SPEAK TO PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THEIR LEVEL

Rafi' bin Amr At-Tha'i was a thief.

He was the type of thief who would raid caravans alone.

You had gangs/groups that would attack caravans; and then you had these lonely figures who would do their own thing; They don't need any gangs, they would just attack on their own. They have enough confidence in themselves to do it by themselves.

Rafi' bin Amr was one of these characters, who would go on his own; he is his own army, and he would go and raid caravans.

This (Rafi') was the best -guide- that the army of Islam could find at the time (in the context of this story).

Rafi' bin Amr was the best guide; for he knows his way around the path of the desert very well. — Because that's his job.

So the army of Islam hired Rafi' to take them around. So Rafi' spent time with this Muslim army. And Rafi' was quite impressed with what he saw.

And he narrates this following story himself:

I saw this man — who had this cloth on; Whenever he is riding, he would hold the cloth with a pin; and then whenever he sits down, he would take out that pin and take off the cloth. (Who he meant by that is Abu Bakr As-Siddiq r.a.)

So I went to him and said, "O you, the one with the pin (Abu Bakr). I can see on you some marks of intelligence. And I'm choosing you out of all of the people, coz I have a question for you".

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq says, "What do you want?"

Rafi' said, "I want you to teach me something, so I can be like you. BUT DON'T MAKE IT LONG because then I'm gonna forget."

Hhhh. I think he meets the profile of a thief. Not interested in a lot of education. Hhhh.

~Give me something brief and fast, I wanna be like you. But make it easy~

So Abu Bakr As-Siddiq made it as easy as he could.

Abu Bakr said, "Do you remember that your hand has five fingers?". Hhhh.

Rafi' said, "Yes, I do".

Abu Bakr said, "Then remember this:

1. The first finger. أشهـد أن لا إله الا الله وأشهـد أن محمد رسـول الله
2. The second finger. You pray five times a day.
3. The third finger. You pay zakah if you have money.
4. The fourth finger. You fast in the month of Ramadhan.
5. The fifth finger. You make haj to the House of Allah.

Did you remember that?"

Rafi' said, "Yes".

Abu Bakr said, "Then I will add something else: "Never assume a position of authority, even over two people"".

Rafi' said, "We have given all position of authority to you, the settlers".

[A little background information]: In Arabia, the Bedouins used to have this respect for the settlers/people-of-the-urban-towns; And they would give them the authority.

And thus Rafi' said, "We don't take authority. You know that. The authority is for you, the urban people".

So Abu Bakr As-Siddiq said, "A time will come, when they will be so many positions of authority, that it will reach you and it will even reach the people who are below you. And when you are a leader among people, and there is any oppression that goes on, you will be asked about it on the Day of Judgement".

And what Abu Bakr As-Siddiq said came true: The Muslim Khilafah grew so fast and it expanded with a swift speed, that there were so many post that needed to be filled. And it reached the people like Rafi', and the people who are lower than him.

__________________________________________

Lessons from the conversation between Abu Bakr and Rafi' bin Amr At-Tha'i:

Number One

Speak to the poeple according to their level.

-This- is a thief. He didn't go to school. He has no education background. Don't give him Bukhari and tell him to memorize it; and don't tell him "you have to go on a syari'ah course for a few years and study 'ilm".

People have different capabilities.

Not everybody will become a great Sheikh and scholar. And not everybody will become an Imam.

Imagine if Abu Bakr As-Siddiq r.a. recite to this man Suratul Baqarah and told him to memorize it. He could barely remember the five fingers. That's it.

So with the gangsters and brothers from that background, take it easy with them.

Take it easy with them in your da'wah.

And Alhamdulillah. Some of these brothers turned out to be wonderful brothers when Allah guides them to the truth.

The spirit that they have is sometimes a spirit that you cannot find with the scholar. It happens that it's a rizq from Allah. I mean, Imam Ibn Hambal once he heard somebody speaking about Bishr Al-Hafi; People said, "Bishr Al-Hafi is not a scholar".

Bishr Al-Hafi wasn't a scholar in terms of memorizing a lot of Hadith; He's nothing to compare to Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal. But what did Imam Ibn Hambal said? Imam Ibn Hambal said, "He (Bishr Al-Hafi) already has the fruit of knowledge. Which is: The Fear of Allah".

What does the ayah say? إنما يخشى الله من عباده العلماء

"The ones who have fear of Allah, the scholars". [Qur'an, 35:28]

So Allah s.w.t. is saying that the fruit of knowledge is The Fear of Allah.

There is no benefit in knowledge that's not make you fear Allah.

If you have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don't fear Allah 'Azza wa Jal, then it's worthless.

Imam Ahmad Ibn Hambal's saying, "This man already has the fruit of the knowledge. Therefore, really in this situation (knowledge is important, but) Bishr Al Hafi is a scholar in that sense. He has The Fear of Allah 'Azza wa Jal.

[Back to the point]: Rasulullah s.a.w. would speak to people differently. And the sahabah understood that. Now Rasulullah s.a.w., when he's speaking to Ibn 'Abbas (even though he was a child, but because he had a mind of a scholar) Rasulullah s.a.w. would speak to him on a very high level. While a Bedouin would come to Rasulullah s.a.w., he would give Bedouins very brief orders that are easy to remember.

So you have to have hikmah in da'wah. Speak to the people according to their abilities.

Number Two

Be honest.

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq r.a. did not hold back anything. He said, "Don't be a leader".

And this is the first conversation he's having with the man. Abu Bakr doesn't even know him well.

—Don't be a leader—

Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, for some reason or another saw some things in this man that do not be fit position of authority, so he was very honest with that man. He told the man, "Don't be a leader".

So also when you see something wrong in your brother, correct them. It's fine. It's okay. Do it in a very nice way.

Berdakwah Sambil Menagih Dadah

I heard this story from Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki; And Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki heard this story from the guy in this story himself. So yeah, it's an authentic, true story alhamdulillah.

There's a brother from Canada (at the time, was a non-Muslim); He said that he started having interest in learning religion at a very early age; Around the age of 9. He started studying religion. That's quite early.

He said, but he was turned away from Islam because of a lesson that he was taught in school about Islam. He was shown some images that turned him away from Islam.

And then he said, he was going through some problems in his family. His father left; And his mother was on drugs. So he said he completely forgot about this issue of religion. Even though he had some early interest in it.

He said, and then he became a drug user; And then he was promoted to be a drug dealer, and he went to jail at the age of 14. So he had a miserable life.

He said, "later on, towards my later teenage years, after I came out of jail, I used to go to this park in Canada. It's in the center of the city. And that's where the drug addicts would usually congregate. And we would all smoke and use our drugs and you'd find needles all over and.... that's where we would all come together and get high."

He said, "So I went there, and I was sitting next to this guy who looked foreign, and I was smoking my dope and I saw something interesting."

He said, "The way that this guy next to me used to wrap his marijuana..." or...hasheesh or.. *whatever it was... I'm not very familiar with their specific terms*. He said "The way he used to wrap it was different. So that caught my eye. I asked him, [I see that the way you wrap your hasheesh (or hash) is different? Where are you from?]"

He (that guy) said, "I'm from Morocco".

He (Canadian guy) said, "So you must be a Muslim?"

He (Moroccan guy) said, "Yes. I am a Muslim".

He (Canadian guy) said, "Can you tell me something about Islam?"

Now he's remembering his early years of studying about religion.

He said, "so this Moroccan guy was going through the tenants of Islam and we were all smoking and we were very high and.... I mean... he's speaking and I'm just receiving all of that information and absorbing it, and we were both high."

"He's speaking very well and I'm understanding very well."

He said, "For 2 hours continuously, we were talking about Islam. Until we ran out of drugs. We had nothing left. And then we continued the conversation for another 2 hours. 4 hours in total."

And then he said, "Allah s.w.t. sent another person to sit next to us."

Subhaanallah, it was qadr of Allah.

: An Algerian person.

Who wasn't on drugs or anything. He was just there. He happened to be there.

He said, "Allah s.w.t. sent him (Algerian guy) to us to correct whatever mistakes that that person (Moroccan guy) would make."

You know, people have different understanding of Islam. So they will correct each other. And whenever one of them would mention something wrong, the other person would correct the false information.

He said, "We continued the conversation for 4 hours. After then I became Muslim."

He said, "Now, neither the Algerian or Moroccan person know that I became Muslim. Coz I left and then became Muslim on my own. And I stopped using drugs."

And Imam Awlaqi actually met him (that Canadian guy) and he (that Canadian guy) was doing da'wah at the time.

When he was telling us his story (there was a group of us), one of the brothers who were sitting and hearing the story, said a bad word about that Moroccan person, because of using drugs.

This Canadian Muslim brother; His face turned red, and he became very upset and angry. And he said, "Don't speak about him! Because I became Muslim through him! And every single thing that I do; My solah; My siam (fasting); My zakah; My zikr; Every single thing that I do, a copy of it will be deposited in his account."

Now, only Allah knows where that person is. He might still be in the park using drugs. He might be lost. And he never knows that in his account is solah, and siam, and zakah, they're all deposited and he knows no idea about it. He'll come on the Day of Judgement and see all of these and not know where it came from. "I was in those park using drugs. Where did all these good deeds come from?".

It all happened because of a few words that he said to a drug addict like himself. Now maybe he never knew that this person will become Muslim. Maybe he never intended it, he just, was conversing. Talking.

But he threw something good out there, and these are the fruits of it. So never belittle anything. Maybe there's a small thing that you would do here and there, and these would be the cause of your salvation on the Day of Judgement. While the big thing that you do; And the big projects; The things that you spend a lot of time on, wouldn't bear such a harvest.

And this is something that is in the hand of Allah, so you'll never know, therefore you should do whatever good you can. And leave it out there, just throw the seed and Allah s.w.t. will make them grow. But do not belittle anything.

ولو أن تلقى أخاك بوجهٍ حسن

"Even if it is as much as smiling in the face of your brother" - Al-Hadith.

Nouman Ali Khan Video Collection

Bunuh Diri

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 1, No.86]
Dari Abu Hurairah r.a., katanya Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Siapa yang bunuh diri dengan senjata tajam, maka senjata itu akan ditusuk-tusukkannya sendiri dengan tangannya ke perutnya di neraka untuk selama-lamanya; dan siapa yang bunuh diri dengan racun, maka dia akan meminumnya pula sedikit demi sedikit nanti di neraka, untuk selama-lamanya; dan siapa yang bunuh diri dengan menjatuhkan diri dari gunung, maka dia akan menjatuhkan dirinya pula nanti (berulang-ulang) ke neraka, untuk selama-lamanya."

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 1, No.88]
Dari Tsabit bin Dhahhak r.a., katanya Nabi s.a.w. bersabda: "Siapa yang bersumpah menurut cara suatu agama selain Islam, baik sumpahnya itu dusta mahupun sengaja, maka orang itu akan mengalami sumpahnya sendiri. "Siapa yang bunuh diri dengan suatu cara, Allah akan menyiksanya di neraka jahannam dengan cara itu pula."

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 1, No.89]
Dari Abu Hurairah r.a., katanya: "Kami ikut perang bersama-sama Rasulullah s.a.w. dalam perang Hunain. Rasulullah berkata kepada seorang lelaki yang mengaku Islam, "Orang ini penghuni neraka." Ketika kami berperang, orang itu pun ikut berperang dengan gagah berani, sehingga dia terluka. Maka dilaporkan orang hal itu kepada Rasulullah s.a.w., katanya: "Orang yang tadi Anda katakan penghuni neraka, ternyata dia berperang dengan gagah berani, dan sekarang dia tewas." Jawab Nabi s.a.w., "Dia ke neraka." Hampir saja sebahagian kaum muslimin menjadi ragu-ragu. Ketika mereka sedang dalam keadaan demikian, tiba-tiba diterima berita bahawa dia belum mati, tetapi luka parah. Apabila malam telah tiba, orang itu tidak sabar menahan sakit kerana lukanya itu. Lalu dia bunuh diri. Peristiwa itu dilaporkan orang kepada Nabi s.a.w. Nabi s.a.w. bersabda, "Allahu Akbar! Aku mengaku bahawa aku hamba Allah dan RasulNya." Kemudian beliau memerintahkan Bilal supaya menyiarkan kepada orang banyak, bahawa tidak akan dapat masuk syurga melainkan orang muslim (orang yang tunduk patuh). Sesungguhnya Allah menguatkan agama ini dengan orang jahat."

Divine Speech Prologue by Nouman Ali Khan

1.Speaker

2.Speech

3.Style

Fitnah dan Tanda-Tanda Qiamat [Part V:Ciri-Ciri Dajjal]

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 4, No.2476]
Dari Ibnu 'Umar r.a. katanya Rasulullah s.a.w. berbicara mengenai Dajjal di hadapan orang banyak. Sabda beliau, "Sesungguhnya Allah Ta'ala tidak picek (buta matanya sebelah). Ketahuilah, sesungguhnya Al Masih Dajjal yang picek mata kanannya seperti sebuah anggur mengembung."

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 4, No.2477]
Dari Anas bin Malik r.a. katanya Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Tidak ada seorang Nabi melainkan dia mengingatkan umatnya supaya waspada terhadap si picek pembohong besar. Ketahuilah! Dia picek, sedangkan Tuhanmu tidak picek. Antara kedua matanya tertulis 'kaf-fa-ra' (kafir)."

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 4, No.2478]
Dari Hudzaifah r.a. katanya Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Aku lebih tahu tentang Dajjal daripada Dajjal itu sendiri. Dia mempunyai dua sungai yang mengalir. Yang satu kelihatan oleh mata mengalirkan air putih bersih, sedang yang satu lagi kelihatan bagaikan api bergejolak yang sedang mengalir. Siapa yang menemukannya, hendaklah didatanginya sungai yang kelihatan seperti api menyala, lalu picingkan mata, tundukkan kepala dan minumlah airnya. Maka sesungguhnya itulah air sejuk. Dajjal matanya tertutup oleh selapis daging tebal. Antara kedua matanya terdapat tulisan 'kafir', yang dapat dibaca oleh setiap orang mukmin, baik yang tahu tulis baca atau tidak."

Fitnah dan Tanda-Tanda Qiamat [Part III:Islam Mula-Mula Asing, dan Akan Kembali Asing]

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 1, No.118]
Dari Abu Hurairah r.a., katanya Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Islam pada mulanya asing, dan akan kembali asing seperti semula. Maka berbahagialah kiranya yang terasing."

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 1, No.119]
Dari Ibnu 'Umar r.a., dari Nabi s.a.w., sabdanya: "Sesungguhnya Islam itu mula-mulanya asing dan akan kembali asing bagai semula. Dia akan kembali kepada dua masjid sebagaimana ular kembali ke sarangnya."

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 1, No.120]
Dari Abu Hurairah r.a., katanya Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Sesungguhnya iman itu akan kembali ke Madinah, seperti ular kembali ke sarangnya."⁴⁰)

Suci Dari Kotoran Dunia

Zuhud (Suci Dari Kotoran Dunia)

Penjara Orang Mukmin, Syurga Orang Kafir

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 4, No.2488]
Dari Abu Hurairah r.a. katanya Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Dunia penjara bagi orang mukmin dan syurga bagi orang kafir."



Dunia Lebih Hina Dari Bangkai

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 4, No.2489]
Dari Jabir bin 'Abdullah r.a. katanya: "Pada suatu hari Rasulullah s.a.w. lewat pasar melalui bahagian atas. Orang banyak mengikut beliau di kiri dan di kanan. Beliau bertemu dengan bangkai seekor anak kambing yang kecil kedua telinganya. Lalu dihampiri dan diambilnya anak kambing pada telinganya. Kata beliau, "Siapakah di antara kamu yang suka membeli ini dengan satu dirham?" Jawab mereka, "Kami tidak suka sedikit jua pun. Untuk apa bagi kami." Tanya beliau, "Sukakah kamu diberi dengan percuma?" Jawab mereka, "Sekalipun dia hidup kami tidak akan mahu, kerana anak kambing itu bercacat. Kedua telinganya kecil. Apalagi dia sudah menjadi bangkai." Sabda Rasulullah s.a.w., "Demi Allah, sesungguhnya dunia lebih hina di sisi Allah Ta'ala daripada anggapanmu terhadap bangkai ini."

Peliharalah Lidah

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 4, No.2507]
Dari Abu Hurairah r.a. katanya Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Seorang hamba (manusia) yang berbicara dengan pembicaraan yang belum jelas baginya (hakikat dan akibatnya), maka dia akan terlempar ke neraka sejauh antara timur dan barat."



Jangan Hanya Pandai Mengatakan

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 4, No.2508]
Dari Usamah bin Zaid r.a. katanya dia ditanya orang: "Mengapa Anda tidak menghadap kepada Usman supaya Anda dapat berbicara dengannya?" Jawab Usamah, "Apakah kamu mengira bahawa aku tidak berani berbicara dengannya kecuali bila kamu dengar? Demi Allah, aku telah berbicara empat mata dengannya tanpa menyebut-nyebut perkara yang tidak kusukai, iaitu supaya aku sebagai orang pertama yang memulainya, dan aku tidak pernah berkata kepada seseorang bahawa dia sebagai Amir (penguasa): Sesunguhnya dia adalah orang yang terbaik. Iaitu setelah aku mendengar Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Kelak di hari qiamat seseorang akan dihadapkan, lalu dia dilemparkan ke neraka. Maka bertaburan isi perutnya keluar, lalu diputar-putar seperti keledai memutar kilangan. Maka berkumpul ke dekatnya penduduk neraka, lalu mereka bertanya, "Hai Fulan! Apa dosamu? Tidakkah engkau menyuruh dengan ma'ruf (baik) dan mencegah yang mungkar?" Jawabnya, "Ada! Aku menyuruh yang ma'ruf tetapi aku sendiri tidak melaksanakan. Dan aku melarang yang mungkar tetapi aku sendiri melanggarnya."

Istilah Kafir bagi yang Meninggalkan Solat

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 1, No.63]
Dari Jabir r.a., katanya dia mendengar Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: "Sesungguhnya tali penghubung antara seseorang dengan syirik dan kafir, ialah meninggalkan solat."



Agama ialah Nasihat

[Hadith Sahih Muslim Jilid 1, No.45]
Dari Jabir r.a., katanya: "Aku berjanji kepada Rasulullah s.a.w. akan setia dan patuh, dan memberi nasihat kepada setiap orang muslim. Lalu beliau bersabda kepadaku, "Lakukanlah sekuasamu."