 Alhamdulillah, we thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for this gift of life. We thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the opportunity to be here today. In thinking about this khutbah for this week, I had some ideas and some notes and I was preparing and, you know, just what I would say in this blessed month, in this blessed time, and this is the month of Rabi'il Awal, the month in which the Prophet ﷺ is born, the month in which he makes hijrah, and the month in which he is called back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And each one of those can be a khutbah in and of itself, a khutbah on the birth of the Prophet ﷺ, a khutbah on hijrah, and a khutbah on his return to his Lord, alayhi salatu was-salam. But Allah has different plans. And in my preparation for Jumu'ah today, I received a phone call from a friend who said, did you know that so-and-so's father had passed last night? And I said no. And this is a dear friend of mine from the east coast who flew in last night to now lay his father to rest. As he said, I just want to share something with you as I was reading Quran this week and how this verse of Quran was with me and how I connected it to this verse and how it connects to the Prophet ﷺ and his teachings. So as I was speaking to my friend today, I called him to give condolences. We had spent a lot of time together on the east coast in a community that we worked for with Imam Zaid. And as I was sending my condolences, I said, I don't know if I'll be able to make the janaza because I'm giving the khutbah at MCC, but I'll try and make it to the cemetery and meet you there. And he said, la bas, he said no problem. But after laying my father to rest, I will be at the house and you can come and visit me there. That's what I want to mention. He said, after I lay my father to rest. And I thought to myself in this week I have been reviewing and I was reading the ayah. And I came to the verse where Allah says in Quran, O mankind, you will toil and you will struggle and you will strive and surely you will meet your Lord. And as for the one who has given his book in his right hand, Maaman Utia Kitabuhu Biyamini for sofa, Allah says that he will have an easy reckoning. And he will turn to his family. Pleased. Pleased with the promise of Allah, but how did that promise of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala get to us? That's the connection I wanted to make of Habib Mustafa, sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam. And how he, aleyhi sallatu wa sallam, taught us through his life, taught us how to deal with difficulty and how to deal with hardship. And I thought to myself about the first hardship that he, aleyhi sallatu wa sallam, endures and I'll connect this, that at the beginning that the revelation itself is hardship on the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. As Jibril alayhi sallam comes to him and says He says, aleyhi sallatu wa sallam, ma'ane beqari. I cannot read, read, I cannot read, read, I cannot read. And then Jibril alayhi sallatu wa sallam narrates the verses that we know the first five verses. But as we said here that at each one of those times we read in the Seerah that Jibril alayhi sallam is squeezing the Prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam. And then he, sallallahu alayhi sallam, runs to his beloved wife Zammiluni Zammiluni. But in Jibril squeezing him he says, aleyhi sallatu wa sallam, it felt as if my sides were going to burst. And the scholars had mentioned that this is his acknowledging the difficulty of holding the Qur'an. This first revelation, the first relationship is for a step to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We would think it might be one of ease, but it's not. It's one of difficulty. And that is the beauty of this reality that we find ourselves in, in a khutbah perhaps that you remember that I gave some time ago, that Allah places his tawfiq in where we don't want to go get it. Allah places his tawfiq, his divine assistance, in places where we don't want to go get it. He places this nearness to him with this difficulty of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam being squeezed to begin this mission of Islam. And the scholars continued by saying that this revelation is not easy, but it will literally squeeze the blame worthy traits out of us and make us the best person that we can be if we allow it to. Khadija alayhi allahu anha, she consoles the Prophet alayhi sallatu wa sallam. And this represents the ease after the hardship as we are told after every hardship there is ease. And she reminds him that Allah would not afflict you with something bad when what you do is good. Allah will not afflict you with something bad when what you do is good. And then she mentions, she reminds the Prophet alayhi sallatu wa sallam, that you take care of the orphans and you look after the widows and you give charity to people in need and you help the oppressed. So how can your Lord abandon you? And this is what made me think about the words that my friend said about his father after I lay him to rest. Rest from the toil of this world, rest from the hardships that we face in this world, rest from all of these things as we transition now to meet our Lord. Surely we're going to meet him. But the Prophet alayhi sallatu wa sallam, through his example, through his wife giving us or teaching us that how can you expect other than good from Allah SWT when all that you do is good? Al jizal ihsan ila al ihsanu. That Allah SWT says in the Quran, is there any reward for good except for good? And this just kept playing in my mind over and over and over again. This reality, this teaching that we are given of how to deal with loss, separation, hardship, because we are focused beyond this realm, that this is not our ultimate home. And as many times as perhaps I, I won't say you but I'll say I, hear that, is as many times as I have to be reminded of that. And as we look, as I said in this month, of however we want to celebrate or elevate or honor the birth of the Prophet alayhi sallatu wa sallam, it is these grounding principles for me. It is these grounding principles for me that make this month a special month because it's an opportunity for me to reflect beyond how I normally reflect perhaps on the life of the Prophet alayhi sallatu wa sallam and the meanings that it gives. In this idea of facing hardship, I just want to reflect a little bit on the first years of the Meccan phase and just look at how Allah SWT deals with the Prophet as I said that he, Allah SWT places his Tawfiq where we don't want to go get it. The Prophet sallatu wa sallam, if we look at the Seerah as is recommended in this month with a little bit of a deeper look, we find the first three years of what we call the private years where the Dawah is something which is private behind Khulam's doors, Dar al-Arqam and other endeavors to call close family partners and others to Islam. And after those years pass, then there is the public invitation. But with the public invitation comes what? It becomes hardship. It becomes Abu Bakr being attacked and assaulted at the Kaaba and then the other hardships that the Muslims will face. And these are the examples, the messages, the stories that inshallah build a foundation of understanding for us that irrespective of what happens, irrespective of that if we are forced to pack up and move 850 miles away from our homes because that's about the distance from Mecca to Ethiopia in the first Hijrah. If we are asked to know that there is a plan that Allah SWT has and that that's what the Prophet sallatu wa sallam is teaching us, to put our trust in Allah SWT when we read this Seerah in these years of Mecca throughout his whole life obviously. But if you look at the hardship that is faced in the first three years when the Dawah is private, ridiculed, family members turning away, blood ties that are severed, public invitation, now there is a physical assault that happens. Then the Hijrah in year five, but then Allah sends his assistance in year six. And you have the conversion of Hamza r.a. So wherever there is this hardship the Prophet sallatu wa sallam has taught us but what manner did he alayh sallatu wa sallam take for that and that's what I want to close on this part of the hadith and this is something that I think is so beautiful here. The Prophet sallatu wa sallam's example for us is that when difficulty, he faced difficulties that he turned to this with sallat. He turned to it with sallat. I depute my affair to Allah s.w.t. and however he sees fit is how I will accept what he has given because he is al-Hakeem, al-Khabir and al-A'leem. And the Prophet sallatu wa sallam has taught us that over and over and over again.