Indeed, all praises and thanks are due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His Help and and we seek His Forgiveness. And we take refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and from the bad of our actions. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide. And whomever Allah misguides, none can guide. And I testify that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I testify that Muḥammad is His slave and messenger. May blessings and peace be upon him, and upon his family and companions.
To proceed:
The upcoming day of ‘Āshūrā’ – the 10th Day of the sacred month of Muḥarram, the first month of the Islamic calendar – is a special day as it was the day Allah saved Prophet Mūsā and his people, the Israelites, from the clutches of the Pharaoh – the biggest tyrant to have lived in human history – and his army. A story full of lessons, in shā' Allāh, within these next few minutes we will go through just one of these lessons, but it's a lesson I hope ALL of you can internalise and put into practice, bi idhni llāh.
Allah sent Prophet Mūsā with a huge task: to face the greatest oppressor that ever lived and invite him and his people to Islam. He was sent on a mission to make truth prevail over falsehood, a struggle against corruption, injustice and oppression. Now, on the night which marked the beginning of his mission, Mūsā is instructed by Allah to throw his staff on the ground. Upon doing so, the staff suddenly turns into a huge snake moving around rapidly. Put yourself in this situation: an item of yours you've had for so long suddenly turning into this giant snake slithering around everywhere in the middle of a desert at night. Wouldn't that be a scary situation? So then Allah instructs Mūsā:
"Grab it and don't be afraid – We will return it to its original state." (Qur’ān 20:21)
Listen up now: this is where an important lesson is being taught. We learn from this short tale that: 1) Prophet Mūsā obeys Allah without any excuse. He does as he's told by picking up this large, slithering snake. 2) He is courageous and brave in doing so. His natural human fear did not get the better of him. 3) He demonstrated a complete trust in Allah; he fully trusted that Allah would return the snake to how it originally was and that the snake would not harm him. He trusted that Allah will manage everything even when things didn't appear to be in his favour, even when things seem not to be going right, for Allah's promise is undoubtedly true.
Obedience, courage, trust. These three things were to play an important role for the rest of Prophet Mūsā's life. How? Mūsā would obey Allah in every command, even the most difficult of ones, such as facing the Pharaoh, this great tyrant ruler of Egypt, a task no one else would've even thought of doing. Mūsā would carry out his task with great courage, bravely resisting the threats, intimidation and persecution of the Pharaoh and his regime. And Mūsā would have the trust in Allah that the success and victory promised by Allah would definitely come to be, even when it seemed distant.
Now then, let's apply the lesson from this story to our present situation. Prophet Mūsā was on a mission to preach Lā ilāha illa Llāh. So are we. He was on a mission to fight for what was right. So are we. He was on a mission to make truth triumph over falsehood, justice over injustice. So are we. As Muslims who are part of the nation of Muhammad (ﷺ), we shoulder all these responsibilities. And to do so, we will need to obey Allah in all of His commands. We will also need to instil in ourselves the courage and bravery needed for this task. We should be able to stand up for the truth without fear of being criticised and insulted by those who oppose the truth, without fear of being abandoned by friends and family, without fear of loss of anything worldly. And we will also need to have complete trust in Allah, such that our trust that help and success will eventually come is greater than what our eyes and ears tell us about help and success being far-fetched.
The day of ‘Āshūrā’ has been made sunnah to fast on. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that fasting this day wipes out the sins of the previous year. So I encourage you to take this chance and fast this esteemed day. One should also fast the day before it or after it.
However, more importantly, take heed of the legacy of this day. A legacy of standing up for truth against falsehood, for right against wrong, for justice against injustice. A legacy that requires us all to obey our Lord, be courageous for His sake and place our complete trust in Him. This is the beginning of a new Islamic year. Let this be your new year's resolution.
To proceed:
The upcoming day of ‘Āshūrā’ – the 10th Day of the sacred month of Muḥarram, the first month of the Islamic calendar – is a special day as it was the day Allah saved Prophet Mūsā and his people, the Israelites, from the clutches of the Pharaoh – the biggest tyrant to have lived in human history – and his army. A story full of lessons, in shā' Allāh, within these next few minutes we will go through just one of these lessons, but it's a lesson I hope ALL of you can internalise and put into practice, bi idhni llāh.
Allah sent Prophet Mūsā with a huge task: to face the greatest oppressor that ever lived and invite him and his people to Islam. He was sent on a mission to make truth prevail over falsehood, a struggle against corruption, injustice and oppression. Now, on the night which marked the beginning of his mission, Mūsā is instructed by Allah to throw his staff on the ground. Upon doing so, the staff suddenly turns into a huge snake moving around rapidly. Put yourself in this situation: an item of yours you've had for so long suddenly turning into this giant snake slithering around everywhere in the middle of a desert at night. Wouldn't that be a scary situation? So then Allah instructs Mūsā:
قَالَ خُذْهَا وَلَا تَخَفْ ۖ سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا ٱلْأُولَىٰ
Listen up now: this is where an important lesson is being taught. We learn from this short tale that: 1) Prophet Mūsā obeys Allah without any excuse. He does as he's told by picking up this large, slithering snake. 2) He is courageous and brave in doing so. His natural human fear did not get the better of him. 3) He demonstrated a complete trust in Allah; he fully trusted that Allah would return the snake to how it originally was and that the snake would not harm him. He trusted that Allah will manage everything even when things didn't appear to be in his favour, even when things seem not to be going right, for Allah's promise is undoubtedly true.
Obedience, courage, trust. These three things were to play an important role for the rest of Prophet Mūsā's life. How? Mūsā would obey Allah in every command, even the most difficult of ones, such as facing the Pharaoh, this great tyrant ruler of Egypt, a task no one else would've even thought of doing. Mūsā would carry out his task with great courage, bravely resisting the threats, intimidation and persecution of the Pharaoh and his regime. And Mūsā would have the trust in Allah that the success and victory promised by Allah would definitely come to be, even when it seemed distant.
Now then, let's apply the lesson from this story to our present situation. Prophet Mūsā was on a mission to preach Lā ilāha illa Llāh. So are we. He was on a mission to fight for what was right. So are we. He was on a mission to make truth triumph over falsehood, justice over injustice. So are we. As Muslims who are part of the nation of Muhammad (ﷺ), we shoulder all these responsibilities. And to do so, we will need to obey Allah in all of His commands. We will also need to instil in ourselves the courage and bravery needed for this task. We should be able to stand up for the truth without fear of being criticised and insulted by those who oppose the truth, without fear of being abandoned by friends and family, without fear of loss of anything worldly. And we will also need to have complete trust in Allah, such that our trust that help and success will eventually come is greater than what our eyes and ears tell us about help and success being far-fetched.
The day of ‘Āshūrā’ has been made sunnah to fast on. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that fasting this day wipes out the sins of the previous year. So I encourage you to take this chance and fast this esteemed day. One should also fast the day before it or after it.
However, more importantly, take heed of the legacy of this day. A legacy of standing up for truth against falsehood, for right against wrong, for justice against injustice. A legacy that requires us all to obey our Lord, be courageous for His sake and place our complete trust in Him. This is the beginning of a new Islamic year. Let this be your new year's resolution.
An additional point: we should also reflect on the legacy of our master Husayn, the grandson of the master of all of all human beings (ﷺ), the obedient, courageous and trusting slave of Allah who sacrificed himself in defence of the truth, in defence of the sunnah of his beloved grandfather (ﷺ), at all costs, even if it meant losing his life, something which eventually came to occur on the day of `Ashura'.
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