The Harmony of Hearts: Kinship and Brotherhood

Occasion: A transcription of a lecture delivered on August 8, 2017Source: A transcription of a video lecture by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

O Allah, we ask You for the good of this night, the good of what is in it and the good of what comes after it, and we seek refuge in You from the evil of this night, the evil of what is in it and the evil of what comes after it. And we ask You, our Lord, to set right our hearts for us, to soothe our thoughts, to calm our fears, to preserve for us the well-being of our hearts, and to protect us from before us and behind us, from our right and from our left. And we seek refuge in Your majesty, glory be to You, from the whisperings of the devil, from the misfortunes of time, and from the turns of the days. O Allah, we seek refuge in You from Your decreeing for us a decree that would bring us to Hell, and we ask You, our Lord, to be gentle with us in every matter, to ease for us the paths of obedience to You, to make our hearts content with Your decree and Your measure, and to keep us on the straight path that You are pleased with for us, on the guidance of the God-fearing, and in the bliss of those who love You and are humble before You, by Your mercy, O Lord of the worlds.

What Is the Meaning of the Raḥim?

On this good night in which we sense the breeze of faith, let us ask together: What is the meaning of the word raḥim (kinship, the womb) of which the Lord of the worlds spoke in His words: ﴿الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ﴾ (the One in whose name you ask one another, and the ties of kinship)?^[1]

The raḥim is a relationship between people. Its cause may be the womb of the woman from which the new generation comes out, or its cause may be a religion that binds creation together, or it may be knowledge that brings people's minds together. So what does it mean? It is a point of meeting where creation gathers, then they go out from it and their bodies grow apart but their hearts do not differ. They set out from it, even if they spread over the whole earth, and yet parts of that blood remain tying them together. And in the raḥim of knowledge the idea continues to bind those who belong to knowledge. And in the field of religion the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ continue to bind the hearts of creation, so that they come together.

The Brotherhood of Medina

When the Prophet ﷺ migrated from Mecca to Medina he created in Medina a new raḥim, which was afterwards called the brotherhood (al-muʾākhāh). Its meaning is that I feel that I have a brother, indeed I sense it, indeed I find it; it is not mere supposition, as if I were to say from afar: Perhaps this one is my brother or perhaps not. No, rather I sense him with a sense that action points to: that I find what you have is for me, that I find myself a ransom for you, that I find my heart beating for your pain, that I find your mind thinking about my future, that I find between us shared feelings that gather us along the whole road, which the devil can in no stage penetrate by any means.

And when the Prophet ﷺ arrived in Medina he created in it this new raḥim through the brotherhood between the Muhājirūn and the Anṣār. Why? So that they would be one heart though the hands differ, one faith though minds differ in thinking, one certainty though souls differ in degrees of steadfastness, and so that they would be one hand against their enemy.

The Generosity of the Anṣār

When the Prophet ﷺ paired the Muhājirūn with the Anṣār we found from the Anṣār the utmost generosity: Take everything you want, and more than you want, indeed take everything I own, I want nothing of it, you are in my place. So much so that some narrations tell that one of them would say to his brother in Islam: This is my wealth, between you and me, half and half. And this is a matter that does not happen today; we see siblings quarrel over a debt and a dirham and a piece of fruit: You took this and I didn't, and you took more than me and I took less than you. But the Prophet ﷺ created this raḥim to the point that we found among the Anṣār one who says to his brother: This is my house, let us divide it, and this is my wealth, let us share it. Indeed, some narrations tell that he said: And these are my wives, whichever of them you are pleased with, I will separate from her after you choose her, and she will be your wife according to the Book of Allah, the Exalted, and the Sunnah of His Messenger.

And some people comment on these words and say: Were the women like chairs in the house, you take one and leave the other? We say: We must think with a deeper understanding, and this speech may be said by way of exaggeration in giving. So if a guest comes to us in Egypt we say to him: Wow, you light up our place! I'd slaughter one of my sons for you! And of course this speech has no basis in truth, it is only by way of the utmost exaggeration in honoring, as if I were ransoming your visit with one of my sons. So this is the spirit that existed.

The Self-Sufficiency of the Muhājirūn

And this spirit of giving among the Anṣār was met by a spirit more transparent and greater in effect, which is the self-sufficiency of the Muhājirūn; these give most of what they own, and those make do as much as they can.

An example of that, just an example, is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf (may Allah be pleased with him). We know that people left Mecca for Medina with nothing of the goods of this world, owning nothing but their religion, which they fled with to Allah, blessed and exalted. And when they settled in Medina, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf was one of those, and the Prophet ﷺ was witnessing the situation and following events, and the news comes about ʿAbd al-Raḥmān that he said to his brother in Islam: May Allah bless you in your wealth and your family and your dependents, show me the market, give me a place and show me where I can work, so that I may earn a penny and some money. And the days turn, and this self-sufficiency in ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf produces a fortune that people cannot count, a huge fortune.

A Caravan That Shakes the Walls of Medina

And in one of the narrations, Lady ʿĀʾishah (may Allah, the Exalted, be pleased with her) was in her place some time after the death of the Prophet ﷺ, and a sound came from outside the house, a commotion as though the walls of the houses were shaking from it, and as though something strange were happening outside. She asked: What is this? What is this commotion? What is this loud noise? They said to her: A caravan of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf has come to Medina, a group of camels loaded with goods, with their saddles and their saddle-cloths.^[4] And imagine with me a group of very large trucks crossing the street loaded with goods to the brim, and of the most precious goods, this is the description that exists now, passing between the walls of Medina with their weight on their backs. And Professor Khālid Muḥammad Khālid, may Allah have mercy on him, used to say: «And I see the walls of Medina shaking from the passage of these camels between its streets.»

So the Mother of the Believers (may Allah, the Exalted, be pleased with her) said: Glory be to Allah! May Allah have mercy on ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, the Prophet ﷺ spoke about him saying: «يا عبد الرحمن، أراك تتعثّر على الصراط يوم القيامة» (O ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, I see you stumbling on the Bridge (al-Ṣirāṭ) on the Day of Resurrection).^[2]

Allahu akbar! And he was among the first to Islam, and among those whom Allah favored with the blessing of looking at the face of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, and among those who had no prominent disobedience with which he could ever be branded, and yet the servant fears to be thrown on his face on the Bridge as he passes. And you know, may Allah bless you, that on the Bridge there are hooks that snatch creation, and that some people pass over it like lightning, and some pass like light, and some pass like a lean, swift thoroughbred horse, and some people… [the rest of the description is unclear in the transcript].

So ʿAbd al-Raḥmān heard the news, and came hurrying, leaving everything before him, running, and said: O Mother of the Believers, did you hear that from the Prophet ﷺ? She said: O Allah, yes. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said: And what did he say? She said: He said to you, and you are present, O ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: «أنفِق تُطلِق قدمك» (Spend, and your foot will be freed). That is: in proportion to what you give you will be light on the Bridge, you will know how to run swiftly. He said: By Allah, I call Allah, the Exalted, to witness that the caravan with its saddles and its saddle-cloths… [the rest of the phrase is confused in the transcript, and it contains a mention of food and his saying: «if the report is sound in that», so it was not retained].

Then the lecturer turned to those present, most of whom work in trade: One of us came from his country barely, with a bag on his shoulder with some clothes, or a small sack with some clothes on the road, we came with nothing, and Allah, the Exalted, enriched us from His bounty, provided for us from His giving, and poured upon us of His blessings more than we imagined. And he said that he was certain that all those sitting before him, Allah, the Exalted, had given them more than they ever imagined, and that they are in comfortable living by the grace and blessings of Allah.

Incitement: The Devil's Contentment

Then after that the devil comes to say a word that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke about. So what does he say? The Prophet ﷺ said: «إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ قَدْ أَيِسَ أَنْ يُعْبَدَ فِي أَرْضِكُمْ، وَلَكِنَّهُ رَضِيَ بِالتَّحْرِيشِ فِيمَا بَيْنَكُمْ» (Indeed the devil has despaired of being worshipped in your land, but he is content with inciting among you).^[3]

So the devil has despaired, he has raised his hand; he will never try to set himself up as a god so that you worship him, that story is over. So does he sit idle, out of work? No, but he is content with inciting between us. He enters and throws a word here between so-and-so and so-and-so, and we busy ourselves with it for two days and three and four and five, back and forth, we said and they said, and we sat and stood and talked and got tired and were pleased and got angry, and we waste three or four of our days because of a word that came out of one person, or because of two pennies that disappeared somewhere, so we go around and come and go and put up and put down. Then what after that? A problem, even if small, but he is content with inciting among us. And the devil's aim is that we remain like boiling water, so that he does not let a voice of ours be silent nor a taste of ours be palatable. The devil is very pleased with this, very happy, and that is his goal.

And the wise one is he who sets himself in a position that many of creation cannot reach. And the Prophet ﷺ will describe for us who are the people who can attain the highest station, saying ﷺ in what he relates from the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, the Exalted… [the ḥadīth connects to the following lecture].

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The wording in the transcript is the cited portion of the verse, which is in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: 1, and its completion is: ﴿وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي تَسَاءَلُونَ بِهِ وَالْأَرْحَامَ﴾. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The editor did not find this wording or its chain, and it is retained as it came in the lecturer's speech. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Muslim narrated from the ḥadīth of Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him): «إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ قَدْ أَيِسَ أَنْ يَعْبُدَهُ الْمُصَلُّونَ فِي جَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِ، وَلَكِنْ فِي التَّحْرِيشِ بَيْنَهُمْ». The lecturer's wording differs from it, and it is retained as he said it. ^[4]: Editor's documentation: The phrase «بأقتابها وأحلاسها» ("with their saddles and their saddle-cloths") is an estimate of the transcript's disordered phrase («باق تبه واحلاسكس»), and likewise the form of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān's question «أتيتِ عن النبي ﷺ بذلك؟» ("did you hear that from the Prophet ﷺ?") is built on a disordered phrase («ايت عن النبي ذلك»). And the lecturer mentioned the number of camels in a disordered form («70 … 70»), so it was not retained.