 In light of an extremely eventful year, many challenges that is presented to our community, I thought it would be useful to spend today's Eid khutbah looking at the qualities of the quintessential believer's character. Aflaq al-Mu'mineem, as defined by our Lord, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, and our Master, In order for us to respond appropriately to certain things, crises or events, to respond in a way that insha'Allah will secure us the tawfiq or providence of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. First of all, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala said, speaking directly to our Master, And if the particle alab is prior to an abstract noun, this denotes Tamaqun or mastery. Therely, therely, you have mastered magnificent character. In the hadith that Imam Ahmad relates, our Master Muhammad, He said, I was only sent the perfect noble ethics and character. He says, Righteousness is good character. He says, He said, He said, Indeed, the most beloved of you to me and the closest of you to me on the day of judgement is the one who has the best character. He said, He said, He said, Peace and blessings of God be upon him. There is nothing wavier on the scale of a believer on the day of judgement than good character. However, when we talk about good character, We're not talking about good character in lieu of the performance of righteous action. We do not imagine an absolute bifurcation between Christian Khulu and Ahmad. These two things are not mutually exclusive. In other words, someone who might say, I don't pray, I don't fast, I don't do saka, but I have good character. Such a person is in a state of war or delusion. Righteous action is a function of good character. The Prophet ﷺ to Ibadat was a by-product of his good character. Just one hadith was suffice. Insha'Allah. And Abu Hurayrat al-Radi'Allah said, He said, The Prophet ﷺ, He used to pray until his feet would swell. And it was said to him, And it was said to him, Do you do this? And it has been revealed to you that your future and past transgressions have been forgiven. And a transgression, a done of a prophet is very different than our sin. The done of a prophet is leaving an act of great virtue for an act of lesser virtue. There is no question of deliberate disobedience with the Prophet ﷺ. This is in his response, Shall I not be a grateful servant? So his prolonged prayer was a reflection of his character virtue of shukr. In other words, righteous action is a natural by-product of personal quruk. If you love someone, you will demonstrate their love to them. Imam Hassan asked his brother, Imam Al-Fassayn, He's the grandchild of the Prophet ﷺ. He asked his father, Sayyidina Ali, About the character of the Prophet ﷺ. It's a long hadith, I'll give you some highlights for short on time. You'll find the narration in the Shamali of Imam al-Tidmedi and his chapter, What exactly is this khuluq abeen, that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala mentioned in the Qur'an? So Sayyidina Ali, he said, The Prophet ﷺ was always cheerful, Joveel, affable, Easygoing, imperturbable, Lady Al-Janan, mild manner, Gentle, gentle, He was not harsh or hard-hearted. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said in the Qur'an, It is part of the incredible mercy, So much emphasis in the Arabic. It is part of the incredible mercy of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, That you have lean, you have gentleness, If you were harsh or hard-hearted, People would have fled from you. Sayyidina Ali continues, He was not loud, he was not vulgar or obscene. He did not point out the falsest people. Right? We talked about this a few times ago. In terms of Dr. Jackson, he says, You're walking down the street, you're smoking a cigarette. Hey, brother, gotcha! There's something pathological that some people need to expose others and make them feel big or something. Sayyidina Ali says, The Prophet left three things, That he would leave argumentation, He would leave excessive talking Whoever is silent saves himself. There's a Hadith attributed to Sid Nareesa A.S., Our Master Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, Who said, 9 tenths of Iqadah is silence. 90% of worship is silence. And that Hawara You asked him, What's the other 10%? The other 10%. He said, fleeing from shohra, fleeing from fame, Fling from reputation, Fling from finding a place in the hearts of the human being, Was finding a place in Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. So he left three things, argumentation, excessive talking, And what was not his business. From the beauty of a person's Islam Is that he leaves that which is not concerning. He continues, That the Prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam, He did not insult or disgrace anyone. He did not seek the private affairs of the people, Of anyone. And he did not speak unless There was hundreds of reward in what he was saying. Our mother Aisha, She said about her husband sallallahu alayhi alayhi sallam. And I always say this. Almost every footballer. No one knows the man better than the wife. The wife. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi alayhi sallam Was never vulgar or crude or obscene. He never dropped a, we would call a four letter word, An F bomb, right? He wouldn't even raise his voice in the marketplace. He would not return an evil for an evil. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam Would forgive and overlook. His quote is described in the books of Adil Kitab, In the Hebrew Bible. In the Tanah. This was a Dileel of his Nabooa. When Abdullah ibn Salam, A rabah in Medina Tummanawara, When he saw the Prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam coming, He said, Araf to end the wajjah, And he said, Araf to end the wajjah, And he said, Araf to end the wajjah, And he said, Araf to end the wajjah, And he said, End the wajjah in the Hebrew Bible, Or the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam Are mentioned in the books of Adil Kitab, We don't have enough time to go into that. But he says, Nb he recognized the Prophet s face, And that was the face of Allah ibn Jin. But also his khulu, In the Tanah, Isaiah 42, In the Hebrew. We hold my abdomen. My servant. This is the word in Hebrew. This is the primary title mishpat migoyem yotsi, he will bring mishpat. Mishpat and ibbu means divine law, means religion, means judgment, deem, migoyem, to the gentiles, right, to the gentiles, to the ummiyim, his nabiya ummi. And then it says, waloh yashmiyabi, what's going on? He will not even raise his voice in the market place. This is exactly how our mother Aisha described him, there are people in Medina who read these descriptions in the Hebrew Bible and the Nid Shahada based on his khulu, they didn't see a miracle just on his character, so what are some of the virtuous character traits we mentioned? Cheerfulness, easygoingness, gentleness, tass eternity, meaning generally untalkative, inoffensiveness, decency, agreeability, unintrusiveness, quietude, forgiveness. How is the believer describing the Qur'an? Look at Surat al-Hujrah, the entire surahs about social etiquette and adab with the messenger of Allah, and I truly believe that if people applied this ayah, our condition would vastly improve, just this one ayah, literally it says, O you who believe, do not advance yourselves before Allah and his messenger. Do not step in front of Allah and his messenger. What does that mean? Do not step in front of Allah and his messenger. Do you remember saying that the believer is on prioritize, his own ideas, his own principle, his own opinions over that of Allah and his messenger. We live in an age where many Muslims, unfortunately, under the guise of social justice or activism are embracing certain values and movements that are at the very least very difficult to justify, theologically and morally. Rather than interrogating their own positions in light of what Allah and his messenger have said, they interrogate Allah and his messenger in light of their own positions, instead of clutch onto the habalullah that the Qur'an accrued into the tafsir, like you're drowning i'atisams that clutch onto a rope, as if you're drowning in the ocean, they have i'atisam of their ahwa and they religiously sanction their desires. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Qur'an, Ya ayyuha d-dina amir, ati'u Allah wa ati'u Rasul. Wa'unil amri minqum. All of you who believe, obey Allah and obey the messenger. This is fear in amir. This is an imperative. Wa'unil amri minqum. Who is ulil amri minqum? If we want to pass that civil and slastic authorities, people say, oh we don't have the clergy in Islam. It's not exactly true. The rilama, the scholarly community, the slastic community, are heirs of the prophets, if you want to do it, the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So civil and slastic authorities, not celebrity speakers, not stand-up comics, not rhetoricians, not pontificators, not popular activists, not soft history. Sayyidina za'atu fi shay'in. And if you differ about anything, fi shay'in, not if you differ about religion or prayer or fasting. Sayyidina za'atu fi shay'in. If you disagree about anything, for the tuhu ila Allah wa Rasul, then refer it to Allah and his messenger. Referring it to Allah means kitabullah, to the Qur'an. To the messenger means the great upon prophetic ethos, the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Alaykum is sunnati. wa sunnati al-khalafai rashideen, al-mahdiyeen, tamasapu bihaa, wa aadu alayha bin nawajil. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He said, I exhort you to follow my sunnah, I normally to practice. Kahisun alaykum. He cares about us more than any human being. This is why he's telling us this. I exhort you to follow my sunnah, in the sunnah, the right you got to pay with. Hold on tight and bite into it with your molars. This is the analogy he's using. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Al-Raki ba'an sunnati. Falaisa minni. When the Sahaba used to say something like any barlion from the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Falaisa minni. Falaisa minna. They used to shake him. Wait. He is done from me, who turns away from my sunnah. Our beloved teacher, Sheikh Hamzul, who's here is absolutely correct. This is a time of hayrah, of widespread bewilderment. Mass confusion. There are some who call themselves progressive, who say the ulama are obsolete. They're antiquated. They're out of touch. Right? No, the ulama could not be more relevant now than ever. But we need to know the times that we're living in. Which the hadith in Sahih Muslim, with the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Yatuna fi aakhili saman. Dajjaluna kiddabuna. Yatunakum ila al-hadithi mimadam tasmahu. Aditum mura'aba'ukum. Fai'iyakum wa'iyahum. He says there come a time, towards the end of time, where there's going to be flagrant, habitual liars and postures. Dajjaluna. Who make statements that neither you nor your ancestors have ever heard. In other words, you want to say things that are absolutely irreconcilable with our faith conditions. That no Muslim has ever heard, yet they'll justify themselves religiously. But beware of them. Beware of them. Wa'iyahum wa'iyahum. And this is happening now, with this post-modern neo-Marxist social constructionism, social constructionism, that has invaded college campuses around the country. Which espouses that every traditional system is inherently oppressive, tyrannical, and a function of some evil patriarchy. And that these evil ulema, these people want to maintain this oppressive system. In fact, the entire Abrahamic tradition needs to go. And that there's no real truth, no normative tradition, no orthodoxy, all narrations, all narratives are valid. Our tradition is under attack. This is an assault on the middah of Ibraheem. Alayhi s-salam. But our battle isn't physical. It's intellectual. It's ideological. It's spiritual. To call a man who lived about 2,000 years ago, our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and darkness. The foundation of the Abrahamic tradition is ma'habah of Allah and ma'habah of human beings. Imam Sakhuraf-e-Narazi, he said, Al-Islam, Ibadatun-dil-Khalaq, Wa-rahmatun-dil-Khalq, Islam in a nutshell is worship of the Creator, and compassion and love for inspiration. Alayhi s-salam. Wa-rahmatun-dil-Khalq, Wa-rahmatun-dil-Khalq, Wa-rahmatun-dil-Khalq, Wa-rahmatun-dil-Khalq, Hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Those missions are limitless. Hadith. You will not be prepared until you truly believe. And you will not truly believe until you love one another. Getting rid of God, getting rid of revelation, that human life loses its sacredness, we become soulless animals, morality becomes compromised, it becomes relative. Right? The Prophet Dawood alayhi s-salam he wrote in the Zabur, Psalm 111 verse 10, he said, Reishi khokma yir'at ad-unayn. We translate that into Arabic. Hidayat al-khikma takbabra. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. What is the world that he read about during this troublesome time? I mentioned this briefly. It was a time. It was amazing. Hadith al-bayh, haqi. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi s-salam said, yahminu hadal ilmi, kudhi khalfin, udulu, yannfuna anhu tahlifa al-qalim. Wan tihada al-muntilim, wa taqwila al-jahimim. This sacred knowledge will be borne by reliable authorities of each successive generation. They will remove from it alteration of those guilty of exaggeration. The plagiarism of the corrupt and the interpretations of the ignorant la ilizada bi'umma ti'umma tuqwa ima tu bi'amu lillah. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi s-salam said, evan minna fi ulamah will always be present to preserve the religious. However, the decentralization of the ulamah in the eyes of the masses is being through spiritual, moral and intellectual background. Back to surah al-kujrah. Almost done. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, Ya ayyuha yadina anhu that taqwila al-qa'u asfawa taqwila sotin nadi. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said at the beginning of this ayah, all you who believe and when given abasah, when you as a believer hear Ya ayyuha yadina anhu this is very, very closely. Do not raise your voice over the voice of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Say it literally and figuratively. Literally when you hear a hadith, be quiet. Don't speak. Don't speak figuratively. Prioritize his voice over your voice. Voice as it will. Or what? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said and taqwila al-qa'u asfawa nadi. Or else your deeds will be spoiled and lost and you won't even know. You think about your salawat, your siyam, your zikr, your zakat. All of these things will be lost, spoiled, flirted. If we don't get priority to the voice of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam over our own voice. When this ayah was revealed, Abu Bakr salli only whispered to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. There was another companion, Favid Ibn Shammas, that he had a loud voice. He's not coming to the masjid. He said, my voice is sold out. I can't come to the mosque anymore. This is how seriously they took. Breaching Adam with the messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And when they said that, they'll just hear his name. They would start weeping uncontrollably. Ayyuha s-sakhti yani. He tested Malik ibn Nuanas. He wanted to see if he could take him as a student. So he mentioned the name of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. To Malik ibn Nuanas. He saw Malik's face, Imam Malik ibn Nuanas. His face turned pale. He started trembling. He said, this is a good student. And then Imam Malik he said, you know, Ayyuha was my teacher. It was only after I saw signs of love of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in his face that it actually started writing down some of the things that he said. Those who know their voice in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, those who prioritize his voice, Allah has tested their hearts for taqwa. To them is forgiveness and a great reward. So more of where she was character traits that we gather from this. Deference towards Allah and his Messenger and ikram towards the Urmama. Reference towards the prophetic provision and discernment in times of deception and confusion. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. InshaAllah, Ma'sheem, Muhammadin. Wa alayhi wa sallam. Alayhi wa sallam. Alayhi wa sallam. Alayhi wa sallam. Alayhi wa sallam. Last thing I want to mention is very quickly. It is important. The Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said, Laysan Mu'min. The quintessential believer is not Laysan Mu'min. The ta'ani. Wa la dillaa'ani. Wa la fahshi. Wa la dadee. The quintessential believer is not abusive. It's not close people. It's not vulgar. It is not obscene. So my sincere advice to you, and this is in light of recent events, not any one event in particular. If someone tries to take an argument or fight with you, you just don't engage with them. Right? Someone has a, you know, an earnest question, leaves you with them. If someone is clearly trying to argue with a fight, turn away from them, say, Salaam, or just leave. Wa ibad al-Rahman. Al-Ladimi. Amshuna al-Alihawna. The servants of the infinitely compassionate, they walk, they tread lightly upon the earth. And when the ignorant speak to them, they say peace. People are unstable. People are easily triggered. The people have PTSD, whatever it's called. People have been in war. Right? It was a sister who, in a hijab, driving her car, and she had kids in the car and suddenly cut her off and she flipped them the bird. If you get what that means, you can ask people later. And this guy started following her for miles. Scared her half to death. She's calling the police. She was on a car accident. Don't antagonize people. Khud al-Afwa. The Qur'an says, Khud al-Afwa. Seize pardon. Seize it. Khud al-Afwa. Wa'mur b'urth. Wa'audh al-ajabi. Seize pardon. Order towards the good and turn away from the ignorant. It's not worth it. We have to train ourselves to have ehtima. Self-restraint and reservation in the face of pains and weakness, pains and injuries. But this is not a weakness. The Prophet ﷺ said, The Shadeed is not a man who can throw the other man down. The Shadeed is the one who controls himself when he's angry. May Allah SWT give us a Tawfiq to implement what we're saying. Wa tawwalla nathina dawadir. Wa barika nathina a'uqidh. Wa tina shadruma fawdidh. Allahumma inna s'aluka bi-dhuri wa tshiqa l-qalima. T'ihaqtit al-iqusna fatiha al-nabad. Lana wa li'a'hbābina l'ijni'u wusdunīn. Ya'r-r-hawr raghunīn. Rabbana nā tizuqudu b'lā b'aqtīh ad-dina wa hāb al-nā mitha duqa. Rakhma inna ta'hannil wa hāb. Rabbana nā tizuqunia wa lā hafībī s-sallām wa l-ḥamdu liLlāhi wa l-lāhi wa l-ā'irāhi amīn, amīn, amīn, amīn. Fī duqūt mubār.