I think many of us would say in the last month and a half you experience a sudden emotion of sadness that strikes you in the middle of a moment of joy and happiness meaning Subhan Allah you might find yourself in a situation where you’re enjoying something the way that Allah subhana T
Programmed you to enjoy certain things you’re enjoying the company of family you’re enjoying the company of friends you are smiling and then suddenly an image comes to your mind and you start to think about what is happening to our brothers and sisters in Gaza may Allah
Subhana wa tala free them and give them Victory Allah and suddenly sadness overtakes you and there’s a term that I heard a few times and that I’ve thought about over the last month and a half called Survivor guilt now if you look up Survivor guilt
And I’m not going to give you an overly technical term because the term is actually pretty self-explanatory right it switches the why me Paradigm to why them meaning Subhan Allah before October 7th I think that a lot of people would have been asking questions about why are certain things happening to them
And maybe that was causing them sadness but now a lot of us are looking towards what is happening to our brothers and sisters and thinking why is this pain being inflicted upon them and not me and the why here can come from a place of Doubt doubting Allah subhana waala may
Allah protect us from that or it can come from a place of why me as in what does Allah expect of me why has Allah subhana wa taala not tested me the way that he’s tested those people and I wanted to actually read into the SE of the prophet
Sallallahu alaihi wasallam and the companions with this concept that is being spoken about so often now survivors guilt and I want to begin with the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam years after the battle of now subh Allah we just came back from and it was very emotional to visit because it’s
So relevant to the moment that we are in right now and every single companion that lived or touched uh in some way whether they were present on the battlefield or they lost someone in the battlefield of uh whether they saw the scenes themselves or the scenes were described
To them decades later when Islam was Victorious and they started to see some of the goodness of this world that their companions at did not see they would reflect on that and so you find multiple narrations that have to do with this one of them is a narration of and we know
Whd is he’s a man who Allah subhah waala blessed with ease and comfort and wealth before Islam during Islam and after Islam throughout his entire life he generally lived a life of great wealth and a life of great comfort and he is one of one of the 10 promised
Paradise precisely because he wasn’t distracted from his Pursuit Of Paradise By the Doors of this D that were opened up to him and one day is eating and suddenly in the middle of his food in the middle of his meal as the narration says this is in bukari he
Starts to weep so again sometimes it hits you at a random moment this is years later and in the middle of of a meal suddenly he starts to weep now Allah opens up the doors of of goodness to all the time but at that moment Subhan Allah it just
Clicked and as he starts to Weep the people around him are wondering what caused him to cry so he says was murdered and musab was better than me musab was murdered and musab was better than me I want you to pay very close attention to the sentiments not just the
Sadness the sentiment that is being conveyed was martyred and was better than me and the only thing that we could find to cover him on the day of after he was martyred was one cloth if we covered the top of him then his bottom was exposed
And if we covered the bottom then his top was exposed then he said and was murdered and he was better than me and the only thing we had to cover with was one single garment now here’s where it all comes comes full circle to him and what’s on
His mind as he is thinking about how some of his companions who he deems better than him did not have the circumstances that he has in this dun and on top of that were murdered in gruesome ways he says I’m afraid that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has hastened our blessings in
This life of ours and then he started to weep once again and so his sadness contains multiple components the guilt contains multiple components number one mus and Hamza are better than me and they were killed in a way that I was not killed number two I lived to witness the wealth
Of this world and they did not even have a garment to cover themselves at the time of their death number three I’m afraid that perhaps this is a sign that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has opened up the doors of this world to us has hastened the blessings
Of this world to us and we will be amongst the deprived and the Hereafter whereas they have been deprived in this world and they have gone ahead to the blessings in the Hereafter this is of course Allah says in multiple places in the Quran that we will delay them and we
Will pull them in from directions that they do not anticipate the day that the disbelievers are presented to their punishment to their chastisement and it is said to them did you already waste did you already consume all of your goodness in that passing life of yours and find
Pleasure in that and today find nothing but the effects of the evil that you put forth in this world and so there’s a fear that even someone like has compared that to in a very similar situation now before I get to the very similar situation with let’s go to the most famous incident
Of years earlier when he was with the prophet wasallam and he is one of the most tortured Companions and so there was a time when other people looked atab and thought felt sorry for him and said how come we are spared and a man like Kabab is tortured there was a time where
You were on the outside looking in and you saw the master of Kabab putting him through all sorts of torture and Terror and wondering Ya Allah this man is so good what did he do to deserve this and why is he going through this and how come I get to comfortably walk the
Streets of Mecca and I am not tortured the way that is andab says I came to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam while he was leaning his back against the Kaa and he was extending his legs and I went to him and I said to the prophet s this is the actual
Words imagine saying toam aren’t you going to make Dua to Allah does anyone in here think for a moment that the prophet s was not making Dua for his um the man who would go into suud for so long that you would think he was dead
Crying for his um but this is human this is real this is in the midst of great torture in the midst of great torment and so when he goes to the prophet he says as if to say you look a little too calm for the circumstances and this is where he says
That the prophet sat up and his face became red he sat up and his face became red and he said he said sallam that there were people that came before you and they used to be combed with iron Combs until all of the meat all of the flesh
Was taken off of their bodies leaving only their Bones Exposed and he said sallam he said sallallah alaihi wasallam that in a person would be put into the ground and he would be cut into two Prophet Salli wasallam is getting very graphic now if you read theith of the messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam
This is not his habit right it’s not his habit I want you to ponder on the S and Ponder on the circumstances a little bit closer it wasn’t the habit of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to talk about the nature the graphic nature of the torture of people because the prophet
Sall alaihi wasallam used to have a message in which he would instill hope he would talk about the jna that they went to not the hell on Earth that they were taken out of and I use hell on on Earth because it’s a term but of course we know there’s nothing comparable to
Hellfire may Allah protect us right but he wouldn’t talk about the circumstances that were here as much as he would talk about what they went to so that the they had a higher ambition but here the prophet s is saying to Kabab because Kabab is looking around at that time in his
Life and Kabab is the scary image he’s the one with no skin on his back why because his uh master has has taken burning hot coal and poured it down his back to where the skin has melted off of his back so he’s the graphic image that people look at and
Say why what’s happening to him but the prophet Sall alaihi wasallam is giving him a very graphic image even more than the one that he has suffered there were there were people who had every single part of their meat taken off of their bodies that were sliced in the
Two and none of that took took that person away from his religion none of that took that person away from his religion they died upon Faith even under the most grueling of torture now why do I mention this here CU fast forward to Kabab about 50 years
Later about 50 years later as we’re approaching now the Golden Age of Islam and says that we went to visit and it’s like he was sitting and reflecting so he’s talking to the now who didn’t live those days they see a very different circumstance they see and he looks like he’s doing okay
For himself right he’s one of the elites of the companions of the Prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam the adore him the S adore him he’s doing pretty well for himself now and so we went to visit him and you sit down with and says I remember when we made Hijra with
The prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam we were seeking the pleasure of Allah subhana waala and at that time the reward that we had was certainly do upon Allah subhana wa tala meaning we knew that there was absolutely no worldly benefit for this moment that we were making
Hij but we knew that we had the from Allah subhah waala he said some of us died some of us died cuz he’s speaking about the companions like a fraternity like a Brotherhood some of us passed away and they did not take any any of the goodness that this world had to offer
And he says they always go back to why because had it all and he lost it all in front of their eyes if you saw makah and you saw you saw a man with everything in this world and then a man with nothing in this world only expecting from Allah subhana
What he expected and he said that went from this world and he took nothing from this Dy and he and he went and he said the same thing who said that when we covered his head his legs were exposed and if we covered his bottom half then his upper
Half was exposed and he says and at this Point he says and there are amongst us those who lived past that and we’ve seen the fruits of our efforts in this D come to fruition and he said that we are collecting those fruits right now almost to say I’m afraid for myself because we lived past the most difficult moments
And now we’re very comfortable and we’re wondering Subhan Allah this is a man who used to be tortured so severely that everyone else looked at him in his torture he saying we’re wondering now if there is anything left for us to consume in the Hereafter so he went from if you
Think about the paradigm shift he went from being the one that everyone looked at and said why is he going through this and we’re not going through it to being someone who went on in life to now look at others in the same way that passed away before him
Which shows you Subhan Allah that the circumstances can completely flip your perspective and that is one of the wisdoms of Allah subh making this life so unstable so volatile that one moment you feel like everything is great and the next moment you feel like everything has been taken away there’s a hikma to
That there’s the wisdom to that cuz it shifts your perspective in a certain way had the light of IM faith in his heart the entire time but now he’s seeing things different because things are different for him right now and so what is the Survivor guilt that’s happening with the companions of
The Prophet Sall alaihi wasallam they saw if they live long enough the best people go through the worst of things now what’s the difference between their survivors guilt and some of what you hear in the words of people right now at no point in the undertones is there a questioning of
Whether or not Allah has been fair to those people at no point is there a questioning of whether or not Allah has been fair to those people in fact there’s a questioning of whether I have repaid Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala for the place that I’m in right now whether I
Have responded in the way that Allah subhah wa tala has tasked me to respond there is a that I have and everyone will have their due it’s extremely painful to watch what’s happening to our brothers and sisters but Allah has customized the path to Jenna for them we don’t accuse Allah
Subhana waa of being unjust to them while fighting the cruelty of towards them never do we accuse Allah of being unjust towards them they have a path that Allah subhana has given to them for us naturally we should feel guilty and how do you reconcile this the
Same way the prophet reconciled when he lost ibraim his son and he felt sad but at the same time he knew where his son was going sallallah alaihi wasallam the sadness was the natural part in the heart of holding your dead child the certainty was that Allah subhana T would
Embrace that child in a way that the prophet Salli wasallam could never do himself that no human being could give to that child and so the sadness when we see our brothers and sisters in Gaza and then we compare ourselves and we say Subhan Allah what am I doing here why
You know why is all of this open towards me so comfortable here I could have easily been in their situation why me in the sense of the the goodness that’s coming to me and the and the hardship that’s coming to them but you flip that and you think to yourself
Instead what’s the responsibility now Subhan Allah you look through the companions of the Prophet Salli wasallam and you’ve got sons who lost fathers in who wanted to go fight in and leave his father back in to take care of the family but his father insisted otherwise so feeling guilt that my father was
Martyred I should have been there instead you have and a father and a son who drew Lots the day before one of them you know and and the son says that I would have given you what you wanted had it not been jna that we’re seeking and then
He gets to go he’s martyred in lives with sadness until why is it that my son was lost in bad until comes and then is marted in Imagine The Son martyred in B the father marted in but he was carrying a sadness seemed broken but he carried
That moment of for the rest of his life what about those who felt guilty because they knew they inflicted can you imagine being one of the 40 companions who came down from the mountain let me ask you all this question can anyone name one of
The 40 sah we know the story of 40 of the 50 disobeyed the prophet s alaihi wasallam came down from from jauma against the orders of the Prophet because they thought the battle was over that’s essentially what left them exposed can anyone of you name one of those companions
Anyone neither can I I can’t because did they concealed subh Allah imagine if my father was killed in because of you because of you you 40 do you you see a single narration like that suddenly the sahab go and they start beating up the families or they
Say you know you inflicted this pain on me so I’m going to inflict this pain on you no because they had that understanding of the of Allah subhana wa tala that this was what Allah had decreed for my father this is what Allah decreed for my brother this is what
Allah decreed for my son this was going to happen but imagine being one of those 40 carrying that guilt now Allah forgave them the prophet forgave them they were reintegrated into the community they weren’t MF they weren’t hypocrites they got weak for a moment but that moment was very consequential wasn’t
It so imagine being one of the 40 and then being one of the family members of the 73 Martyrs or 72 Martyrs of looking at those 40 saying you did this that didn’t happen cuz that’s where the understanding that yes guilt is a natural emotion and we have to recalibrate and
Get better with the circumstances that we have but at the same time Allah has promised everyone a customized path to Paradise I want to end on this note cuz I think Subhan Allah it’s always what we come back to when we think of the difficulty that the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi
Wasallam had in regards to us we see people suffer in enormous ways today the prophet s wasallam suffered in every way and he is the best of Allah’s creation and there is a guilt that some of the good things Subhan Allah the one who is the one who loves the prophet sallallahu
Alaihi wasallam in their moments of happiness will remember that the prophet Sall Ali wasallam did not have some of those moments in this D would cry right because she would say you know when food was in her house I remember we used to go months without
Food in our house now the prophet Salli was is not here anymore and there’s food here there’s something to be said about this that even in our moments of our greatest joy we remember that the best of Allah’s creation did not get to experience all of that in this dun and
We hope that that activates us towards experiencing that Joy with the prophet wasallam in the was with the prophet in the conquest of Mecca abak had one family member that took a very very very long time embracing Islam he’s the only companion whose entire family embraced Islam every generation ation of his
Family embraced Islam he’s the only one in that regard but who is the last person to embrace Islam from his family his father his father his father was the last person to embrace Islam and it was all the way at fat the last years subh Allah the very last
Moments and the prophet Salli wasallam comes on that day of meca and brings his father and he was all gray everything was gray there wasn’t a single thing on him not gray he could barely move he was so old as if Allah delayed him to that moment for the pleasure
Of that abak would see every single member of his family Embrace Islam and the prophet wasallam even says you know if you would have honored the old man we would have went to him like don’t even bring him to give to me the prophet is saying
To I would have gone to his house you didn’t even have to make your father make this trip to come and give to come and pledge to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam so imagine this is supposed to be the happiest moment of his life he’s been waiting for his father to embrace Islam
And his father can barely extend his hand to the prophet sallai wasallam to take and abak starts to weep now Subhan Allah the prophet knows Abu Bakr and Abu Bakr knows him right he knows that that’s not a happy cry that’s not the Cry of joy that was
The Cry of the HRA this is the Cry of sadness so the prophet s wasam asks him why are you crying what is it that’s making you cry right now he narrates this he he says that Abu Bakr said to the prophet Salli wasallam if only it could have been the
Hand of your uncle in the place of my fathers the hand of your uncle in the place of my fathers if it would have been your uncle y who was like your father Abu Talib was like a father to the prophet Salli wasallam who could have been here in
This moment and you could have been taking the from your uncle Abu while he’s saying and Allah giving you the coolness of your eyes and seeing this moment enjoying this moments with your father someone who was like a father figure to you he said that would be so much more
Beloved to me than my own father’s hand being in your hands Subhan Allah what a beautiful heart so it’s not just death and mutilation it’s even when Allah blesses us with our moments of purest joy that we remember that our messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam did not get to taste the
Sweetness of all of that in this dya and that should cause all of us to long for Jenna more and that is the end of this that whether you’re the persecuted or the one watching the persecuted whether you’re the deprived in this world or the
One who is uh blessed in this world with all sorts of things open for you that all of those things are meant to make you crave J more may Allah unite us with our brothers and sisters inaz with the sh and Allah accept us as sh unite us
With the prophets with the with theik with the sh with
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