After a long year of studying and going through all kinds of different shifts and changes from being at school to going online to coming back to school and going back online and coming back again… It has been a year with many interruptions. These interruptions are often a part of our life. Allah (SWT) is teaching us that not everything goes the way we plan or the way we are expecting it, just like there were many unexpected events in the time of the prophet (SAW). On the sixth year after Hijrah, the prophet (SAW) saw a dream that he and his companions are entering into Bayt-Allah in the state of Ihram and are coming out of their Ihram after performing Umrah, so when he shared this with his companions, they felt that it was a sure sign that they would be allowed to perform Umrah, so many years since they had seen Bayt-Allah. One of, if not the hardest, thing about them leaving Makkah was that they had to leave the Ka’bah that they had become so attached to, and since the time of Ibrahim (AS), the progeny of Ibrahim (AS) were so attached to the Ka’bah, even though they had become Mushriks over time. The Ka’bah was a thing that everyone held as a sacred monument, and it could not be violated. They would give their lives to protect it, and everyone knew of the story of Abraha and how Allah (SWT) destroyed his army and elephants. So, the Ka’bah was embedded in their hearts. After being away for so many years, when they saw that they had an opportunity to go to Makkah, everyone started getting ready and they started going.
Now, they are not coming with the intention of fighting anyone, as they were in their Ihram, but they were stopped, and the sahaba that were coming by Tan’eem, where masjid Aisha is, were ambushed, and 70 sahaba were killed. The prophet (SAW) and his companions were stopped and told that they could not go any futher. It was a very tense and extreme moment for both sides; here the Muslims had already come with their Ihrams to Bayt-Allah with the expectation that they will perform Umrah and there was no other idea in their minds, and the Ka’bah was open to anyone, irrespective of who they were, because it had never belonged to anyone. Here, these people were stopping the Muslims from going. It could have very quickly turned into a full-fledged battle, but the prophet (SAW) said, “I am going to give you one chance to make peace, and if you do not, then there will be bloodshed.” At first, they acted arrogantly, but after some thought, they had realized that they were losing wars and battles, so they decided to try this peace treaty on their terms. They agreed to the peace treaty, but it seemed one-sided; it seemed to only be in support of Makkah and not of the Muslims, because if someone defected from Madinah to Makkah, like a Muslim decided to move back to Makkah and live amongst the Quraysh, then the Quraysh would not return them to Madinah, but if someone defected from Makkah to Madinah, the people of Madinah would have to send them back. And so, there were all these terms and conditions, and the prophet (SAW) agreed to them; ultimately, the peace treaty was formed, and another one of the terms that were going against the Muslims at that time was that the Muslims would not be able to perform Umrah that year. After making the preparation and reaching Makkah, they would not be able to perform Umrah that year, and they could come and stay only for three days, without carrying any weapons except in their luggage for the journey. The sahaba (RA) were disturbed and heartbroken by this. Some of them became extremely frustrated. In the meantime, Allah (SWT) is revealing verses talking of open victory, to which the sahaba wonder, “What victory is this? We came all the way here, traveling through this desert in these conditions with so much desire in our heart to see Bayt-Allah and we were sent back. From now on, our people have no protection, and people who accept Islam in Makkah, even if they want to reach us, are not able to come to us, and if someone from our side goes there, they will not send them back. It looks like we are losing on all fronts and we can not even do Umrah this year.” They were questioning each other, “Is this really a victory?” Some approached the prophet (SAW) and Abu Bakr (RA) who made them content, and they stood firm in whatever Allah (SWT)’s decree was. Over time, the victory of this treaty was revealed; that more people accepted Islam within that short period of time in all of the previous years up till then. Thousands of people accepted Islam from all over. Why? Because all of a sudden, because of this treaty, people who wanted to accept Islam and wanted to migrate to Madinah were now able to and were now able to express their desire to become Muslim. Before this, there was no safety for them, and if they were to come, they would have been attacked. There was now an environment of peace. This could not have been seen at that time and at that heated moment. Sometimes, to be content with the decree of Allah (SWT) and to look for the wisdom in what Allah (SWT) is the safest and wisest option. It is not the easiest, and probably the most difficult, but it is always the wisest.
Subhanallah, I was just reading a letter from an elder where he was talking about an interpretation of a dream that he asked our sheikh, Yusuf Rahimuhullah, saying, “I am seeing dead pigeons everywhere.” This was in 2018. This man, a pious man, approaches the sheikh saying this, and saying, “I was so disturbed. Wherever I looked, there was dead pigeons. What could this dream mean?” So, the sheikh told him that there have been different trials that have come on the Ummah, and people have lost lives from wars, battles and bloodshed, but very soon there is going to be a trial in which lives would be lost, there will be widespread death without any of the causes that you have been seeing before. It would not be due to political struggle or wars, or even people killing people; this would be widespread death. May Allah (SWT) protect the Ummah. He gave this interpretation and passed away, and soon after he passed away, this pandemic broke out all around the world. The people found out that this is what his interpretation was, and how correct it was. So, we ask Allah (SWT) to protect us and our families from every type of harm and vice; our year is coming to and end, and what really matters is how we end it and what our standing with Allah (SWT) is. Everyone has to see this for themselves. If we have made mistakes, we should repent to Allah (SWT), and if we have done good things, we should ask Allah (SWT) to accept them and bless them and give us the ability to do more, and InshaAllah, tomorrow if Allah wills, we will have a more detailed talk about this.
