BENEFITTING FROM STORIES

In the Quran, Allah gives the believers many descriptions. In seeking to strengthen
our iman, it is important for us to reflect on all of the qualities with which Allah
praises the believers. Seeking those qualities and applying them in our lives will
make us better people and strengthen our moral character.

One such quality with which Allah describes the believers is being from Ulu al-
Albab—people of insight. This quality is mentioned a dozen times in the Quran.

The people of albab—albab is the plural of lubb. Lubb means the inner core, the
kernal of something. The scholars say that Lubb refers to the ‘Aql. ‘Aql means
intellect, but here lubb is not just being intelligent and having an intellect. It is
having a intellect that understands the deeper meaning of things, an intellect that is
directed to HIGHER TRUTHS.

Scholars say there is the intellect that is directed to livelihood—the smarts one has
to have to make money, earn and living, and so on (‘aql al-ma’ash). And then there is
the intellect that is used to uncover the deeper meanings and realities behind
things. This latter type is what Allah praises in the Quran.

Imam Raghib al-Asfahani says the Lubb is the intellect that is pure from alterities
(shawa’ib)—the intellect that directs one to seek good and pursue the path of good,
and to know what is evil and avoid them.

He says that it is the purified intellect. And this, he says, is what Allah says that
there are certain things that only people with purified intellects will grasp. Allah
َْ
َ ‫اﻷل‬ ‫َ َ َﱠ ُ ﱠ‬ ْ ‫َو َم ْن ُي ْؤ َت الح َم َة َﻓ َﻘ ْﺪ أو َ َخ‬
says: ‫اب‬
ِ ‫و‬‫ول‬‫أ‬ ‫إ‬ِ ‫ر‬ ‫ك‬‫ذ‬ ‫ا‬‫م‬‫و‬ ‫ا‬ ‫ث‬
ِ ‫ك‬ ‫ا‬ ِ ِ

Allah also says:

ِ ‫ت ِﻷُو ِلي ْاﻷ َ ْل َبا‬

‫ب‬ ِ ‫ف اللﱠ ْي ِل َوالنﱠ َه‬
ٍ ‫ار َﻵ َيا‬ ِ ‫اخ ِت َﻼ‬ ِ ‫ت َو ْاﻷ َ ْر‬
ْ ‫ض َو‬ ِ ‫س َم َوا‬ ِ ‫إِ ﱠن فِي خ َْل‬
‫ق ال ﱠ‬

Allah tells us that the stories in the Quran will only be understood by those who are
ۗ َۡ ُ‫ࣱ ﱢ‬ َ َ ۡ َ
Ulu al-Albab: ‫لﻘﺪ ان ِ ﻗ َﺼ ِﺼ ِﻬ ۡﻢ ِع ۡ َ ة ﻷ ۟و ِ ٱﻷل َب ٰ ِب‬
 ‘Verily in their narratives are lessons for the ulu al-albab’

‘Ibra is a lesson for reflection, contemplation. It is from the Arabic word for
‘passage’. Imam Razi says
َ‫ﱠ‬ ‫ُ ُ ُ ﱠ‬ ُ ْ َ َ ‫ﱠ‬ َ ‫َ ﱠ‬ َ ٌَ َ ْ ‫ْ ْ ﱠ‬
‫والمراد ِمﻨﻪ الت ﱡأم ُل والتف ُر‬ ،‫ول‬ ْ َ ُُ
ِ ‫اعلﻢ أن ِاﻻع ِت ار ِع ارة عن العبور ِمن الطر ِف المعل‬
ِ ‫وم إ الطر ِف المجﻬ‬

Know that I’tibar is from ‘ubur, which is to pass from one known frontier to an
unknown frontier . Its meaning here is contemplation and reflection.

As we seek to develop ourselves and become people of deeper understanding,

stories are a powerful method of teaching us how virtues are lived.

Imam Abu Hanifa famously said, ‘The biographies are a sword from the swords
of God.’ They are a sword because the cut through pretention and take ideals from
the realm of ideas—as abstract concepts—to the ground of lived experiences.

But there is a problem….

 We experience a disconnect and consider them supermen—nice stories but

unattainable to mere mortals like us.
 This disconnect gives us a skewed image of the events and a failure to derive the
proper lessons.

Let us hear a story from the Companions that gives us many practical lessons for our
lives here in 2023—despite how fantastic it sounds.

This is the story of the noble companion ‘Abdullah b. Hudhafa. ‘Abdullah b.

Hudhafa was one of the warriors of Badr. He was known for his seriousness in areas
that called for seriousness, and playfulness and levity in other matters. He was a fierce
warrior, but also one who would play practical jokes on others.
During the reign of Sayyiduna ‘Umar in the 19th year after the Hijra, ‘Abdullah b.
Hudhafa was sent with an army to the frontier of the Islamic empire bordering the
lands controlled by the Byzantine Empire—the Rum.

After a skirmish with the Rum, Allah willed that the Muslim army suffer a defeat,
and the survivors were taken as prisoners and transported to the interior of the
Byzantine Empire.

 The prisoners were separated. Every time the guards passed by ‘Abdullah b.
Hudhafa’s cell he was either in prayer, dhikr, or recitation of the Quran. He
had a warrior spirit and his strength of character caught their attention.

He was brought before the Qaysar. The Qaysar was amazed at his firmness and
offered him to become a Christian and hopefully join his army. He said, ‘Become a
Christian and I will let you go.’ ‘Abdullah b. Hudhafa said: ‫ إن الموت ﻷحب لى‬، ‫هيهات‬
‫ ألف مرة مما تدعونى إليه‬.

 The Qaysar really wanted him on his side, so he then said: ‘Join us, and I will
share power with you and give you control in my kingdom. ‘Abdullah b.
Hudhafa smiled and said, ‘If you gave me all that is possessed by the Arabs
and non-Arabs in return for leaving the way of the Prophet Muhammad
for even the blinking of an eye I would never do it.
 The Qaysar said, ‘Well then, I will kill you.’ Abdullah said, ‘Whatever you
want to do, do it.’
 The Qaysar wanted to pressure him, so he told the guards to starve him into
submission. They didn’t give him any food or water for three days, and when
they finally brought him food and drink, it was a plate of pork and a bottle of
wine. He was near death and could have eaten the pork and drank the wine,
but he refused. The guards said, ‘Aren’t you allowed to take them if you are
going to die?’ He said, ‘Yes, but I do not want to give you the satisfaction of
seeing me eat pork and drink wine!’
 The Qaysar was bluffing, so he had him returned to his cell. He sought the
advice of his counsel, and they suggested that Qaysar tempt him away from
Islam by having one of the women seduce him.
 His officials went around looking for the most beautiful women of the area.
They brought her and dressed her in fine attire and opened the door to his
 cell so should could enter and seduce him—and he was alone, strong, away
from his wife.
 The let her in and shut the door. As soon as he saw her he said ‘A’udhubillah!’
and faced the wall. When she approached him from the left he would go to
the right, and when she approached him from the right he would go to the
left. He shut his eyes and engaged in dhikr and du’a the entire time.
 This response was shocking to her. In fear, she went and banged on the cell
door. The guards opened in and, she hurried out. They asked her what
happened and she said, ‘By God, he does not know where I am a man or a
women [completely ignored me]—and by God, I do not know if it is a man
you sent me to, or a solid stone!

The Qaysar failed. So he had the guards bring him back. He threatened to crucify
him if he didn’t leave Islam and join him, but ‘Abdullah was unperturbed. Better
martyrdom in the path of Allah than kufr.

Calling his bluff, ‘Abdullah was sent back to the cell. Soon the Qaysar had another
idea. He had him returned. This time, however, the Qaysar had a large pot that was
filled with boiling oil. He brought one of the Muslim prisoners and had him
thrown into the pot of boiling oil.

‘Abdullah saw that ghastly death. The Qaysar had him brought close to the pot. As
he was drawing closer to the pot, ‘Abdullah began crying. The Qaysar stopped him.
‘Why are you crying?’ ‘Abdullah said, ‘I’m not crying because I fear death; I’m
crying because I have but one soul, and I wish that I had a soul for every hair on my
body that could receive the honor and reward of being martyred in the path of
Allah!’

The Qaysar was shocked at this determination and certainty. He didn’t really want
to kill him. He gave up, and said, ‘Okay, how about I release you if you kiss my
head?’

‘Abdullah said firmly, ‘No!’ ‘Not unless you release all of the other prisoners as
well.’
 The Qaysar was a man of his word, and he agreed. So ‘Abdullah considered it a
small sacrifice to kiss the Qaysar’s head. He went over and kissed his head, and, true
to his word, the Qaysar released him the other prisoners, and also gave him a large
sum of gold.

They made their way back to Medina after this ordeal. When they returned and the
news of this incident reached ‘Umar, he went to ‘Abdullah b. Hudhafa and
proclaimed, ‘By Allah, it is ‘Abdullah’s right upon every Muslim that they kiss his
head!’ Then he kissed his head.

SECOND KHUTBA
ۗ َۡ ُ‫ࣱ ﱢ‬ َ َ ۡ َ
‫لﻘﺪ ان ِ ﻗ َﺼ ِﺼ ِﻬ ۡﻢ ِع ۡ َ ة ﻷ ۟و ِ ٱﻷل َب ٰ ِب‬

 We hear these stories and say ‘Wow, how amazing’; we have inspiration for a
moment and then we go to the next thing in our lives. We don’t feel these stories
have anything to offer us in the here and now.

 We often project a superhuman image on the companions and saintly figures, and
this is a great problem that keeps us from benefiting from them in our practical
day-to-day lives, and gives us a skewed view of what it means to be pious.

 Story of man in Algeria travelling to Fez.

EVERYDAY LESSONS FROM THE STORY

Despite how incredible this story is, and how unlikely it is we will ever face such a
daunting test, there are still lessons in it that everyone of us can apply in his or her
daily life:

1. Turning to Allah in times of hardship—as soon as he was captured he turned to

Allah and made Allah his refuge. Who do we first turn to when times get tough?

2. Not feeling safe from sin and not relying on past piety as a sign that we are
impervious to ego. He didn’t feel safe from sin. No matter how pious you are, you
 can never feel safe from sin. We have desires, we have ego, and we can never feel
that we have attained a level where sins cannot harm us.

3. Having ‘izza, dignity, as a mawqif for people of influence—he was under

compulsion, and could have pretended to convert to save his life, but as a leader, he
had to take the high road and refuse that so he could hold the line for his troops.
This ‘izzat al-nafs comes from the strength of iman and character, and we should
always look to take the high road and not do or say things we don’t believe.

This is why he didn’t take the pork or wine—he could have, but he was the leader
and needed to break them and not show that they have broken him.

4. Ithar—imagine if you were in his position. Many of us would just think about
saving our own skins, but he refused even to kiss the Qaysar’s head unless he also
release the other prisoners. This is ithar. To prefer others over oneself. This is a
quality of the Ansar mentioned in the Quran—wa law kana bihim khasasa.

5. Honoring the Ansar—hadith applies to all Ansar. ‘Umar honored him, and we too
must honor all who are Ansar to the Din. The scholars, teachers, volunteers, those
who sacrifice for Allah’s word to be elevated and uppermost. It is from iman to
honor those who sacrifice for the Deen, and it is from nifaq to hate them,
undermine them, or have animosity toward them.

We can live these virtues in our daily lives even without experiencing something as
extreme as what ‘Abdullah went through:

1] Turning to Allah immediately when times get tough

2] Never feeling safe from falling into sin
3] Being dignified people, people of honor and halal pride.
4] Preferring others over ourselves
5] Honoring those who sacrifice for the Deen.