 and things to do to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We seek His forgiveness, His guidance, and His assistance. And we take refuge with Him from the evil within our souls and from the consequence of our misdeeds. Whoever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives guidance to, none can mislead, and whoever He misleads, none can guide. I bear witness there is nothing and no one worthy of worship besides Allah alone. He has no partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, salallahu alayhi wa ala alayhi wa sallam, is the servant and messenger. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to extend to Him our salutations on this blessed day and to show Him peace and everlasting mercy. Just as we ask Him to show peace and mercy to His family members, His beloved companions, and all of those who follow in goodness and show good will into the meeting and the reckoning of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. In Surah An-Nisa, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He begins the Surah by saying, ya ayyuha an-nasutaku rabbakumu alladhi khalaqakum min nasi wa'ahida wa khalaqa min hazu jaha. O mankind, O humanity, reverence your guardian Lord who created you from a single soul, and from that soul created its mate. And scattered about from the two of them many men and women. And in Surah Al-Hujirat, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He says, ya ayyuha an-nasutaku an-na khalaqakum min zakara wa umtha wa ja'alnaakum sh'ooba wa qaba'ilin yata'arafu, an-na akramakum an-na lahi atkaakum, an-na lahi al-arim al-khabib. O humanity, O humanity, O humanity, verily created you from a male and a female, and we made you into peoples and into tribes in order that you come to know one another, verily the most noble among you. And the sight of God is the one who is most dutiful to him, verily Allah, He is all-knowing, most acquainted with all things. And into these two verses, among other verses in the Qur'an, they remind us of the interdependence between the man and the woman. And that none of us would be here today had it not been for a man and a woman in our lives. None of us would be able to have children had it not been that we come together and we complete one another as husbands and as wives. And throughout the Qur'an, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he emphasizes the interdependence between the man and the woman. And it is important for us to remember that shaytan has been on the mission since the very beginning to create a great rift between man and between woman. In the Qur'an, we also learned that the Masha'a Alayhi Sula Sulaam is an uswa, hasana, a beautiful exemplar for all of us. And that doesn't matter, or it doesn't matter if you are a man or you're a woman, the Masha'a Alayhi Sula Sulaam is an exemplar, a moral exemplar for both men and for women. But among his companions and the people surrounding him were his wives. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he addresses the Sahaba, warning them وما كان لكم أن تؤذوا رسول الله ولا أن تنكحوا أزواجه من بعده أبدا that is not your right to harm the messenger. It is not your right to hurt the messenger, nor is it your right to marry his wives, marry any of his wives after he passes or leave this world. In the beginning of that same surah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he says النبي أولى بالمؤمنين من أنفسهم وأزواجه أمهاتهم. The prophet, the messenger Sula Allahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam, he is more deserving of the believers than they are of themselves. And his wives are their mothers, that they are our mothers in faith. أمهات أم مؤمنين. And I wanted to begin today speaking about one of the أمهات أم مؤمنين. أم سلمة رج الله عنها. Now, before أم سلمة was أم المؤمنين, أم سلمة was married to her husband, known as أبو سلمة. And of course, both of them carry this surname of سلمة because of their oldest son, his name was سلمة. They were deeply in love, maddening love with one another. أم سلمة and أبو سلمة. As a matter of fact, they were third cousins. Their grandfathers were brothers, both from بن مخزون. أبو سلمة himself was the maternal cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, through the Prophet's aunt Barra, bint Abd al-Multalib. So he had a connection to the mission himself, alayhi sallatu wa sallam, that they were really, really in love with one another. They were among the first families to make hijrah from Makkah to Abyssinia. And also among the first of them to make hijrah from Makkah to Medina. And it is said that as an expression of their Lord is to show the connection to how deep the love was, that on one occasion, أم سلمة was having a conversation with أبو سلمة. And she said to him, have you heard that if one of us happens to die before the other, and then never remarries, that in Jannah, insha'Allah, we'll be reunited. So she said to him, why don't you make me a promise that if I die before you, you will not remarry. And I will make you a promise that if you die before me, I will not remarry. And Abou sallam, he turned to her, of course, looked at her with compassion. And he told her that he only wished good for her. And he told her, I encourage her that if I happen to die before you, then you should marry after me. And then he made a dua that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that he give her khairun minni, that he give her better than me. They give you a husband, زوجان خيرون منني, a husband better than me, if that were to happen. Now, when they returned from Abyssinia before they're making the hijrah to Makkah. Now the Mushrikina, of course, we know they didn't want them to go. And so the family of Umul Sallamah, they run into Abul Sallamah after he has prepared his camel. And he has Umul Sallamah on the back of the camel and Sallamah is sitting in her lap. And they're about to begin their track to Medina. And so they stop them and say, well, no, you're not gonna take our sister with you. And so they refuse to allow her to go with Abul Sallamah to Medina. And then because they were offended, because the tribe of the family of Abul Sallamah were offended by what they had seen, they refused to allow Umul Sallamah's tribe or family to take the baby, Sallamah, with them. They said, no, you're not gonna split them up and then keep the baby as well. No, the baby will stay with us. So Abul Sallamah, he actually goes, he leaves and goes to Medina on his own. And so he leaves Umul Sallamah there all by herself. She doesn't even have her baby. And so she becomes overwhelmed with grief. And she cries out in the public. She sits out in the thoroughfare. She's crying every day and people are passing by. And it says this goes on for about a week until finally one of the members of her tribe, they, he took some compassion upon her and then he goes to the other members and he says, what have you done? You separated this woman from her husband and from her child. And so they decided that they would allow her to leave and go meet up with their child. And so, and then Abul Sallamah's tribe returns the baby, Sallamah, to her. And but now she's going on her own. She gathers her mount, her camel. She places the baby in her lap and she begins on her track to Medina all by herself. And she says to herself, I don't have much enough provision but on the way, hopefully I'll see people and inshallah, I'll get my provision. So as she's leaving Makkah, one particular man known as Osman Ibn Abi Talha, he sees her and spots her and he says, where are you going, my sister? And so she says, I'm to meet up with my husband, Abul Sallamah and Medina. And so he says to her, and who's going with you? And she says, no one other than me, my baby in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that's all. And so he decides that he would accompany her on her journey to lead her to Medina, this man, Uthman, Ibn Abi Talha. And so he helps her reach Medina and once he gets close to Medina where he reaches Cuba, he knows where Abul Sallamah is, he tells her that your husband is in this village and so he leaves her to go into that village and he heads back to Makkah. Now, eventually the battles begin and we don't know what happens and then eventually Abul Sallamah, he's injured and then he eventually dies from his wounds. And then the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, once she, Umul Sallamah had given birth to her fourth baby, Zaynab, eventually the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam had made an offer to marry her. Now her response right away was one of unease because she knew that the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam that he had many wives and she was a very, very jealous person. So she said, send word to the messenger, alaihi sallam, that first and foremost, I'm old now. Another thing is that I have children and so I don't think that I would be appropriate match for him and so the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam sent word back to her, well, I'm older than you. I'm older than you are and there's no problem. There's no problem with the woman married and man older than himself. It has for your children, don't worry about them, Allah and His messenger will take care of those children. At any rate, Umul Sallamah, she becomes the Prophet's wife but Umul Sallamah is known for her beauty. She's also learned for her wit and learned for her courage. That it was said that Aisha, Rajallah, when she heard that the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam had married Umul Sallamah, she said, I became overcome with sadness and then I heard people speaking about how beautiful she was and so I went to meet her and I would treat her well and nice to welcome her into the fold and when I saw her, I said, oh my God, she's even more beautiful than everyone's saying and then I went back to Hafsa and I told Hafsa, have you seen her yet? And so Hafsa, she goes to see her and then she has the same reaction. You know what, she's even more beautiful than what you told me. So they were a bit jealous at that but she was known for her beauty but she's also known for her wits. Ibn al-Hazrat Asqanani says that one of the greatest signs of her intelligence, it is revealed when she gives the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam direction on the day of Hudaybiyyah. And if you remember what happened at Hudaybiyyah was that the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam had made a treaty with the mustriqeen and part of that agreement was that the Muslims would not go into Mecca that year and make Hajj, or make Umrah. They would not go to make Umrah that year but rather they returned the following year and so the Prophet told the Sahaba, shave your heads and slaughter your animals, your sacrifice but they refused to do so. They were just really taking it back because they just felt that they had the strength that they wanted to fight, we could fight and we thought we were gonna go there this year and so the Prophet became frustrated with the fact that they would not do what he asked him to do so he goes into his tent and he goes inside because Umrah Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is with them and he's complaining, why won't they obey me? And so Umrah Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, well, perhaps why don't you go out there and you shave your hair and you slaughter in their presence and maybe they'll follow. So the Prophet goes out, he does that and then they follow the message and he's Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Right, so in other words, it's one sign of that but another thing related to the width of Umrah Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam when you look in the hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam that when it comes to certain controversial issues in the Quran, that it was no one other than Umrah Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam who actually was the one who constantly would ask the Messenger alaihi wa sallam about those things. So for instance, she noticed that the men were obligated to ways she had and so she came to the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and said, yā Rasūla Llāh, yā kzūr rejār wa nā nā kzūr that the men, they go out to fight but we don't. In other words, they can or we can. And she wanted to get the greatest reward similar to what the men get. And so that was just one example. She also asked the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam about the fact that the Quran mentions, you know, the dhikr-i-mithu hath-i-unth-i-yayn that men receive twice the amount of the inheritance of women. And so she said, well, okay, I see this and I accept Allah's decree but does this mean that if we do good that we get only to try, only half the reward that men get for the same things that they do? In other words, if we perform our five prayers, do we get half the reward that men do if they perform their five prayers? And if we fast Ramadan, do we get only half the reward and the Prophet is shorter? No, you get the full reward. You get the full reward. And another instance, she had noticed when we opened up the Quran that it seems that Allah is primarily addressing men in the Quran. And she asked about this question. Well, it seems that Allah is expecting all these things from men. What about us? Does Allah expect anything from us, us women? And as a result of that, one of the verses, it said two verses were revealed in that regard and one of them is mentioned in Surah al-Hujraj what Allah says Inna muslimin wa muslimat wa muninina wa muninat wa qani qeen wa qani tat In other words, those, rarely the Muslims, those who submit, male and female, those who believe, male and female, those who are obedient, male and female, wa sadeqin wa sadeqat, those who are honest, male and female, wa khashiyin wa khashiyat, those who are humble, male and female, wa mutasaddiqin wa mutasaddiqat, those who give charity, male and female, wa sah'imina wa sah'imat, those who fast, male and female, wa hafidina furojahum wa baqirat, wa hafidina furojahum wa baqirat, those who guard their chastity, male and female, wa vaqirina laha kathira, wa vaqirat, and those who mention God, remember God, male and female, a'abdullahu ruhum maqfirataw wa ajran al-zima. Any of those who do those things, Allah, He has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward. In other words, they say that while you are different and you have different expectations, Allah, He promised you the full reward. So we're concerned about equality between men and women that fundamentally this verse gives us an important list of virtues or arenas of competition if we like to characterize it that way where men and women should be concerned. And we're always concerned about who has more power, who has more influence. Then we should think about, okay, well, Allah, He equalizes things in this particular arena. Who is fasting more, your husband or the wife? Who's more honest, the husband or the wife? Who is praying more, the husband or the wife? Who's given more charity, the husband or the wife? Who is remembering and mentioning Allah, the husband or the wife or the man or the woman? And so we have this list here. And so it's important for us to understand that among the tricks of shaitan, the tools of shaitan, especially one of those things that's come quite prevalent today is this idea that patriarchy is some type of objective evil, the idea that men themselves having greater responsibility, not greater power, greater responsibility is somehow objectively evil. There's a tendency to focus and harp on this idea, oh my God, we men have all this power. Men, women need to be given the same power. We need to ensure that there's 50% representation in every area, particularly in the area of power, not in the areas where there's a lot of hard work to be done, but in the areas of positions of power. But we should try for a change instead of using words like power and understanding that this is not really what it's all about, that this is about responsibility and that responsibility that is given to men, that women have not been given, that that is the responsibilities or responsibilities given to them by Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, by the Creator, Ar-Ri-Jadu Qawwa Mu'ala An-Nisa, men are the caretakers of women, that this is what Quran tells us, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has given greater responsibility and with greater responsibility comes greater burden, greater accountability. And so if you want more accountability, if you want more responsibility, continue foraging ahead, because when you have more responsibility, there's more to answer for. And we all, none of us want to be placed into a situation where we're given more responsibility and we're not qualified to have that responsibility or we fall short, men or men or women. So we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la that he remove from us envy and jealousy that we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la that he make us people who are humble people, people who are not vain and self-interested. I call it Qawla-e-Hada wa-as-saqfur Allah-e-Libraqan wa-as-sa'at al-Muslimin wa-Muslimat. Al-hamdulillah, al-Hirab-e-Alamin, For closing, I just wanted to, again, once again, highlight an important point. Which is that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has put us all here to test one another. Nakhnu qasamna bina wukum ma'ishlatakum fil hayatat dunyaa that we have a portion out to you, your livelihood in this world. Wa-rafa'na ba'da kum fulqa ba'dan darajad. And we has elevated some of you above others. Liyat takhida ba'da kum ba'dan sakhriyaa in order that some will put others in their service. Wa-rahmatu rabbika khayru min ma'ishma'oon but the mercy of your Lord is better than all of that. Better than anything that you amass. That's the most important of all. It's the mercy of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. But Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has put us here as a test for one another. And we have to avoid the mistake of following in the footsteps of Shaytan. Because Shaytan himself being too self-interested and attention or in power that this led him to question the wisdom of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Then when Allah asked, well, why didn't you prostrate to Adam? We know the story. He said, I'm better than him. I'm from Mahfair, he's from mud. But there's also another verse that adds something to that story. Was Iblees, La'anatullah Airee, he says, he says to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, araytaka haathal li karamta aareyaa la'in aharftani ilayyumu qiyamati la'ahtalikannahu wa dhuriyatahu illa qalila. That this one, this thing that you have elevated above me, that you have ennobled above me, if you give me time or you delay me until the judgment day, I will overwhelm him and all of his progeny, with the exception of a few, that this was his promise. In other words, he said, well, it was too much for him. This idea that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la chose someone or favored someone over himself. And we often do this, unfortunately, unknowingly, not knowing that we are falling in the footsteps of shaitan. Sahaba came complaining to the Prophet, they're the rich, the wealthy Muslims, they able to give charity, we can't. What's wrong then? He responded, I didn't give up Allah, he might get shot. That's Allah's bounty, he gives to whomever he pleases. In other words, you're always gonna find someone with an advantage over you in worldly terms, but ultimately Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la judges on the basis of your taqwa and your commitment to him, that everyone has a part to play. But again, that verse gives us these things or these areas to vayan, fasting, humility, charity, honesty. How committed are you to your faith? How much do you submit to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la? Are you chaste, are you lowering your gaze and are you remembering Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la? These are the true areas of spiritual competition, not worldly things, not worldly things. We need to give them up before it's too late because the world is changing. We're all equal in our humanity. Everyone is ha-ya-wan-na'taq, everyone, every male or female is a human being. But we're not the same. We're not the same. And justice only happens when you treat those who are, if you treat those who are the same differently, but when you are not the same, to be treated differently is not injustice. To be treated differently is not injustice. It is, if anything, it is the epitome of justice. So we ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la that he deepen our sincerity, that he reconnect us with the true teachings of our Dean, that he now allow for the ideologies of this time separate us and allow for Shaitan to get the best of us.