atiyyah(إبن عطية), He states that
the ones, who live in the land of Ribat(رباط) because it is their home,
and the place of their work are considered protectors of the land, but not Murabiteen(مرابطين).
So to make it simple.
Niyyah(نية) is the key issue here.
If a person is living in that place with the intention of Ribat(رباط) and Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah then he Is Murabit(مرابط).
If the intention is because of money, because of work, because this is my homeland, because I love it.
I'm attached to the land, it's a different intention.
So the ones, who lives in the land of Ribat(رباط) for a purpose that does not exist in other places,
or because his family insists on living there, or for the purpose of work is not a Murabit(مرابط).
Also, If a person is in the place of Ribat(رباط) and the danger of the enemy ceases to exist.
And nevertheless, this person continues to live in that place,
that is an indication that the purpose of such a person is not Jihad(جهاد)
and thus the person does not qualify as a Murabit(مرابط).
Now if there is a person living in the land of Ribat(رباط) and his intention is that
whenever the enemy attacks, he would run away,
then such a person is living in a state of sin,
because the moment the enemy attacks, it becomes a major sin to runaway.
So such a person is better off moving from the land of Ribat(رباط),
because he is accumulating sin, all the time, with such an intention.
So, In the area is that one could consider now as land of Ribat(رباط)
like Afghanistan, Iraq, Kashmir, Chechnya, because whenever there's lull in fighting,
it doesn't mean that the fighting has seized, you know, the fight still carries on, because these are invaded lands
or Falastine(فلسطين).
If a person is living there, and their intention is that when an attack would come I would leave,
then such a person is accumulating sin
and this tells us something that living in the land of Ribat(رباط) could either be a blessing or it could be a curse.
You know you can't get out of it even.
You either may come out of Hasanat(حسانات), or you lose a lot of Hasanat(حسانات) by the mere existence in that place.
Virtues of guarding in the path of Allah.
Abu Hurairah(ابوهريره) narrated the Prophet said:
Let the slave of Dinar(دينار) and Dirham(درهم) of quantify and Qameesa(قميصه) perish, as he is pleased.
If these things are given to him.
And if not, he is displeased.
تعس عبد الدينار تعس عبد الدرهم تعس عبد القطيفة تعس عبد الخميصة،
Rasool Allah ﷺ is making Dua(دُعَا) on these people.
He is saying: May they perish.
إذا عطي رضي
If they are given, they are pleased if they are not, they're displeased.
So the matter that controls their heart feelings is wealth, whether it goes up or down.
That's the whole purpose of life.
Rasool Allah ﷺ is saying Taisa(تعس), Taisa(تعس) is Dua(دُعَا) against them.
May they perish and then Rasool Allah ﷺ says:
تعس وانتكس
And Takas(تكس) means: If you fall down, and then you try to stand up again you fall down again.
Meaning, let this person fall down and then fall down again and not be able to stand up.
وإذا شيكَ فلا انتقشَ
And if they are hit with a thorn, let him not find anyone to take it out of him.
Because with thorns, you have a certain clip that pulls it out.
And you might need the help of somebody to do that for you.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ is saying may these people not have anybody to help them.
Why? Because their intentions are purely for Duniyah(دُنِيَّا).
This is figurative speech here,
Rasool Allah ﷺ is saying that a person whose sole intention is Duniyah(دُنِيَّا), and they are servants and slaves of wealth.
May these people not succeed in what they want
and whenever they fall down into a problem or catastrophe, financial problem or whatever it is,
May Allah have them fall in another one again.
And whenever they get into trouble, May Allah let them find anybody to take them out of that trouble.
And then Rasool Allah ﷺ says:
Paradise is for him, who holds the reins of his horse to strive in Allah’s cause
with his hair unkempt and feet covered with dust.
If he is appointed in the vanguard, he is perfectly satisfied with his post of guarding.
If he is appointed to the rear ward, he accepts his post with satisfaction.
He is so simple and unambiguous, that if he asks for permission, he is not permitted.
And if he intercedes, his intercession is not accepted.
And this is in Bukhari(بخاريْ).
This is the personality of the Ideal Muslim soldier.
He is living a life of difficulty, first of all, because he is a Mujahid(مُجَاهِد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله)
he can't even find a barber to take care of his hair,
his hair is unkempt his feet are loaded with dust.
His clothes are simple.
Nevertheless, he's still satisfied with that.
And wherever the Ameer(أمير) would put him, he'll be happy.
So the second quality that he has is Ta’aa(طاعة), obedience, put me in the rear, I'm very pleased.
You know, I'm not gonna just take it and swallow it.
I'm happy! Put me in the front. I'm fine!
Have me guard for the entire night, I will be happy with it.
And then it's the life of commitment, he is on his horse Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله).
Rasool Allah ﷺ says:
Paradise is for him, who holds the reins of his horse to strive in Allah’s cause.
So he has dedicated his life to this cause.
It's not a seasonal thing for him.
And then add to that, you know, he's doing all of this to serve the Ummah(امة),
but because he didn't get to establish a wide network of friendship and business relations and,
you know he's not part of that game.
Nobody knows him.
He's a Mujahid(مُجَاهِد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله), that's ambiguous nobody knows who he is.
So if it goes to make Shafa'a(شفاعة) for someone over himself, he's turned down.
If he seeks permission to come into a place, nobody allows him, because nobody knows him.
So in this Duniyah(دُنِيَّا), he is obscure.
His name is not even known, but to Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ, Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ knows him very well.
And there are plenty of soldiers like this in the Ummah(امة), in every generation.
And these were the ones, who did the brunt of the fighting.
It is their blood that conveyed to us the Islam that we know
and we don't even know who their names are.
And that's why when we will read that,
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمرابن الخطاب) once was receiving news about one of the battles,
so they were telling them about all of the people who died whom were known.
But then they said then, other people that you do not know
but Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمرابن الخطاب) interrupted and said but Allah knows them, Allah knows them very well.
So they have humbleness, they are sincere, they are not doing it for fame.
Abdullah bin Amr(عبدالله بن عمرو) narrated the Messenger of Allah said:
Two eyes will not be touched by hellfire.
An eye that cries from the fear of Allah, and an eye that spent the night in the guarding post, in the path of Allah,
this is in At-Tirmidhi(ألتِّرمِذِيْ).
Abu Rehanah(أبوريحانة) narrates:
We were with the Messenger of Allah, in an expedition.
During our travel, we passed over a high place, and we spent our night in that location.
The weather was very cold so I saw some people digging for themselves holes in the ground.
They will then crawling to them and cover themselves with their shields to protect themselves from the cold weather.
So imagine, digging for yourself a hole in the ground and then you crawl into it, and hide.
First of all because the ground is a bit warmer it retains more of the heat.
Plus it shields you from the wind, and Sahabah رضي الله عنهم would have a mantel one piece of cloth to wrap them
but it wouldn't be sufficient.
And sometimes it could get quite cold in the desert,
the temperatures, shoot up very fast during the daytime and they sink, very fast at night.
So you have both extremes.
So now they're hiding in those holes,
and they're covering themselves with their shields
and cover themselves with their shields to protect themselves from the cold weather.
When the Messenger of Allah, saw that he said:
Who would be our guard tonight and I would pray for him.?
Now, Rasool Allah ﷺ offered this incentive because of the condition was quite cold.
So Rasool Allah ﷺ said:
I will pray for you if you if you come forward.
So one of the Ansaar(أنصار) stepped forward and said: I would O Messenger of Allah!.
So Rasool Allah ﷺ told him to come close to him and then he asked him, his name.
After the man replied the Messenger of Allah made a long prayer for him.
Abu Rehana(أبوريحانة) is saying when I heard the prayer of the messenger of Allah I went to him and said:
I also want to be a guard.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ told him come close.
And then he asked me who I was?
I said: Abu Rehana(أبوريحانة).
He then made a prayer for me and it was shorter than the earlier one.
Then he said:
Hellfire is prohibited from an eye that cries from the fear of Allah
and hellfire is prohibited from an eye that was awake, guarding in the path of Allah,
Ahmad(أحمد), Musannaf Ibn Shaibah(مصنف إبن شَيبة), and An-Nasai(ألنسائ) and Ibn Hakim(إبن حاكم).
Madhool(مدخول) narrates,
whoever spends the night guarding in the path of Allah until the morning would have all of his sins fall away.
Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaibah(مصنف إبن أبي شَيبة).
Sahal Bin Hanzalia(سهل ابن الحنظلية) said:
They were with the Messenger of Allah, on the day of Hunain(حنين), we walked that entire day.
A night he came to the Messenger of Allah and said:
O Messenger of Allah, I went ahead of you until I reached, so and so mountain,
and I found all of their Hawazin(هوازن) with their woman, camels and sheep, assembling at Hunain(حنين).
The Messenger of Allah, smiled and said:
Those will be a booty for the Muslims tomorrow In Sha Allah(إنْ شاءالله).
Possibly Rasool Allah ﷺ could have received a promise from Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ that this would, this would happen.
But the other possibility is that this was a reflection of the personality of Rasool Ullah.
Whenever he would receive news that could be seen as demoralizing,
Rasool Allah ﷺ would turn it around into good news to raise the morale of the army.
So here, this man is coming to Rasool Allah ﷺ with a bad piece of news.
Hunain(حنين) with their women, with their children.
You know when they would have their women and children with them,
that's an indication that they're taking the battle very seriously.
Similar situation happened in Ghazwa Al-Khandaq(غزوة الخندق).
And by the way, Ghazwa Al-Khandaq(غزوة الخندق) was one of the worst moments for the Muslims.
You had an army of 10,000 surrounding Madina.
It was a coalition of various Arab tribes, alongside the Jews with Munafiqeen(مُنافقين) from within, assisting them.
So, it was a very, very tough time for the Muslims.
And that's, by the way when the Ayah(آية) was revealed.
إِذ جاءوكُم مِن فَوقِكُم وَمِن أَسفَلَ مِنكُم
وَإِذ زاغَتِ الأَبصارُ وَبَلَغَتِ القُلوبُ الحَناجِرَ وَتَظُنّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنونا۞
هُنالِكَ ابتُلِيَ المُؤمِنونَ وَزُلزِلوا زِلزالًا شَديدًا۞
They attacked you from above and from beneath and your hearts are pounding in your throats and your eyes are dizzy.
إِذ جاءوكُم مِن فَوقِكُم وَمِن أَسفَلَ مِنكُم وَإِذ زاغَتِ الأَبصارُ وَبَلَغَتِ القُلوبُ الحَناجِرَ وَتَظُنّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنونا۞
Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ says:
هُنالِكَ ابتُلِيَ المُؤمِنونَ وَزُلزِلوا زِلزالًا شَديدًا۞
It was a Zilzal(زلزال), Zilzal(زلزال) is an earthquake.
It was an earthquake for the believers.
So that was one of the toughest moments on the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم,
the toughest moment of all within Al-Khandaq(ألخندق),
was when the news was brought to Rasool Allah ﷺ that Banu Quraidha(بنوقريظة) have broken their agreement with the Rasool Allah ﷺ.
This was, the catastrophe.
Because Banu Quraidha(بنوقريظة) were within the city limits.
Al-Madina(ألمدينة) was surrounded by some natural production, you had Al-Harrah Sharqiyah Wal Harrah Gharbiyyah(حرَّة شرقية والحرة غربية).
These are rocky volcanic tracks.
These are not mountains, it's level plan but it has a lot of volcanic rocks and they're very sharp.
And it makes it very difficult for an army to march through it.
So that was a natural protection from Madina from the east and the west,
from the south, you had the palm groves, miles and miles of palm groves.
So, the attack would come from the north.
If Madina would be attacked, it will be attacked from the North.
That's where the Sahabah(صحابه) dug the trench.
But the problem is that now Banu Quraidha(بنوقريظة) are within the city limits and,
Rasool Allah ﷺ had an agreement with them, a peace agreement,
and the peak hour Banu Quraidha(بنوقريظة) break their agreement with Rasool Allah ﷺ, and join in hands with the coalition.
Rasool Allah ﷺ asked one of the Sahabah(صحابه) to go and check if the news was true
because Rasool Allah ﷺ heard a rumor that Banu Quraidha(بنوقريظة) have betrayed, they have committed treason.
So Rasool Ullah sent two of the Sahabah(صحابه), he said:
Go and investigate the matter for me.
If you found that they are still up to their word, tell me publicly.
If you find out that they have committed treason, give me a sign.
So they went, they found out that Banu Quraidha(بنوقريظة) have betrayed their agreement so they came back to Rasool Allah ﷺ,
and they gave him a sign, without speaking that Banu Quraidha(بنوقريظة) have actually betrayed the agreement.
I think the call on the sign was I think like a slit of a throat or something, and Rasool Allah ﷺ have understood that.
What did Rasool Allah ﷺ say?
And look at the orders of Rasool Ullah, Don't make it publicly because he doesn't want to demoralize the Muslims.
Rasool Allah ﷺ said: Abshiru(أبشِرو)! Rejoice with the good news.
He didn't tell him what it was.
He said: Abshiru(أبشرو)! Be happy!
So he would turn everything around.
And Subhaan Allah(سُبْحَان الله) that positiveness was also inherited by the Khalifah(خليفه) after him,
khalifa-Tu-Rasul Ullah(خليفةالرسول الله), Abu Bakr As-Siddique رضي الله عنه.
Abu Bakr As-Siddique رضي الله عنه would receive these news about what's happening with the Murtaddeen(مرتدين),
and it would only make Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) stronger and stronger,
Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) was asked. He was told,
لقد نزل بك ما لو نزل بالجبال لهاضها ولو نزل بالبحارلغاصها
The disasters that befell you, if they fell on a mountain, the mountain would break.
And if it fell on the oceans, the oceans would sink.
How were you able to handle them.
Abu Bakr As-Siddique رضي الله عنه said:
Since I had fear with Rasool Allah ﷺ in the cave in Hijrah(هجرة).
I never had fear after that.
Why because that is when Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ revealed the Ayaat(آيات) that say,
إِذ يَقولُ لِصاحِبِهِ لا تَحزَن إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنا ۖ
Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ is telling Muhammadﷺ, to tell your companion:
Don't have sadness or sorrow because Allah is with you.
He said: I never felt fear after that,
when he sent out the four armies to Ash-Sham(ألشَّام).
The army of Abu Obaidah Amr Bin Jarrah(أبوعبيدةعمروبن جرَّاح), the army of Yazeed Bin Abi Sufyaan(يزيدبن أبي سفيان),
the army of Sharhabil Bin Hasana(شرحبيل بن حسنة), and the army of Amr Bin Al-Aas(عَمْرُو بِن اَلْعَاص).
Four armies into Ash-Sham(ألشَّام).
The objective was to open Ash-Sham(ألشَّام).
And Ash-Sham(ألشَّام) was under the control of the Romans.
The Romans took this advance quite seriously, so they assembled huge armies.
These armies that Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) sent were averaging about 4000 each.
The Romans would meet them with 50,000, 70,000, 90,000 each.
Abu Obaidah(أبوعبيدة) sent in a letter to Abu Bakr As-Siddique رضي الله عنه, telling him.
It's a long letter but two important points.
He said:
Heracul(هراقل) has moved from his capital Constantinople,
and set base in Antakia(أنتاكية) in Ash-Sham(ألشَّام) to be close to the events.
In other words, the Romans are taking this very seriously.
The second point that he mentioned in the letter.
Is that!
جمع جموعة وحشد الحشود
That the Roman Emperor has mobilized his people from the four corners of his empire.
So basically to make it brief, the letter was an S.O.S. message to Abu Bakr(ابوبكر), help me!
I need help! I need madad(مدد)
and this bad news, because Abu Bakr As-Siddique رضي الله عنه doesn't have any soldiers to give.
He has exhausted all of his forces in Iraq, and Ash-Sham(ألشَّام).
Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) sends back a letter telling Abu Obaidah(أبوعبيدة).
وأما قولك أنَّ هراقل نزل با أنتاكية فهذه بُشرى نهايت الملك
When you say that, Heracul(هراقل) has left his capital and moved into Ash-Sham(ألشَّام).
That's good news that he is moving out of his kingdom,
he's leaving his kingdom, he left his capital, that's a good sign for us.
See how he turned it around and then he told Abu Obaidah(أبوعبيدة).
And when you mentioned to me that he has mobilized, his forces from the four corners of his empire.
فهذا ماكنَّ واَيَّكُم نعلم أنَّه الحاصل،
وتعلمون انهم ما كان قوم ليخرجو من ملك هم بسطان بغير قتال
He said: And when you tell me that they have mobilized their forces.
This is what you and I, already knew before.
Did you ever think that the people will walk out of their kingdom, and leave their dominion without a fight.
It is expected that they're going to mobilize for you.
What else do you expect.
And then he told him and I want you to depend on Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ.
And then on the soldiers that you have, and not to ask for anything more.
Don't ask for anything else, meaning being content with what the Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ has given you, and the soldiers you have.
But then he said: In the end of the letter.
Nevertheless,
وما ذالك فاني ممدك برجال تروالرجال حتى ترضى
I'm going to support you with reinforcements, until I make you happy.
And that's when Abu Bakr(ابوبكر) sent into Khalid Ibn Walid(خالد ابن وليد) to go and rescue the Muslims.
He told them to go from Iraq to Ash-Sham(ألشَّام).
But the thing is that the leader must have the ability to put confidence in the hearts of the followers,
because if the leaders are shaking, then the entire army will just give up.
So it's very important that the soldiers, whenever they are in a moment of difficulty they look up to their leader,
and that gives him tranquility and peace.
Ali Ibn Abi Talib(علي ابن ابي طالب), or I think one of the Sahabah(صحابه) said:
When we, when the battle gets hot.
كن نحتني برسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
When the battle gets hot, we would go and hide behind Rasool Allah ﷺ.
They would seek comfort from him.
That's where, they would get it, he would recharge our batteries.
That's a very important quality and that's a quality that Khalid Ibn Walid(خالد ابن وليد) possesses.
You know whenever a soldiers have fear, all what they would have to do is go and take a look at Khalid Ibn Walid(خالد ابن وليد).
Your spirit comes back to you.
So this is a very important issue for an Ameer(أمير), in Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله)
to have these Amaal Al-Qalb(أعمال ألقلب),
because Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله) is not just something of the limbs.
The heart is the foundation, the heart is the foundation of the whole thing,
like what I told you the statement of Ibn-Al-Qayyim(إبن ألقيم)
about the Romans and the Persians the hearts failed them, when they needed them most.
Rasool Allah ﷺ said:
Those will be a booty for the Muslims tomorrow In Sha Allah(إنْ شاءالله).
He then said:
Who would be our guard tonight!
Anas Bin Marsad Al-Ganavi(أنس بن مرصد ألغنوي) stepped forth and said:
I would O Messenger of Allah, the Messenger of Allah said:
Then, ride!
So he mounted his horse and came to the Messenger of Allah, the messenger of Allah said:
Face this valley, until you reach the top of it and don't let us be ambushed from your direction.
When we prayed, our morning prayers the Messenger of Allah said: Did you see your knight.?
They said: We didn't!
The Messenger of Allah kept on looking towards the valley in his Salah(صلاة).
When he finished his prayers. He said: Rejoice!
Here comes your knight.
We continued looking through the trees in the valley, until the knight appeared,
and he came and stood in front of the Messenger of Allah.
He said:
I went until, I reached the top of the valley,
where the Messenger of Allah told me to be, until the morning and I didn't spot anyone.
Rasool Allah ﷺ said:
Did you leave your post.
He said: No!
Except to pray or respond to the call of nature.
Rasool Allah ﷺ told him:
You've guaranteed yourself Paradise, and there is no harm on you, even if you don't do any good after this day.
This is in Abu Daud(أبوداؤد), Musnad Abu Uwana(مسندأبوعوانة), Al Hakim(ألحاكم) and it is Sahih(صحيح).
Ibn Umar(إبن عمر) narrated the Messenger of Allah said:
Shouldn't I tell you about the night, that is better than the night of Al-Qadr(ألقدر), the night of Power?
A guard who is guarding in a land of fear, not knowing whether he would return to his family or not.
This is in Al-Musannif As-Sunnan Al-Kubra(ألمصنف ألكبرى) by Al-Bayhaqi(ألبيهقي) and in Al-Hakim(ألحاكم) and it's authentic.
Chapter five.
The rules and virtues of target shooting,
the virtues of target shooting and this would apply to all modern forms of weaponry.
In Islam we take things generally, and we apply them to any similar situation,
Allah says:
وَأَعِدّوا لَهُم مَا استَطَعتُم مِن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِباطِ الخَيلِ تُرهِبونَ بِهِ عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُم
وَعَدُوَّكُم وَآخَرينَ مِن دونِهِم لا تَعلَمونَهُمُ اللَّهُ يَعلَمُهُم ۚ
وَما تُنفِقوا مِن شَيءٍ في سَبيلِ اللَّهِ يُوَفَّ إِلَيكُم وَأَنتُم لا تُظلَمونَ۞
وَأَعِدّوا لَهُم مَا استَطَعتُم مِن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِباطِ الخَيلِ
And prepare against them whatever you are able to have power,
that's Al-Anfal(ألأنفال) verse 60.
Uqba Bin Amir(عقبة بن عامر) narrated:
I heard the Messenger of Allah on the pulpit say,
and prepare against them whatever you are able of power.
And you know see
when, I read the name of Uqba Bin Amir(عقبة بن عامر),
Yani(يعني) Uqba Bin Amir(عقبة بن عامر) was an Ameer(أمير) of Jihad(جهاد).
Subhaan Allah(سُبْحَان الله), You find that these Sahabah رضي الله عنهم or the At-Taba'een(ألتابعين)
are not narrating Ahadith(احاديث), out of books,
they are practicing those Ahadith(احاديث) themselves, they are living those Ahadith(احاديث).
So you'd finds that the Sahabi(صحابي) is narrating Ahadith(احاديث) that he is living.
And it's not just conveying from a book to another brain.
They are living this.
Yani(يعني) Uqba Bin Amir(عقبة بن عامر) is narrating this Hadith(حديث) and teaching us about something that he is living himself.
I heard the Messenger of Allah say on the pulpit
and prepare against them whatever you are able of power and power is the ability to shoot!
Power is the ability to shoot! Power is the ability to shoot!
ألا إنَّ القوَّةَ الرَّميُ، ألا إنَّ القوَّةَ الرَّميُ، ألا إنَّ القوَّةَ الرَّميُ
Khalid Bin Zaid(خالد بن زيد) said: I used to be good at archery and Uqba(عقبة) would go out target shooting with me.
One day I was reluctant to go out so he told me, O Khalid(خالد),
Let me tell you what I heard the Messenger of Allah say:
He said:
Allah admits three people into Paradise because of one arrow.
The one who makes it.
Doing so with the intention of good.
The one who shoots it and the one who hands it over to the archer.
I mean, you can't break it down any less than this,
we're talking about how Jihad(جهاد) is breaking down into bits and pieces and every part has Ajr(أجْر).
How far down, could you go?
Yani(يعني) an arrow somebody who is sharpening that arrow.
Not only that, the one who was handing it over to the one who will fire it.
So go out and train in archery, you know, if we apply this to modern weaponry,
maybe even stuffing the magazine would guarantee you Jannah(جنة)
if it's just like handing it over to the archer.
Stuffing your magazine without even maybe firing it will guarantee a person of Jannah(جنة).
The thing is that these issues became very detached from religion,
people don't see it as part of the Deen(دِيْن).
Yani(يعني) when one shot is fired in the range and you're doing it Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله).
We are under estimating the Ajr(أجْر) that is involved in that.
So go out and train and archery, and horseback riding, and I prefer you train in archery.
Entertainment is appropriate in only three forms.
Training your horse, playing with your wife and archery.
And whoever learns archery and then abandons it has rejected the blessing from Allah.
This is in Musannaf Musnad Abu Uwana(مصنف مسندأبوعوانة), Abu Daud(أبوداؤد) and Al Hakim(ألحَاكِم).
Now, to this issue of entertainment.
Notice how Islam geared, even the entertainment, towards Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله),
everything pours into one pool all streams, go to feed into the peak, and what is the peak in Islam.?
زروة اِسنام الإسلام ، ألجهاد في سبيل الله
So even in our entertainment needs to pour into that direction.
Now, when we say entertainment, it is because it entertains you.
It is a form of entertainment.
And let me just mention it here because it's going to come on, this point is going to also drop in later.
We'll just talk about it now.
As a human being, there is a compartment in your heart that can only be satisfied through entertainment.
You know you have a spiritual compartment,
your desires compartments, natural human desires.
That's why we're encouraged to get married, to seek Halal(حلال),
to eat food, these are things that as human beings we're attached to.
Our love to own and that's why we are told to seek Rizq(رزق) of Halal(حلال),
because as a human being you want to own money, you want to own a house, you want to own...
So, Islam channels all of these desires in the right direction.
Don't make it in Haram(حرام) way, make it in the Halal(حلال) way.
There is a compartment in this human being that can only be satisfied through entertainment.
Now people are different, some people that compartment of entertainment is big, some people it's small.
If it's something that needs to be done then Islam will direct you to do it the right way.
And the right way to do it is, these three means, training your horse, playing with your wife and archery.
Two out of the three, two out of the three relate to Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله).
Playing with the horse and archery.
As a Muslim we're supposed to be fit, we're supposed to train.
However, when it comes to the commercial sports,
what I would call commercial sports?
soccer, or what you call football, baseball, basketball.
It's alright to join in, in these forms of sports.
But the thing is, there's so much cultural baggage that is attached to this.
And sometimes it could take a person into a very dangerous direction.
Cheering for teams could lead into the issues of Wala'a(ولآء) and Bara'a(براء),
you start loving people whom you're not supposed to have any attachment to in your heart whatsoever.
Rasool Allah ﷺ says in the Hadith(حديث):
يعتي على الناس زمان ! يُقالَ فيه لِلرَّجُلِ : ما أظْرَفَهُ ؟ ما أحلمة ؟ وما في قلْبِهِ مِثقال زرة من إِيمانٍ
Rasool Allah ﷺ says the time will come, when the people will say about somebody that he is
ما أظْرَفَهُ
Now what is the literal translation of Ma-Azrafa(ما أظْرَفَهُ) in English?
What would Ma-Azrafa(ما أظْرَفَهُ) mean?
He is cool!
This is the closest translation of Ma-Azrafa(ما أظْرَفَهُ), he is cool.
So they will say about this person that he is cool.
وما في قلْبِهِ حبَّةُ خرْدَلٍ من إِيمانٍ
There's not even a single grain of Eeman(ايمان) in his heart.
Now look today, look at the people today who are called cool, how are they?
In the mainstream culture who's considered to be cool.
They tend to be the scum of the society.
The worst, even according to the non Muslim standard, they tend to be the worst of the society.
The absolute worse, and they are the cool.
So this commercial sport thing, if it's gonna lead us into that direction, it's better for a person to stay out of it.
The sports that Muslim should involve in, if it is accessible to do Rimaya(رماية), target shooting.
Then that is the top and then you have all of the types of physical training that would make the body fit,
it would also fall into the Idad(عداد) of Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله).
Salamah Bin Akwah(سلمة بن الأكوع) said:
The Messenger of Allah passed next to boys playing a game of archery.
He said: Shoot children of Ismail(اِسْماعِيْل) your father was great archer.
Shoot and I will join so and so.
And he joined one of the teams.
The messenger of Allah then said:
Why did you stop?
They said: How can we do so when you are with them.
These kids Subhaan Allah(سُبْحَان الله) out of respect to Rasool Allah ﷺ they did not carry on fight.
And when Rasool Ullah said: What happen?
They said: Because you are with them.
He said: Go ahead and fire, I am all of with you, I am with all of you,
because other team, they just left out.
I mean Rasool Ullah is not with us, so he said: I am with all of you.
Look at this on the right context.
Rasool Allah ﷺ is a head of state.
He is even more than that.
He is Nabi(نَبِي) of this Ummah(امة).
He is the Messenger of Allah.
He is Khatam-Ul-Ambiyaa-Wal-Mursaleen(خاتم الأنبياء والمرسلين).
He is the best of the creation of Adam(آدَم).
He goes in and plays in with these boys.
To set for them an example that you should be doing this.
Just imagine these boys when they would grow up how influential that moment in their life would be.
They never gonna forget this.
They never can forget that Rasool Allah ﷺ came and join with them, in a game of archery.
Now unfortunately among these Muslim world now, the leadership, you are thrown in jail if you involve in such a game.
I mean around the middle east there is not even a single playground for paint ball let alone Archery.
So all of these arts are shunt and people are prevented from doing them
and they are pushing the people towards the commercial sports that will keep them obsessed in the culture of soccer
and it's an obsession, it's an idol that is worshiped besides Allah.
You know sometimes you could get wisdom from the mouths of the insane.
Qadhafi(قذافي), he once said: Why should we play soccer?
You have 20,000 people watching the game and only 22 playing.
All of the 20,000 should go down in the field and play.
You just watching soccer you're not playing it.
And people think that they're active and they are into recreation and all what it is, it's watching,
they aren't really doing anything.
But it is these types of recreational forms that served Jihad(جهاد) and should be promoted among the Ummah(امة).
Uqba(عقبة) said:
I heard from the messenger of Allah say:
This is a very important Hadith(حديث) and it is in Muslim(ألمسلم),
I heard the Messenger of Allah say:
You will conquer many lands and you will be safe and secure.
If that happens, don't fail to play with your arrows.
Rasool Allah ﷺ is speaking these words in times of difficulty.
So the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم their hands were on the trigger all the time.
They were ready, they were training.
Rasool Allah ﷺ is telling them about a time that will come when you will conquer the world,
and it will be very safe and secure, you will not fear
because in Madina, at any moment of the day or night, they could be ambushed.
And we know of some incidents when they have to rush out to the gateways to Madina, to see if anybody is attacking Madina.
So the hands were always on their arms.
وَدَّ الَّذينَ كَفَروا لَو تَغفُلونَ عَن أَسلِحَتِكُم وَأَمتِعَتِكُم فَيَميلونَ عَلَيكُم مَيلَةً واحِدَةً ۚ
The Kuffar(كفار) will desire, you put down your arms so that they can attack you.
فَيَميلونَ عَلَيكُم مَيلَةً واحِدَةً ۚ
Means a massive attack that will wipe you out.
So the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم were very careful and cautious.
Rasool Allah ﷺ is telling them that, the time will come when you will be very secure.
فلا يعجز احدكم ان يلهو بالسلح
You still need to practice these arts of war.
It is Ibadah(عبادة), it is a Ibadah(عبادة) that shouldn't be done, whether you are safe or unsafe.
It is part of the Muslim character, it is part of the Muslim man hood.
Atta Bin Rabah(عطاء بن رباح) said:
I saw Jabir Ibn Abdullah(جابربن عبدالله) and Jabir Ibn Umair Al-Ansari(جابربن عميرالانصاري) target shooting,
while one of them got bored and sat down.
The other told him I heard the Messenger of Allah say,
everything that is not remembrance of Allah is in vain except four things,
your walking between your targets,
training your horse,
playing with your wife,
and swimming practice or practicing swimming.
And this is in An-Nasae(ألنسائ) and Tabrani(طبراني),
so here it adds to the other three swimming.
The way they used to target shoot, is that they would set two targets,
they would set two targets,
they will stand next to one target and fire the arrows and the other one.
And then they would walk between the two targets, they would go and pick up their arrows
and stand here and fire the first.
So this is called,
ألمشي بين الغرظين
Walking between the two targets, that walking in itself is Ibadah(عبادة) of Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ.
The scholars have stated that it is recommended to target shoot between two targets on opposite sides.
So you stand next to one and shoot at the other
and then walk towards the other one, pick up the arrows and then shoot at the first one.
The author of Al-Mughni(ألمغني) stated that it is Sunnah(سنة) to shoot at two opposite facing targets.
Since this is how the Sahabah(صحابه) used to practice.
It is narrated that the Messenger of Allah said:
Between the two targets is a garden of paradise.
Abu Usman Al-Mahdi(أبوعثمان ألمهدي) said:
We received a letter from Umar(عُمَر) when we were with Uqbah Bin Farqad(عقبة بن فرقد) in Azerbaijan.
Now, this is a Khalifah(خليفه).
Alright!
And these are military generals.
You know, usually military generals tend to live in mansions and protected compounds
and they have all the servants even though war is going on.
Some of them lead a very luxurious life in the battlefield, these are Generals.
So this is the leadership of the army.
Look at what Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمرابن الخطاب) is telling them,
wear the dress of your father,
now by the way, when I said that military generals are leading luxurious life, that's the tradition.
I'm not referring to this case here.
I just wanted you to contrast between the two.
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمرابن الخطاب) is saying:
Wear the dress of your father Ismail(اِسْماعِيْل).
The dress of Ismail عليه السّلام was two pieces of cloth, Izar(إزار) and is something to wrap the top, very simple.
And beware of the luxury and the clothes of the non Muslims.
Spend time under the sun since it is the bath of the Arabs.
Stand under the sun, take a shower under the sun.
Be rough, be coarse and be prepared.
Sometimes walk barefoot and jump over horseback rather than climb them.
Shoot targets and walk between them.
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمرابن الخطاب) is raising up in military people.
The whole nation is raised up on military standards.
You walk barefoot! Why do you have to walk barefoot, when you have shoes.?
You walking barefoot to train yourself
and then he saying you dress in the clothes of Ismail(اِسْماعِيْل)
and stay away from the luxury of the clothes of the non Muslims.
Because a Sahabah(صحابه) came from a naturally difficult background.
In the time of Jahiliyyah(جَاهلِيَّة), they had a rough lifestyle.
Umar Ibn Al-Khattab(عمرابن الخطاب) wants that to carry on, he doesn't want him to get spoiled.
Carry on living the way of your forefathers
and he says be rough be coarse and be prepared.
Amr Bin Absa(عمروبن عبسة) said:
We were laying siege to At-Taef(اَلطَّائِف) and I heard the Messenger of Allah say,
whoever shoots an arrow in the sake of Allah, will be rewarded like the one who has freed the slave.
Amr(عمرو) said: I shot 16 arrows on that day.
This is in Al Hakim(ألحَاكِم), An-Nasae(ألنسائي), At-Tirmidhi(ألتِّرمِذِيْ), Abu Daud(أبوداؤد).
And I mean, with an AK47 only Allah knows how man slaves could free.
Subhaan Allah(سبحان الله)
Ka'ab(كعب) Ibn Murrah(كعب إبن مُرَّة) said:
I heard Messenger of Allah say: Whoever reaches with his arrow a target among the enemy,
Allah will raise him one level in Paradise,
Abdullah Bin An-Naham(عبدالله بن أنحام) said:
And what is a level like?
The Messenger of Allah said:
Don't think that the level is like the doorstep of your mother's house.
The distance between two levels is 100 years.
Amr Bin Absa(عمروبن عبسة) said: The Messenger of Allah said:
Whoever shoots an arrow regardless of whether it reaches the enemy or not will be like the one who freed a Muslims slave
and that would free him from hellfire.
This is Hasan(حسن) narrated by An-Nasae(ألنسائ).
Abu Umamah(ابوعمامة) narrated the Messenger of Allah said:
Whoever grows the gray hair in Islam, it will be light for him on the Day of Judgment.
And whoever shoots an arrow in the cause of Allah,
whether he hits or misses, will be like the one, who frees the slave from the descendants of Ismail(اِسْماعِيْل),
Tabrani(طبراني).
Utbah Ibn Abd As-Sulami(عتبة إبن عبدأسُلَمِي) narrated the Messenger of Allah told his companions:
Stand up and fight!
So a man stood up and shot an arrow the Messenger of Allah said:
This man is granted paradise,
Ibn Nuhas(إبن نُحاس) says,
in the past Hadith(حديث), of Amr Bin Absa(عمروبن عبسة) is an evidence
that shooting one arrow in the path of Allah saves that person from Hellfire, and Allah knows best.
The rewards are so big and so exaggerated,
that sometimes you just lose track of it and you can't even comprehend it anymore.
Too much!! Subhaan Allah(سُبْحَان الله).
Ibrahim Al-Tamimi(إبراهيم ألتيمي), narrates from his father that he said:
I have seen Hudhaifa(حذيفة) in Al-Madaen(ألمدائن), running between two targets with a bare top.
Now Hudhaifa Bin Yaman(حذيفة بن يمان) is in Al-Madaen(ألمدائن) and Al-Madaen(ألمدائن) is the capital of the Persian Empire.
So now, Hudhaifa Bin Yaman(حذيفة بن يمان) is one of the most important personalities in Persia.
A person in such situation would want to be formal in the way they dress,
in the way they act, the way they behave, the people they meet, because he is now a leader.
But he is target shooting, and he is running between the targets with the bare top,
Mujahid(مُجَاهِد) said: I've seen Abdullah Ibn Umar(عبدالله ابن عمر) running between his two targets and he was saying,
How can I achieve it? How can I achieve it?
And it is Sahih(صحيح),
How can I achieve it refers to martyrdom, since that was their aspiration,
although it could possibly be referring to the targets, how can I achieve it? How can I succeed?
Now to comment on what I said about when I said about Hudhaifa(حذيفة), the way he was acting,
look at what Ibn Nuhas(إبن نُحاس), says, he said:
This shows you the attention the companions gave to target shooting.
They used to celebrate target shooting,
and they were active in it to the extent that one of them would not even walk between the two targets but would run,
in order to train themselves.
This was their practice and they were the sons and stars of guidance,
and the kings of this world and the next.
What they did was the best of actions.
It is enough that Allah said about them.
مُحَمَّدٌ رَسولُ اللَّهِ ۚ
وَالَّذينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدّاءُ عَلَى الكُفّارِ رُحَماءُ بَينَهُم ۖ
تَراهُم رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبتَغونَ فَضلًا مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضوانًا ۖ
سيماهُم في وُجوهِهِم مِن أَثَرِ السُّجودِ ۚ
Muhammad(محمد) is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers,
merciful among themselves.
You see them bowing and prostrating, seeking bounty from Allah and His pleasure.
Their mark is on their faces from the traces of prostration.
Therefore, the target shooters, should leave behind formalities while practicing
and should be laid back with their brothers, who were in practice.
The intentions should be for Allah and seeking His reward.
And should realize that what they're doing is one of the greatest acts of worship
and not merely a form of entertainment or sport.
They should thank Allah for giving them health and strength to practice
and should praise Allah for making it beloved to them.
It is acceptable to laugh and play with your brother, while practicing
in fact it is recommended since it makes target shooting dearer to you.
Bilal Bin Saad(بلال بن سعد) said:
I have seen men, who would run between their targets and joke with each other.
But when night arrives they would turn into monks.
Bilal(بلال) was one of them.
He was one of the great scholars of At-Taba'een(ألتابعين) and one of their worshipers,
he was among the ones, who would pray a 1000s Rak'ah(ركعة) per night.
Shams-Ud-Din Al-Joziya(سمش الدين ألجوزية) stated in his book knighthood,
that Ibn Taymiyah(اِبْنِ تَيْمِيَّه) said:
It is narrated that some men were target shooting, when it was told to the Messenger of Allah, it's time for prayers,
he said: They are in prayers.
So he considered that their target shooting is equivalent to praying.
If I can relate this to what I was saying yesterday,
in some countries, you don't have access to ranges.
So you need to look at it that if you are deprived from all of this Ajr(أجْر), you want to make it up, you must make it up.
And the way, it could be, you could make it up as by the Jihad Bil Maal(جهاد بالمال),
by exercising and doing other forms of recreation.
And Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ rewards for the intention as long as a person is doing the best that they could.
But the fact that the person cannot actually practice target shooting does not mean that that's it, you just give up.
Do the best, and you push it to the limits of what is possible.
And then you expect to Allahعَزَّوَجَلْ to give you the Ajr(أجْر), according to your Niyyah(نية).
Rules of betting on racing and target shooting.
Now, these rules, they seem complicated, or we can't really relate to them.
Don't be worried about it, I just translated this to sole purpose of showing how the early Muslims gave attention to this,
to the extent that they have all of these elaborate rules about it.
Ibn Nuhas(إبن نُحاس) says:
When I've seen that some who practice horseback racing,
and target shooting are involved in financial dealings that are inappropriate for Shariah(شريعة) standpoint,
I decided to write a brief chapter on the rules that govern racing and target shooting.
The first of our scholars to write an entire book on the subject is Imam Shafie(إمام شافعي),
and that's why people of our Madh'hab(مذهب) are the most elaborate on the topic.
Then come the followers of Imam Ahmad(اِمَامْ اَحْمَدْ) since he was a student of Imam Shafie(إمام شافعي)
and a follower of his Sunnah(سنة) in that
I bridged it, the chapter is quite long, but this is a bridged version of it.
RACING.
It is the consensus of the scholars of the Ummah(امة)
that competitions in horse racing and target shooting are not only allowed, but are Sunnah(سنة),
and the one who participates in them would be rewarded as long as the intentions is to prepare for the Jihad(جهاد).
Rules of betting on target race on horseback racing.
Number one, race needs to involve an animal that could be used in Jihad(جهاد), such as a horse or a camel,
as is the consensus of the scholars, and in mules, donkeys and elephants, according to our Madh'hab(مذهب).
So these must be animals that are used for Jihad(جهاد),
for example, you can't really have chicken racing or Beatles racing, or…
it has to be an animal that could be used for Jihad(جهاد).
And that's why there's a difference of opinion when it comes to mules, donkeys and elephants,
because some say that Muslims don't use them in Jihad(جهاد).
Number two, the existence of a clear starting and ending point.
Otherwise, the race is invalid.
Number three, the entire amount of money or at least most of it goes to the winner.
Number four, If the two racers themselves contribute the money
there needs to be a third person with them, this third person would get all the money if he wins,
but if they win, he gives them nothing.
The one who wins among the two would get the money contributed by both.
Number five, there needs to be a feasibility that any one of the races could win,
meaning it is not impossible for one of them to win due to disadvantage.
Otherwise the race is considered unfair, and it becomes invalid from a Shariah(شريعة) point of view.
Number six, the identification and agreement on the specific horses or camels participating prior to the race.
Number seven, the identification and agreement on the riders prior to the race.
Number eight, the distance of the race needs to be possible to finish.
Abdullah Ibn Umar(عبدالله ابن عمر) said:
The Messenger of Allah had the horses trained for racing run from Hafiyah(حافية) to Saniah Tul Wida(ثنية الوداع).
While he had the untrained horses raised from Saniah Tul Wida(ثنية الوداع) to the Masjid(مسجد) of Banu Zuraiq(بنوزريق).
The training of horses for racing at that time involved, among other things,
gradual reduction of their diet for them to become slimmer and more capable of running.
Sufian(سفيان) said: The distance between Hafiyah(حافية) and Saniah Tul Wida(ثنية الوداع), is five to six miles
and the distance between the Saniah Tul Wida(ثنية الوداع) and Masjid(مسجد) of Banu Zuraiq(بنوزريق) is one mile.
Number nine, the agreement on the amount of the betting money.
Number 10, The avoidance of conditions that invalidate the contract.
The rules of betting on target shooting.
Number one, the existence of a third person if both archers contribute the money.
Number two, the similarity of the equipment used for example,
it is not allowed for one party to use a bow and arrow while the other is using a spear.
Number three, the target needs not to be impossible to strike nor too easy.
But should it be possible to strike.
Number four, all of the following needs to be specified before the competition,
the amount of money contributed to the betting.
The number of shots to be fired,
the distance in which to shoot from
and the order in which the participants to shoot.
Number five, the specifications of the two competitors prior to the competition.
Number six, the starting position needs to be specified and it should be equal for both.
The warning against whoever learns, shooting and then deserts it.
Fakheem Al Lakhvi(فخيم ألَكْوي), told Uqbah Bin Amir(عقبة بن عامر),
you are running between these two targets and you are at this old age.
Uqbah(عقبة) said:
If it wasn't for some words, I heard from the Messenger of Allah, I wouldn't have gone through this.
The narrator asked what those words were, he said:
Whoever learns target shooting and then abandons it, is not one of us,
or he said: Has committed the sin.
And this is in Sahih Muslim(صحيح ألمسلم).
Ibn Nuhas(إبن نُحاس) says:
Some of the scholars are of the opinion that learning target shooting and then abandoning it,
is one of the major sins
based on the rule that whenever the Messenger of Allah says:
He is not one of us, or a statement similar to that,
it is referring to a major sin,
and the scholars says that whatever carries the threat of Hellfire in Qur'an,
or whenever Rasool Allah ﷺ says in the Hadith(حديث) that he doesn't belong to us.
That is a major sin.
The virtues of swords,
Allah says:
فَإِذا قَضَيتُمُ الصَّلاةَ فَاذكُرُوا اللَّهَ قِيامًا وَقُعودًا وَعَلىٰ جُنوبِكُم ۚ
فَإِذَا اطمَأنَنتُم فَأَقيمُوا الصَّلاةَ ۚ إِنَّ الصَّلاةَ كانَت عَلَى المُؤمِنينَ كِتابًا مَوقوتًا۞
And let them carry their arms and that’s in An-Nisa(ألنساء) verse 103.
Allah says:
وَأَعِدّوا لَهُم مَا استَطَعتُم مِن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِباطِ الخَيلِ تُرهِبونَ بِهِ عَدُوَّ اللَّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُم
وَعَدُوَّكُم وَآخَرينَ مِن دونِهِم لا تَعلَمونَهُمُ اللَّهُ يَعلَمُهُم ۚ
وَما تُنفِقوا مِن شَيءٍ في سَبيلِ اللَّهِ يُوَفَّ إِلَيكُم وَأَنتُم لا تُظلَمونَ۞
And prepare against them, whatever you are able to power.
Al-Anfal(ألأنفال) Verse 60.
Rasool Allah ﷺ said:
I was sent right before the final hour with the sword, until Allah is worshipped with no associates.
بعثت بين يدي الساعة بالسيف،
And my provisions are under the shade of my spear,
وجعل رزقي تحت ظل رمحي
And humility is the destiny of whoever goes against me.
And whoever imitates the people, is one of them.
And this is in the Musnad Imam Ahmad(مسنداِمَامْ اَحْمَدْ),
Rasool Allah ﷺ is a comprehensive personality.
So what happens is that Islamic ideology that are not comprehensive
tend to look at Rasool Allah ﷺ from a specific angle,
and they block out everything else.
And you could find in Rasool Allah ﷺ different aspects to his personality, but they all complement each other.
You would find some times stressing on the point that Rasool Allah ﷺ came to bring peace
and that he was a peaceful man and that Islam is religion of peace.
But Rasool Allah ﷺ also there's another side to his personality,
and that is that he was carrying his sword Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله), until he died.
بعثت بالسيف بين يدي الساعة
And Rasool Allah ﷺ is saying:
He didn't say I was sent with the olive of branch.
He said: I was sent with sword.
This tells you something about the personality of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
And then Rasool Allah ﷺ says:
وجعل رزقي تحت ظل رمحي
We always say that Rasool Allah ﷺ was a shepherd and then he was a businessman.
That was in Makkah, but later on his Rizq(رزق) was totally from Ghanaem(غنائم).
And this is the greatest avenue of Rizq(رزق) and it is the most Halal(حلال).
Because it was the way of Rasool Allah ﷺ.
وجعل رزقي تحت ظل رمحي
My Rizq(رزق) comes from beneath my spear that's how I make a living.
While you find that other forms of Rizq(رزق), for example what is mentioned in the Hadith(حديث).
إذا تبايعتم بالعِينةِ وأخذتم أذنابَ البقرِ ورضيتم بالزرعِ
These are other forms of Rizq(رزق), that are Halal(حلال).
Unless one would follow the opinion that Eena(عينة) is not,
but the other two are, following the tails of cows and you're shepherd.
وشغلتم بالزرعِ
You're busy with agriculture, agriculture is also Halal(حلال).
But in this Hadith(حديث) it is looked down upon.
If the ones in those professions have left Jihad(جهاد) Fee-Sabeel-Lillah(فِي سَبيل الله).
So with the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم they weren't involved in any of the skilled work.
They weren't involved in any of the professions, the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم were leading the nations of world.
And their Rizq(رزق) would comes to Ghanaem(غنائم).
When it came to the other types of work like agriculture and pottery and paving the roads and whatever,
this wasn't something that Sahabah(صحابه) would do.
The Sahabah(صحابه) would fight in the battlefield and live off their swords.
That was the way of the Sahabah رضي الله عنهم.
They were not engineers or professors or doctors.
I am not saying anything against these professions, but we're talking about what the Sahabah(صحابه) were.
That was the way of the Sahabah(صحابه).
The best way to summarize the personality of Rasool Allah ﷺ is through his own words.
He said:
أنا نبي الرَّحمة، أنَا نَبِيُّ المَلْحَمة
I am the prophet of mercy, I am the prophet of war.
And he said:
أنِا ضحوك قتال
I am the smiling Prophet, but I'm also the one, who kills.
So, Rasool Allah ﷺ had that pleasant personality, soft personality, mercy, but his sword was very sharp.
Ibn Al-Qayyim(إبنِ ألقَيِّم) said: Imam Ahmad(اِمَامْ اَحْمَدْ) stated
that training with your spear in places where Jihad(جهاد) is needed is greater and reward than voluntary Salah(صلاة).
Put the right thing in the right place.
You know when Napoleon rolled into Egypt, some of the Shyookh(شيوخ) of the Turk,
they went into the Masjid(مسجد) and they started reading Bukhari(بخاريْ).
They said: Bukhari(بخاريْ) will save us from Napoleon,
reading Bukhari(بخاريْ) has his place and picking up your sword and going to fight has its place.
Put the right thing the right place, that is Hikmah(حكمة).
Hikmah(حكمة) is to do the right thing, the Right Place the right time, the right way.
Abdullah Ibn Abi Aofa(عبدالله إبن أبي ‘وفة ) narrated
that the Messenger of Allah was waiting for an enemy to attack but when the sun was setting, he said:
Don't desire meeting the enemy,
but when you do be firm, and realize that Paradise is beneath the shadow of the swords.
The Muslim is not trigger happy seeking fighting, love chaos. No!
لا تتمنو لِقَا ألعدو
Don't ask for it. Don't ask for trouble. But when it comes you need to be fair.
Abu Bakr Bin Musa(ابوبكر بن أبي موسى) said: I heard my father say,
Paradise is beneath the shadow of swords.!
A man dressed in poor clothes stood up and said: O Abu Musa(أبوموسى).
Did you hear that from the Messenger of Allah? He said: Yes!
The man went back to his companions and gave them his Salam(سلام)
then he drew out his sword broke his sheath and went on to fight, until he was killed.
This is in Sahih Muslim(صحيح ألمسلم).
صَلَّى الله عَلى سَيَّدِنَا محمد وَعَلى اَلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ
Question!
It's not specific to archery, it is general to every form of shooting that is involved in Jihad(جهاد).
Therefore that would exclude darts because darts is more of a thing for casinos or bars, it is not in the battle field.
Question!
Question is, is there anything in the Hadith(حديث) of Rasool Allah ﷺ that indicates that
towards the end of time we'll be heading back towards horseback and arrows and swords.
The Ahadith(احاديث) of Rasool Allah ﷺ that talk about the end of time mentioned swords, spears, horses, bows and Arrows.
So the Scholars had two views.
One view is that there's literal towards the end of time,
the time of Malahim(ملاحم), the time of fittan(فتن) people will be using swords, arrows, spears, riding horses.
So that's one view now, how could we understand this view.
There must be a reason that would lead the people into using these old forms of weaponry.
People not going to voluntarily drop an AK 47 and pick up a bow and arrow.
The only reason why they would do that is because of the unavailability of anything else.
And this has led to some try to find what could go wrong to end up leading to that happening.
So they would say like a an asteroid might hit the Earth and then you'll ends up losing Technology,
or there would be a nuclear disaster around the world that would just wipe out all forms of technology,
or the world will run out of oil, so people end up using horses.
This is how they justify that.
These are the ones who take the wording of this specific Ahadith(احاديث) to be literal.
The other opinion is that these words are metaphorical.
The sword stands for the rifle, the horse stands for the tank or the armored vehicle or whatever.
And the ones, who would argue for this position would say that,
let's even assume that an asteroid hit the world or there was a nuclear war or whatever.
Science is cumulative, and it's in the brains of men and you cannot wipe that out.
Even if, let's say all of these weapons are destroyed the capability of manufacturing them again is there.
Humanity progresses and it doesn't lose what it had.
They build upon what they had.
And they would say that the reason why the Rasool Allah ﷺ used, sword, horse, bow and arrow in the Hadith(حديث)
because Rasool Allah ﷺ.
كان يخاطب الناس على قدر عقول هم
Rasool Allah ﷺ was speaking to the people according to their level of understanding,
that's number one.
Number two,
the vocabulary of the language doesn't include the words for these modern inventions because language is set by man.
A man can only give a name to something that he knows.
I mean you can't give a name to some to something that you have never experienced or seen in your life.
So there are limitations in language that that force the usage of some words to mean something else.
And to me this appears to be a stronger opinion.
Not to say that horses would never be used I mean even now in the 21st century there is a use for horses
and mules and donkeys I mean there are some mountains where there is no way a motorized vehicle could go up,
the only way is to use a mule or horse.
Question!
I would say this is a skill that is so important it's worth traveling specifically for it.
A person cannot do it it's worth traveling just for this to learn.
Because as we've seen it's such an important skill and it's such an important Ibadah(عبادة).
So, something that every Muslim male needs to possess.
It's worth a few 1000 pounds or whatever all the time.
Just like you make time for Hajj(حَجْ) or Umrah(عمرة), you need time for this.
Let me say something Yani(يعني). It is it is rifle shooting that you want to learn more than gun more than gun
because the gun tends to be more of a personal protective protection within a few meters
that's about it it's not really a weapon of Jihad(جهاد), this is a rifle.
Question! If you learn on some forms of weaponry and then you forget them
because they are unavailable, you don't have access to them. Is there a sin in that?
See with parachute jumping you need to have a plan for that.
And since none of brothers have a planes, maybe it's not very relevant skill.
However, this wind whatever, gliding is maybe a skill that would be better because it might have some use.
Like Al-Bara Bin Malik(ألبراء بن مالك), gliding over the enemy.
See gliding, rock climbing, motorcycle riding, even surfing,
surfing, as long as one stays away from the California Florida beaches and scuba diving.
These are all skills that could be beneficial.
Question!
Add to that these countries tend to be the center of the world when it comes to these goals.
This is where it is, this is where you'd find. You're not gonna find this anywhere else.
So Yani(يعني) there's so much that could be done by the western Muslim.
Allah Alam(الله أعلم).
Let's close, In Sha Allah(إنْ شاءالله).