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Give the Road its Right

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

31 October 2014 Burton, Michigan

Jumu`ah Khutbah at As-Siddiq Mosque

Prophet (s) Fasted `Ashoora

O Muslims, brothers and mu'mins! This Friday is another Friday you are adding to your life. Inshaa-Allah it is a Friday to forgive all our sins, because everyone did something (bad) and he has sins and whether you know it or not, there are angels who can see it. This coming Monday or Tuesday is 10th Muharram.

في رواية لمسلم عن ابن عباس – رضي الله عنهما - أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قدم المدينة . فوجد اليهود صياماً يوم عاشوراء . فقال لهم رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : ما هذا اليوم الذي تصومونه ؟ فقالوا : هذا يوم عظيم . أنجى الله فيه موسى وقومه . وغرق فرعون وقومه . فصامه موسى شكراً . فنحن نصومه . فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : " فنحن أحق وأولى بموسى منكم " فصامه رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم . وأمر بصيامه

Ibn `Abbas (r) reported that the Prophet (s) arrived in Medina and found the Jews observing fast on the day of `Ashoora. The Prophet (s) said to them: “What is the (significance) of this day that you observe fast on it?” They said: “It is the day of great (significance) when Allah delivered Moses and his people, and drowned the Pharaoh and his people, and Moses observed fast out of gratitude and we also observe it.” Upon this the Messenger of Allah (s) said: “We have more right, and we have a closer connection with Moses than you have; so Allah's Messenger (s) observed fast (on the day of `Ashoora), and gave orders that it should be observed.” (Muslim)

When Prophet (s) entered Madinat al-Munawarrah he saw the Jews fasting that day. He asked why the Jews are fasting? They said, “Yaa Rasoolullah, it is the day that Allah saved Sayyidina Musa (a) from Fir`aun.” Prophet (s) said, “Nahnu ahaqq bi Musa minhum, we have more right over Musa than them”, which means, “We accept Sayyidina Musa (a) more than them.” If you don't accept Sayyidina Musa (a) or Sayyidina `Isa (a) you are not Muslim as we have to believe in and accept them, and we believe Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is Khatm ar-Rusul (s) and we have to believe in all other prophets. So Prophet (s) fasted that day and told the Sahaabah (r) to fast that day. It is also mentioned in different instances or riwaya, narrations, that Prophet used to fast that day on `Ashoora, the 10th of Muharram when he was in Mecca even before he migrated, because on that day Allah (swt) has forgiven Sayyidina Adam (a) from eating from the Tree. On that day, Allah saved Sayyidina Nuh (a) from the Flood, and Allah (swt) saved Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) from the fire of Nimrod, and Allah saved Sayyidina Musa (a) from Fir'aun and Allah raised Sayyidina `Isa (a) to the First Paradise.

So that day, as Prophet (s) mentioned in another hadith, anyone who fasts on the 10th, Allah forgives his sins from the past year. And the Prophet (s) also said, “If Allah gives me life, in the next year I will fast the 9th and 10th of Muharram,” but he didn't make it an order because when Allah gave Ramadan it abrogated fasting `Ashoora, it was no longer like an order or obligation, but it is recommended to fast, if you fast it is okay, if you don’t fast, it is still okay. It is coming on Monday, so people can fast Sunday and Monday and in some countries 10th Muharram is Tuesday, so you can do as you like as fasting is according to our intention.

Prophet (s) Ordered Us to Avoid Eating and Drinking on the Street

Fourteen-hundred years ago, Prophet (s) taught the Sahaabah (r) the disciple of how to behave on the streets (in public). Today you see many Muslims sitting on streets in coffee shops or outside restaurants, is it not? So what is the hadith on that? Prophet (s) said, “Iyyakum wa ‘l-juloosa bi ’t-turuqaat, I am warning you from using the street to sit and discuss problems or to socialize.”

أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏"‏ إِيَّاكُمْ وَالْجُلُوسَ بِالطُّرُقَاتِ ‏"‏‏.‏ فَقَالُوا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا لَنَا مِنْ مَجَالِسِنَا بُدٌّ نَتَحَدَّثُ فِيهَا‏.‏ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ إِذَا أَبَيْتُمْ إِلاَّ الْمَجْلِسَ فَأَعْطُوا الطَّرِيقَ حَقَّهُ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالُوا وَمَا حَقُّ الطَّرِيقِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ قَالَ ‏"‏ غَضُّ الْبَصَرِ، وَكَفُّ الأَذَى، وَرَدُّ السَّلاَمِ، وَالأَمْرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْىُ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ ‏"‏‏.‏

The Prophet (s) said, "Beware! Avoid sitting on the roads." They said, "Yaa Rasoolullah! We can't help sitting (on the roads) as these are (our places) where we have talks." The Prophet (s) said, "lf you refuse but to sit, then pay the road its right." They said, "What is the right of the road, yaa Rasoolullah?" He said, "Lowering your gaze, refraining from harming others, returning the greeting, and enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil." (Narrated Abu Sa`eed Al-Khudree, Bukhari 79:3)

They did not accept. Also, Allah (swt) said:

وَمَا آتَاكُمُ الرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَاكُمْ عَنْهُ فَانتَهُوا

wa maa aataakumu ’r-rasoola fa-khudoohu wa nahaakum `anhu fantahoo.

Leave what Prophet (s) forbade and take what he ordered. (Surat al-Hashr, 59:7)

Whatever Prophet (s) gives, don’t question it! Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) never questioned. When Sayyidina Muhammad (s) went to Mi`raaj, the first one to believe with no question was Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. Sayyidina `Umar did not say, “I don’t believe,” because he believed Prophet (s), but he had some concern, he didn't understand it. He came to Sayyidina Abu Bakr (r) asking, “Yaa Aba Bakr, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) said he went to Mi`raaj and came back yet his mattress was still warm.”

What did Abu Bakr say? Two words,“Sadaqta, yaa Rasoolullah!” There were no questions, “What Prophet (s) said it is the truth!”

That is why you don't find any question in Holy Qur’an from Prophet (s) to Allah (swt), although Sayyidina Musa (a) asked a lot of questions as wisdom for us (to learn from the answers). So that Sahaabi (r) who was present there at that time asked this question for the Ummah to learn. Prophet (s) is prohibiting us to sit on sidewalks where in summer the restaurants serve food outside. He (s) said, “I am warning you not to do that. Iyyakum wa ‘l-juloosa bi ’t-turuqaat. Beware! Avoid sitting on the roads.”

He said, “We cannot cancel this habit we are accustomed to that we have to sit and socialize.” They were trying to ask a question and Prophet (s) lowered the order, he cancelled the warning. Then he said, fa idhaa abaytum illa ’l-majlisa fa`atoo at-tareeqa haqqahu, “If you refuse to listen to what I said, to not sit on the sidewalk, then give the right discipline for where you are sitting.”

I am also speaking to viewers on the Internet. It is a Muslim custom to sit and eat on the streets, and Prophet (s) said you cannot, it is not allowed, because there are poor people who have nothing to eat and they will see it and get jealous and that food will be filled with negative energy that will affect you, especially with what we never saw much before, autism. We never heard about it before, just a little bit here or there, but now I am seeing it everywhere I go, and people come and ask for a du`a for autism, because this is from the negative energy from those around us. So make sure of who is around you, don’t sit with just any kind of people.

Prophet (s) said, “If you really insist on sitting on the side of streets (sidewalks, patios, parking lots), then give the street its right.

They asked, “What is the good manner to give to the street?”

What do you do first when you are sitting and someone passes? You look at him, it is not? First you look and it might be haraam; it might be the way she or he dresses that makes you look and that is not accepted. According to hadith, the first look is for you but the second look is not for you; an involuntary look is for you but not the second look, as you insist on looking and that is a sin.

Rights of the Street According to Hadith

So Prophet (s) said these are the rights of the street we must uphold:

1. Ghaddu ’l-basar, Look down, lower your gaze, do not look at people going right or left as it is not your business. So if you insist on sitting on the street, that is its first right.

2. Wa kafu ’l-`adaa, sitting with people and backbiting others is not accepted; don't use sitting on the streets to backbite.

3. Wa radu ’s-salaam. If you sit on the street you expect salaam. You must say, “wa `alaykum as-salaam,” and then invite them, then whoever sits with you, advise them regarding what is prohibited and what is good to follow. This hadith is narrated by Bukhari.

Let us look at ourselves; do we follow what Prophet (s) said? No. So we have to discipline ourselves wherever we are sitting on streets to call people for good and prohibit what is bad and telling people not to backbite each other, because as Allah said in the Holy Qur’an, if you backbite you are going to regret. So what are ayaat al-munaafiq, the signs of a hypocrite? Because on the streets, unfortunately, people speak and backbite.

The Signs of a Hypocrite as Told by Prophet

آيَةُ الْمُنَافِقِ ثَلاثٌ : إِذَا حَدَّثَ كَذَبَ , وَإِذَا وَعَدَ أَخْلَفَ , وَإِذَا اؤْتُمِنَ خَانَ

Aayatu ’l-munaafiqu thalaatha: idhaa haddatha kadhab, wa idhaa wa`ada akhlaf, wa idhaa ‘tumina khaan.

The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, and when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is charged with a trust, he deceives. (Bukhari)

The signs of the hypocrite are three:

1. If he talks, he lies, he makes it up (invents what he says), idhaa haddatha kadhab. We have to try when we speak that we always speak the best, to praise everyone, not to lower and disrespect them or bring false stories against them and throw (spread) it everywhere.

2. If he promises, “I will do this and this”, he does the opposite, he breaks his promise, that is a hypocrite.

3. Wa idhaa ‘tumina khaan. If you trust him on some issues he betrays you, he does not keep his good manners with you.

We have to be very careful. First, we must not lie and second, we must not break our promises and third, we must not betray our trusts. May Allah (swt) keep us away from the tongues of munafiqeen. This is for all Muslims; we have to tell ourselves to follow that way as Prophet (s) said:

أفضل الجهاد كلمة عدل عند سلطان جائر

Afdal al-jihad kalimatu `adlin `inda sultaanin jaa'ir (in another version, aw kalimat al-haqq).

The best jihad is a word of justice (or a word of truth) before a tyrannical king. ( Abi Sa`eed al-Khudree)

The best is to say the truth in front of a tyrant, to stand up for justice and truth, and don't just be a chameleon (that changes color according to its surroundings, meaning, don’t forget your pledge, your commitment). No, you have to stand up and speak Haqq. The most important person to stand up to is yourself; leave everyone else, fix yourself first, to stand up for the truth and say what is wrong.

May Allah (swt) bless us with blessings that He gave Prophet (s).

[Du`a.]

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