
Jump to:
Khutbahs
Ashura is Not Nostalgia | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman
Allah is not subject to the laws of nature. He commands them. From the Red Sea splitting into two massive walls for Musa (as), to the earth erupting with water for Nuh (as), to the fire cooling for Ibrahim (as)—Ashura is the day when divine will overrides every earthly limit. Allah does not need your logic. He only needs your trust.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and by bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for him. And we bear witness that Muhammad (ﷺ) is his final messenger.
We ask Allah to send his peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him,
and those that follow his example until the day of judgment. We ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, we all know that we are in the weekend of Ashura.
And insha'Allah ta'ala tomorrow is a day of fasting. It is a day of emphasized voluntary fasting. You are not sinful if you miss it.
But the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned that the reward of fasting the day of Ashura is an expiation bi'idhnillahi ta'ala for a year of previous sins.
And we are in the new year of Muharram and therefore everything that you have committed over the year up until Muharram bi'idhnillahi ta'ala we pray that it will be a day of forgiveness.
And that is of course a great manifestation of the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But just like Ramadan is connected to the revelation of the Quran, and just like Arafah is connected to the initial covenant that we took with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
Ashura has a historical significance. It's based in something historic.
And that is of course that the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned that this was the day, or rather he found people commemorating this day, the Jewish tribes of Medina,
because this was the day that Musa alayhi as-salam was given victory over the Fir'aun. نحن أولى بموسى منكم And we are closer to Musa alayhi as-salam than the people of the book.
We love him, we're attached to him alayhi as-salam, we celebrate his victory, we are connected to him in triumph and we are connected to him in tragedy.
And of course there are other narrations that this is the day of the arrival of the Ark of Nuh alayhi as-salam, where Allah azza wa jal delivered him from safety.
And we know that afterwards this is the day in which Imam Hussain (رضي الله عنه) was massacred and martyred in the battlefield of Karbala,
attaining victory in a different way with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the victory of istishad, the victory of martyrdom.
But I want to actually connect it back to how the Prophet (ﷺ) and the companions would have felt as they entered into Al-Madinah al-Munawwara,
and as they came into interaction with this day for what it represented historically. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) migrated in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, the month that he was born.
And so he did not actually arrive in Madinah, even though it's a Hijri calendar, we base our calendar from the Hijri New Year, he did not arrive in the first month of the Hijri calendar.
Rather the Prophet (ﷺ) arrived in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal.
And therefore Muharram would have shown up after the Prophet (ﷺ) would have spent almost a year settling in Al-Madinah al-Munawwara with his companions,
the first time that they would fast Ashura in connection with the victory of Musa alayhi as-salam over the Fir'aun.
It would only be a few months after that fast of Ashura that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would grant the Prophet (ﷺ) and his companions victory
in the month of Ramadan that same year in the Battle of Badr.
Pay attention, you come into interaction with this day, you fast this day as a form of gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the victory that Allah gave to Musa alayhi as-salam over Fir'aun.
A few months later you are granted victory over the Fir'aun of this Ummah, Abu Jahl.
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) mounts, gets on top of Abu Jahl as he is breathing his last breaths and looks down at him.
Victory is for Allah, O enemy of Allah. The Fir'aun of this Ummah is gone.
The improbable victory has been realized that would give the Muslims a certain psychology, a certain type of attitude towards everything that would follow.
And so you have the fasting in gratitude for Musa's victory over the Fir'aun. A few months later, your victory over your Fir'aun.
And then a year later in Shawwal of the third year after Hijrah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tests you with the Battle of Uhud.
Where instead of standing on top of your Pharaoh, your enemies gloat over your dead bodies and chant a day for a day, victory for victory, our dead for your dead.
And that's only the second year you're fasting Ashura. And there is a connection here. What happened here that was different. And so the very first thing that I want us to appreciate is actually the title of the khutbah.
That Ashura is not some sort of nostalgia. It's not some sort of memory that you pull out and you say, oh, once upon a time there was this big bad man named Pharaoh. And there was this great man named Moses.
And Musa alayhi as-salam overcame Fir'aun. And we should celebrate that out of gratitude. That's not how this works.
The companions of the Prophet (ﷺ) to the messenger of Allah (ﷺ) himself, this was so situated in the presence. We are facing a Fir'aun who has run us out of our homes. We've already left Mecca to Medina.
And they are coming to finish the job. And we are for all purposes like Musa alayhi as-salam standing with our backs against the wall because there is nowhere to go forward.
And there is an army behind us that's ready to massacre us. It is very present to the Prophet (ﷺ) and his companions.
And it is so much more than fasting with a distant memory of a victory that Allah azza wa jal once upon a time granted. So that's the first thing I want us to understand.
And then Uhud causes you to reflect in an entirely different way. You have to learn to come to terms with a different outcome than what happened in Badr.
You have to learn to come to terms with bloody bodies, dismembered bodies of the greatest people in your midst in your hands. And burying them and having the gloating of your enemy. What went wrong?
Did the divine scheme change? Or did something change for us? Did something change for us? The divine scheme remains. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
إِن تَنصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنصُرُكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ When you support Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah azza wa jal will support you. And He will make your feet firm. The divine scheme remains intact.
But we know that Uhud, technically, technically, is the disobedience of 40 people who came down from the mountain prematurely before the Prophet (ﷺ) allowed them to do so.
And everybody had to pay the price. The consequence was felt by everybody. Now here's the beauty of the divine scheme. If you were talking to Hamza (رضي الله عنه) right now, and the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
I saw Hamza (رضي الله عنه) reclining on a couch in al-Jannah. If you were to talk to Hamza (رضي الله عنه), do you think Hamza (رضي الله عنه) would be saying, if I could get my hands on those 40 people? They lost it for us.
We were so close. Victory was within reach. Those 40 people messed it up for us. You think that's what Hamza (رضي الله عنه) is saying? You think that's what the shuhada of Uhud are saying? Or are they, as Allah said,
فَرِحِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ Pleased with what Allah azza wa jal gave to them. Assured in their own victory. Enjoying the fruits of their labor.
Pleased with the divine scheme in the holistic sense as it encompasses the dunya and the akhira. They're pleased. Alhamdulillah, Allah azza wa jal had a different plan that had to continue to unfold
for those that were left on this earth. But as far as we're concerned, we've already achieved victory. We've already achieved victory. We've submitted ourselves to those outcomes. We've submitted ourselves to those outcomes.
Therefore, we're not mad at the 40. We're pleased with Allah. And we are fully satisfied with the outcome. Now here's what I want us to pay attention to, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala.
I want to give you four incidents, and I want you to pay attention to them, insha'Allah ta'ala. The first one is Musa alayhi as-salam, when he defeats the pharaoh. And how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can break every single law of nature as he sees fit
because Allah is the author of those laws. Not you. And when we put our logic over his miracles, and when we place our odds over his qadr, over his divine decree,
we've already lost the plot before it even started. Case of Musa alayhi as-salam. Musa alayhi as-salam is in front of the water with his companions on that day of Ashura. And what's happening here?
Right? Allah azza wa jal tells Musa alayhi as-salam to strike the sea. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala parts the sea. But pay attention to the details because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not give you details unless they are relevant.
كالطود العظيم There's a visual here. Imagine the sea parting, and then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala turning each side of the sea into a mountain. It was like a mountain.
Can you imagine the visual? Musa alayhi as-salam standing with his people, and his people saying to him, إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ We've been caught. We're done. Give it up. The odds are against us.
كَلَّا إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ No, no. Allah is with me. He's going to guide me. And Musa alayhi as-salam strikes the sea, and Allah azza wa jal turns the seas into two mountains,
frozen in space. And they just walk through. Suddenly it's a completely dry earth in front of them, and you have two mountains of water. Here's the thing.
Allah azza wa jal controls the laws of nature. Musa alayhi as-salam is not surprised by this. This is how his relationship with Allah azza wa jal is.
Notice that Musa alayhi as-salam has gone through many trials and tribulations in the past, and he doesn't turn back to Allah and say, Oh Allah, if you could have done this the whole time, then why couldn't this have happened just back then, and it'd be over with.
Musa alayhi as-salam proceeds. Fir'aun is a materialist. Fir'aun, as Imam al-Tabari rahimahu Allah says, he thinks, well whatever just froze these two bodies of water on the side,
if the laws of nature bent for him, they bent for me too. So Fir'aun willingly walks into it because he says, well clearly whatever scheme is out there, and whatever nature is out there,
it works for him, it's going to work for me as well. So he willingly enters into that path, like the fool that he is. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala breaks down that water and drowns him and his people
in that moment with that same water. Pay attention to the elements. There's an obstacle ahead, there's an enemy behind, there are naysayers present.
This is actually the case of every single one of these stories by the way. And by the way, if your political commentary on Gaza sounds like, we're done,
then how are you fasting in solidarity or in gratitude with Musa alayhi as-salam who's saying, if your heart is actually there, then you need to be reprogrammed.
You need to be reprogrammed. So there are naysayers, there's an enemy behind, there's an obstacle in front, and there are doubters, naysayers that are present. And Allah azza wa jal takes care of all of those elements.
And what happens? The law of nature. The water is frozen into mountains. Now come to Nuh alayhi as-salam. Another incident.
Nuh alayhi as-salam was building his ark on dry land. There are no elements of a flood. The people are walking by him and mocking him. Like, what are you doing over there?
Building the ark like Allah azza wa jal commanded me to. Can you imagine someone in the middle of a desert building an ark, preparing for a big flood? What flood are you talking about? Not only that, Imam al-Qurtubi rahimahullah says,
there was not a cloud in the sky when the flood actually happened. So the enemies are walking by, mocking Nuh alayhi as-salam, he's building his ark. You can imagine that his followers are not all of the same quality.
Some of them are probably like, what's happening here? We're building this ark for a flood. Where is the flood? No clouds in the sky. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says what?
فَفَجَّرْنَا الْأَرْضَ عُيُونًا Subhanallah. The flood came from under. Allah cracked the earth and the flood actually came from under. So it didn't even come from above. They're looking above and they're saying,
no clouds in the sky, we're not really worried about this. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brought it from the place that they did not actually anticipate. Because we've never heard of a flood from below. But it happens that way.
Connect to Ibrahim alayhi as-salam. And we're just coming out of Dhul Hijjah. When Ibrahim alayhi as-salam is being thrown into the fire, the fire remained. It still burned.
It was still a hardship. It was still very difficult. There's still the humiliation. And we're coming out of Ibrahim alayhi as-salam. And Ibrahim alayhi as-salam is thrown into the fire. And Allah did not extinguish the fire, He just changed its nature.
يَا نَارُ كُونِي بَرْدًا وَسَلَامًا عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ Fire, be cool and peaceful upon Ibrahim alayhi as-salam. Don't burn. Be cool and peaceful. So it still burned as far as the visual was concerned.
But Ibrahim alayhi as-salam did not feel the pain of it at all. And he walked out of that fire unharmed. And then you come to finally the fourth incident. So you got the people, subhanAllah, the people mocking in every single one of these incidents.
There are the naysayers, Ibrahim alayhi as-salam. Imagine the whole crowd is against you. And no one is with you. Except for your wife, Sabah. Fourth incident is Al-Husayn (رضي الله عنه), who historically was martyred on this day.
He goes out there, and yes, he made a plan. He strategically had something in place. The plan came apart. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tested him with shahada.
People let him down, betrayed him, did not come out to fight alongside him. But guess what? The sword actually cut. Struck his neck. The same way that it cut Hamza (رضي الله عنه).
Husayn (رضي الله عنه) was martyred. استشهد. Allah did not change the law of nature. There were people, there is an obstacle ahead, an obstacle behind.
Now I want to make this practical and I need to start wrapping up my khutbah and I understand that. The first thing, the du'a of the Prophet (ﷺ).
وَاحْفَظْنِي مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيَّ وَمِنْ خَلْفِي وَعَنْ يَمِينِي وَعَنْ شِمَالِي وَمِنْ فَوْقِي وَأَعُوذُ بِعَظَمَتِكَ أَنْ أُغْتَالَ مِنْ تَحْتِي One of the morning and evening remembrances of the Prophet (ﷺ) is,
Oh Allah, protect me from ahead of me, from behind me, from my right, from my left, from above me, and I seek refuge in you from being pulled from beneath me. The reality is that you need Allah azza wa jal's protection from all directions.
The ones that you know and the ones that you don't know. So make those types of du'a even when things become very, very difficult. The second thing, dear brothers and sisters, and it's extremely important,
that if when you make du'a, you are functionally an atheist in your du'a. What do I mean by that? You've subjected yourself entirely to the odds and to the logic of the situation,
so when you're making your du'a, unless you can logically believe it, you don't even bother making that du'a. You don't ask Allah to change what seems to be an impossible situation,
and even if you do, you do it mechanically, like as a formality, because the odds are too large. The laws of nature are there. By the way, there's a difference between الأخذ بالأسباب
to take the means for victory and to do what you need to do while you make your du'a and put your trust in Allah, and actually worshipping the means, and being subjected to the means. And if you can't see the means changing in your favor,
then your du'a is weak or non-existent as a whole. That's not the way the believer makes his du'a. It's not the way the believer calls upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's not just for overcoming a large enemy.
That's for overcoming a disease. That is for overcoming an impossible situation. That's for seeing yourself through what appears to be an inevitably broken marriage. That's what you do
when you find yourself being oppressed at a micro level by someone, and you feel like, no one's gonna believe me, I have no way to actually overcome this oppressor. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not subjected to those means. Allah is not subjected to those odds.
So when you make those du'as, don't make those du'as with those calculations of the odds, and say it just went from 60% to 80% to 90%, and your du'a is proportional to the logic and to the odds.
That's problematic. Believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Believe in Allah azza wa jal's power. Believe in His ability to change what's a quote-unquote impossible situation. This isn't nostalgia, that's why you're fasting.
That's why you're connecting to these incidents. And whether that's your grand political analysis, or on a deeply personal level, renew that tawakkul in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
But then there is a last element to this as well. There's a difference between submitting yourself to the outcome and being defeated by what you think the outcome is going to be. There's a huge difference in our deen
between defeat and submission. Submission is like al-Imam al-Husayn (رضي الله عنه) in the battlefield, that if Allah azza wa jal has destined for me martyrdom, الحمد لله.
And if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sees a purpose for me on this earth, past this battlefield, الحمد لله. Because I'm not living for myself, I'm living for Allah. It goes back to the nature of the purpose of your life. If I'm here to worship Allah,
so long as Allah sees a function for me on this earth to worship Him and to do something, الحمد لله. And if Allah azza wa jal has destined another outcome, الحمد لله. Then roll back.
Ibrahim alayhi as-salam, when he was being thrown into that fire, was fully prepared to accept the idea that he was going to burn in that fire and die. He'd already come to terms with that reality.
It's not like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told him what was going to happen. But there was more to his story on this earth. And we see what happened after him now.
Musa alayhi as-salam, when he was standing in front of the Red Sea, you know what's amazing? Is that you would think, like when you look at the seerah of the Prophet (ﷺ),
like Badr was in preparation for what's going to come for Uhud. Uhud prepared them for the eventual Fath of Mecca, the conquest of Mecca, right? There's something to be built on it. There's this grand episode that exists after you come through this incredible miracle.
What happened with Musa alayhi as-salam and his people once they made it through the Red Sea? You know what happened? His people disobeyed him and they ended up living, wandering in the desert.
Until Musa alayhi as-salam died outside of Jerusalem. Not able to enter because of what his people had done. What was the point of what unfolded after? Allah knows best.
Musa alayhi as-salam submitted himself to the outcome. Nuh alayhi as-salam, Ya Allah, am I going to get more followers after this? No. You told me build an ark, dry land, rain or shine, I'm going to do it.
And I submit myself to the outcome. Submission to the outcome is not being defeated by the outcome, dear brothers and sisters. I'm pleased with what Allah is going to choose for me after this.
But I call upon Him trusting His power and His wisdom in every single one of these situations. And the power of the naysayer's voice,
the other people in the room, the inna lamudraqun, we're done for, the people mocking Nuh alayhi as-salam, the people jeering when Ibrahim alayhi as-salam is about to be thrown into the fire.
Those people that are around, the power of their function is that there is no voice that causes you to have doubt more so than a voice that sounds like yours. It's a mighty test.
The human voice, right? That tells you, are you sure about this? You're not going to get through this. You're done. And we have to see through the laughter of the devil,
whether that's Benjamin Netanyahu or otherwise, and the gloating, we have to see through the laughter. And we have to see through the naysayers and the traitors and the doubters
and make sure that our hearts are as full of faith as Musa alayhi as-salam, as Nuh alayhi as-salam, as Ibrahim alayhi as-salam, as Muhammad (ﷺ), as all of the righteous ones that came before us.
May Allah azza wa jal renew our tawakkul in these days and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us and our ummah victory over the supposedly impossible barriers that lie ahead.
اللهم آمين. أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرحيم.
Alhamdulillah, wa as-salatu was-salamu 'ala rasulillah wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man walah. Rabbana la tu'akhidhna in naseena aw akhta'na.
Rabbana wa la tahmil 'alayna isran kama hamaltahu 'ala allatheena min qablina. Rabbana wa la tuhamilna ma la taqata lana bih. Wa'fu 'anna waghfir lana warhamna. Anta mawlana fansurna 'ala al-qawmi al-kafireen. Wa sallallahu wa sallama 'ala nabiyyina Muhammad wa 'ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een.
Wa aqimu salaam. Thank you.


































































































































































































































































































