 As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim Wa As-salatu wa As-salamu ala ashrafil mursaleen Sayyidina wa Nabiyina Muhammadin wa ala alihil wa sahbihi wa salim Ya Rabbana lakal hamdu kama yin bagheela jalal bi wajheeka wa awwimi sultanik First of all, I would like to thank the to thank MCC for entrusting me to lead this new 12 consecutive session series from starting today, September 20th, until December 6th, and these classes will be held once a week on Tuesday at 1.30 to 2.15, inshallah. I would also like to thank all virtual attendees and all those who will listen to the classes at their convenience. So this series will, inshallah, focus on the narrations on the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. In fact, everyone desiring to attain the hereafter, everyone who wants to be of the winners of the day after, everyone should not stick only to the Book of Allah, to the Qur'an. He or she should also study the narrations of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. It is impossible to understand the Qur'an without going back to the Hadith. Allah s.w.t. revealed the Qur'an, and the Qur'an is the message, and the Hadith is the explanation of this message. In the Qur'an, Allah s.w.t. ordered us to pray. But he did not specify what to pray. How many rakahs each prayer should be? He did not specify what to read in the prayer. Is the prayer considered third obligatory, or is it a sunnah, an extra prayer? However, Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam clarified all that, Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam clarified all that, and he clarified everything that was mentioned in the Qur'an. So we should all study the narrations of the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam for the important information they contain, and for the guidance they provide, and for the light they shed on the lives of Muslims. So inshallah, in this new series, I decided to elaborate on the collection of the 40 Hadith that were compiled by Imam al-Nawawi. So what is this? What's the importance of these 40 Hadith? Actually, this collection has been widely studied in the traditional Arabic circles of learning, and it continues to be one of the basic subjects that's taught in Islamic courses throughout the whole world today. And there are reasons why these specific Hadiths are being studied. So this is primarily due to the soundness of the collection as a whole, which means most of the narrations of these 40 Hadith have been taken from from the two Sahihs, which are Sahih Muslim and Sahih Bukhari. So we can say that from these 40 important Hadiths, many of the basic principles of Aqida, of creed, of Sharia are derived. These are very important Hadiths, these 40 Hadiths, that they have been compiled by Imam al-Nawawi. So Imam al-Nawawi started his Hadith, started his book. Subhanallah, he started his book, he started this collection with the Hadith that emphasizes the importance of the niyah. The niyah is the correct and the sound intention. And for us, we're going to start this series with a sincere intention today that we are doing this, that we are learning for the sake of Allah SWT. We are asking Allah SWT to help us with this series with these classes. So our intention is to please Allah SWT. We want to learn more, we want to gain more, but our intention is purely and sincerely for the sake of Allah SWT. It's only to understand the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad SAW. So we aim to follow the footsteps of Sayyidina Muhammad SAW, so that we would be resurrected on the Day of Judgment under the banner of our beloved Habib, Sayyidina Muhammad SAW. So let's, inshallah, start with the first Hadith. And the way that I'm going to do it, if the Hadith is short, then I will read the whole Hadith in Arabic and then we'll translate it and we'll have some comments on it. If the Hadith is long, then I will have it into sections, small sections, Arabic, English and inshallah we'll have some comments on the Hadith. So the first Hadith is about the leader of the believers, So Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, I heard the messenger of Allah SAW saying, deeds are but by intentions and each person will have but which that which he intended. If a man's migration was for the sake of Allah, then his migration was for that for which he migrated. But if his migration was for to achieve some worldly aim or to marry a woman, then his migration was for what he migrated for. So the Hadith starts with, deeds are by intentions. Normally deeds are either good or bad. Some deeds are accepted and others are rejected. Let me have just a small note here saying that there is a saying deeds are either accepted or rejected except sending salawat to Sayyidna Muhammad SAW saying, this sending salawat is always accepted. So some deeds are either are accepted and other deeds are rejected. Some deeds are rewarded. Other deeds are not. So deeds are good or bad according to the intentions. The intentions need to be pure. They need to be sincere. They need to be for the sake of Allah SAW only for the sake of Allah SAW to get fully rewarded. Normally, the deeds are classified as I just mentioned as good or bad. But when are they classified? When they are finished? Because let's take for example the case of someone who decided to do something evil. While doing it, his conscious prevented him from going on. He stopped. He changed his deed to a better one. So his deed moved from being bad to being good. So instead of being punished, he was rewarded. And this is why we say deeds are classified as good or bad when they are finished. And each person will have that which he intended. So the result will be either a reward or a punishment. The people of Allah SAW says The goodness, the soundness of the heart is with the goodness of the action. And the goodness of the action is with the goodness of the intention. So the heart becomes a sound heart. And this is our aim for the day after. Ya Allah to come with a sound heart to you. So how can we have a sound heart when we have sound actions? And when the actions are sound, when their intentions are sound, when their intentions are correct, when their intentions are pure, when they are pure for the sake of Allah SAW. So whoever intended and had the intention that his migration is to Allah SAW and to obey Prophet Muhammad SAW, then as per the Islamic law, this migration is for Allah SAW and for his messenger. So why, what is the reason for this Hadith? They said that once someone traveled from Mecca to Medina to not to follow the orders of Sayyidina Muhammad SAW, that wasn't his intention, but he went there from Mecca to Medina to marry a woman. And her name, the name of that woman was Um Muqais. So he wasn't looking for the reward of the migration. And that's why he was nicknamed as the Muhajiru Um Muqais, the one who migrated for Um Muqais. So now the Hadith says, So when we have any action, when we have any deed, and we have the intention of our deeds is for Allah SAW, then this means that this deed is considered as a migration to Allah SAW. And whoever wanted just the worldly reward or something worldly, so his migration is for that action. So again, the the important thing is the intention. And out of the mercy of Allah SAW, two things can be taken out of this Hadith. And of course, this is just two remarks, but there are countless remarks that can be taken away from this Hadith. So the first one is that any routine work, any routine work, any daily work that you do becomes an act of worship if you started with an intention. For example, every day you eat. Every day we eat several times. Start your food by an intention that I am eating to get stronger, to get the power to worship Allah SAW. I'm preserving my body because Allah SAW ordered me to do so. So each routine, any routine work becomes an act of worship if it starts with an intention. The second point is God. Allah SAW sat in Surah al-Nisaa, And whoever leaves his home as an immigrant to Allah and his messenger and then death overtakes him, his reward has already become incumbent by Allah SAW. So Allah SAW would reward him even though the action is not completed. So this is what Ibn Abbas also narrated when he said, So Ibn Abbas reported that the scripture of Allah SAW, God records the good deeds and the evil deeds. Intends to do a good deed, but did not do it. Then God records this deed for him as a complete deed, as a good deed. So first, if he intended to do a good deed, God records this. As 10 to 700 and many more times as much. So this is a very important. If you do something, then Allah will highly reward you for that. And if someone intends to do an evil deed and does not do it, then Allah SAW would record it for him as a complete good deed. If he intended something evil, he did not do it. Imagine, look at the mercy of Allah SAW. He thinks of doing something good. He was not able to do it. Allah will give him the reward. If he does it, then Allah will multiply the reward. But if he plans something bad, did not do it, Allah would reward him. If he does it, he will give it. He will write it. He will record it. Just one evil deed. Now if we ask ourselves, what's migration? Do we have to migrate these days for the sake of Allah SAW? If the answer is, if someone is in a country, safe, sound, can practice his religion freely, then he's not supposed to migrate. But if not, if he is not able to do that, then he is to migrate. So this is the general meaning of migration. But what is the spiritual meaning of migration? Migration is to migrate from bad deeds, is to abandon disobedience. And this is the free of migration nowadays. There should be complete and sincere repentance of sins. So leaving bad deeds to the state of doing good deeds, from the state of disobedience to Allah SAW, to the state of obeying Allah SAW. There should be complete, there should be sincere repentance to accompany that. And in fact, repentance has many conditions. The first one is to feel sorry that you sinned, even if it is a small sin. Do not say, okay, yeah, this is only a small sin. No. The only other friends of Allah say, do not belittle the sin. Rather, think of whom you have disobeyed. Another point, another condition for repentance is that you need to ask Allah SAW for forgiveness. Do at least 300 times every day, say astaghfirullah, asking Allah for forgiveness. And then take a decision not to do the same sin again. But you will say, okay, Shaytan will do his best to make a sin as long as we are alive. How can we do that? How can we stop? And this is why out of the mercy of Allah SAW, he, Allah has opened the doors of repentance until the time of death. Allah accepts the repentance of his slave as long as the death throttle has not yet reached his throat. So Hijra will continue until the day of resurrection, based on the saying, La Tanqatiau Al Hijra, Hatta Tanqatiau Al Tawba, Wa La Tanqatiau Al Tawba, Hatta Tatlua Al Shamsu Min Magribiha. Immigration will not cease until repentance ceases. And repentance will not cease until the sun rises from its place of set. So the Muslim is in need of migration at all times. When the practice of his deen is made difficult for him, then he has to migrate. And a person needs always to leave the sins, which is the biggest migration. Moving on to the second Hadith, So Omar bin Al-Khattab said, one day when we were sitting with Allah's messenger, a man with very white clothing and very black hair came up to us. No mark of travel was visible on him. And none of us recognized him. So he was a stranger, I won't name him. Sitting down beside the Prophet and leaning his knees against the knees of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and placing his hands on his thighs, he said, So Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, So Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gave him the definition of Islam. He said, Islam means that you should testify that there is no God but God. And that Muhammad is God's messenger, that you should perform or observe the prayer, pay the Zikaa, fast during the month of Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage to the house if you have the means to go. So the man said, you have spoken the truth. So we were surprised at his questioning him, questioning Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and then declaring that he spoke the truth. He's asking and then he is saying, okay, you said the truth. Then he asked Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to tell him about faith, the faith. So Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam replied, So Iman is to believe in God, to believe in his angels, his books, his messengers, and the last day. And that you should also believe in the decreeing both of good and evil. And he also said, you have spoken the truth. So keeping people more surprised. So the second question was, okay, tell me about Issam. And Issam is the perfection in doing good things. Issam, you do the best. How do you do the best? So Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, You should worship God as though you saw him, for he sees you, though you do not see him. So Allah is over watching us. He is recording our deeds for us. Today, you do your work, you do all the deeds, but there is no reckoning. But tomorrow, which is the day of judgment, there is reckoning and there is no work. So everyone will see the result of his deeds that he has done in this dunya. So whoever finds good on the day of judgment, should thank Allah that he provided him to do the good things that he guided him to do the good things. And whoever finds something not pleasing, whoever finds himself a loser, then he should blame himself only. Allah sent the messengers. Allah gave us my intellect so we can think, will this deed be considered as a good deed or as a bad deed? Will this deed please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or will it be pleasing Shaytan? Will these words that someone is going to say be considered good for him or bad for him? Will it be? How would someone think of everything? That's how it should be. Sayyidna Abu Bakr al-Sudiq used to have a small pebble under his tongue. If he wants to say something, it will hinder him. So for a second he will think, well whatever I'm going to say, be considered a good deed or a bad deed. Who is this? Sayyidna Abu Bakr al-Sudiq, the one whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala about whom Sayyidna Muhammad ﷺ said, we will reward everyone who does good for us except for Abu Bakr. Allah will reward him. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is overseeing everything that we do. He's hearing everything that we say. So whenever we want to do something, we have to ask ourselves, whom are we going to please? Allah or Shaytan? If we are pleasing Allah, then we do it without thinking. But if that will be to please Shaytan, we have to stop. If you are in a community, someone does something good to you, then you obviously are going to deal very well with that person. But what are you going to do if someone mistreated you? The good thing is not to do good things with good people, no. The good thing is to know how to deal with those who mistreat you. So the person continued and asked another question. So he said, now tell me about the hour. The one who is asked about the hour is no better informed than the one who is asking. I don't have enough information to tell you. I don't have more information than what you have. So when is the hour? No one knows. But we have to get prepared for the hour. We have to get prepared for the day of judgment. And the day of judgment starts as soon as someone dies. Because when that person is placed in the grave, then he will know whether he will be in paradise or in hellfire. So when he did not answer him about the hour, about the day of judgment, he said, Okay, now tell me about its signs. A maid servant should be kept her mistress. And that you should see bigger footed, naked, poor men, poor men and chappards exalting themselves in buildings. So, and tell it, the son or the daughter would treat his mom or her mom very badly. The same way that a master would treat a bad master would treat his servant, no respect, cursing, humiliating. And unfortunately, some of the children in those days do these things. So the signs are there. The word is mentioned to indicate how poor these people are. So these poor people are just building high buildings. We have so many of these high buildings now in the world. These are signs of the day after. Then he left. So he hid in Omar. He said, I waited for a long time thinking. So he said to me, then the Prophet said to me, Oh Omar, do you know who the questioner was? Do you know who was that person who came and asked those questions? I replied, Allah is the best messenger. So what was the answer? He was Gabriel, who came to you to teach you your religion. So in this hadith, the messenger of Allah SWT explained the pillars of Islam. And actually, the next hadith is about the pillars of Islam. And I'm going to say the next hadith now because I want to combine both hadith and comment on both of them. So this is what we just mentioned that the pillars of Islam are five. There is no God but God. And that Muhammad is his messenger, his servant and his messenger, the observance of the prayer, the payment of Zikr, pilgrimage and the fasting during Ramadan. So in these two hadith, the messenger of Allah SWT explained the pillars of Islam, explained the pillars Islam, Ibn and Ihsan. So we find that there are different levels, different stages to indicate where someone is in terms of his relation to Allah SWT. Is he on the Islam level? Is he still at the beginning? Or is he on the Eman level, a higher level? Or is he at the Ihsan level, at the perfection level? Sometimes a person feels that he is closer to Allah SWT, he's performing mafsallah, he's focusing on his prayers, he's doing very good deeds. So that person should take advantage of this time because there are times that a person is closer to Allah SWT. Sometimes that person might feel that okay, I'm away from Allah SWT. Dunya is engaging, it is taking me away from the real worship of Allah, a real time worshiping Allah SWT. So these hadith show that people are not on the same, are not the same in their deen. We have Muslim, we have Mu'min, we have Muhsin. And these are the levels and these levels are not the same. So at the beginning when the hadith started he said, one day while we were sitting with the messenger of Allah and the companions used to sit with Sayyidina Muhammad SAW to learn from him, to see guidance from him. So, Subhanallah, when we hear about the people sitting with the messenger of Allah, this urges us to attend the gatherings of the Qur'an, the gatherings where Allah is mentioned, where the hadith is explained, where the Qur'an is being talked about. So these are the main points of the three hadith which all lead us to one point to get ready to meet Allah SWT. If we stop for a second and we ask ourselves, are we ready? If death knocks our door today, are we ready? Have we done enough deeds to please Allah SWT? Have we forgiven people? Have we followed the advice of Sayyidina Muhammad SAW when he said to Abu Huraira, you have to have good manners. And Abu Huraira, of course Abu Huraira knows what good manners are but he wanted to teach us. So he asked Sayyidina Muhammad SAW, and he said, So you would forgive those who mistreat you and you would give those who prevent you, who deprive you and you would reunite and you would connect the relationships of those who cut you. Do you think this is easy? Words are easy but practicing is not as easy. So we end with a du'a that we ask Allah SWT to guide us to the best that would lead us to be of those of the winners on the day of judgment so that he would be pleased with us and we would be of those people whom he said about, Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allah because of the highly rewards that he will prepare for them. Insha'Allah we will meet next week with more Hadiths and more explanation, insha'Allah.