Assalamualaikumussalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh everyone!
So I attended a talk in Masjid Saidina Abu Bakar As-Siddiq (Masjid Bangsar). Mind you, I arrived a bit late ( Around 8.30pm) so I missed the first 30 minutes of the talk. Nonetheless I would still like to share what I have heard and learned and may all of you reading this may benefit. If you find that they're not like understandable (Since my mind can go places at times), feel free to contact me and we can talk in person. Haha I know I talk better than I write. Eventhough I love writing. But I'm digressing again.
Ibrahim being thrown into the fire
When I entered the hall, Moutasem was talking about how Ibrahim was going to be slingshot into the fire. (As we all know the story of Ibrahim being thrown into the fire because simply put the people couldn't accept the fact that they were worshipping idols that did not benefit them at all). People of the past were not as primitive as we think, you know. They knew how to build big machines like the catapult to throw Ibrahim into the fire. They had tools, technology, even complex systems like governments and stuff. I used to think that before this, they were primitive and behaved like cavemen. But it's not true. They had leaders, business, machines etc.
Namrud
Anyway, Ibrahim left his hometown (Northern Iraq) and travelled to Palestine. He married Sarah there. And afterwards went to Egypt. This is where he met Namrud, the evil king. Moutasem described him as a "weird" muslim meaning that he does one thing that is not islamic but in an islamic way (An example would be a practicing muslim selling liquor, takes riba etc but when things that involve eating pork for example he'd be like hey, that's haram!) The same thing with Namrud, when he saw a woman that he liked, he would want it for himself. He would kill their husbands and take the women as his wives. BUT he would not marry someone without the permission of the women's brother/father. Weird, right? But it's happening currently too nowadays just a different context. So when he met with Namrud, he knew that Namrud liked Sarah and wanted her. Namrud asked Ibrahim who Sarah is and Ibrahim answered that it was his sister (Later on in the story, when Sarah asked, Ibrahim said Sarah was his sister in Islam so technically he wasn't lying). In arabic, the term is Al-Muwarah (I think) which translates to double meaning or puns(if comical). So what Ibrahim meant was different to what Namrud understood. But because of that,they were saved. The lesson we can learn from this story is learn and take the time to know someone before meeting/confronting. In the story of Ibrahim, because he knew how Namrud was, he could save them. Take the time to learn other people's culture. Appreciate other people's cultural differences too instead of asking people to understand yours.
Hajar and Zam Zam Water
Namrud gifted Ibrahim with a maid named Hajar which soon became his wife. Sarah did not have a child for a long time. Hajar became pregnant and Ismail was born. Hajar and Ismail was taken to Makkah (During that time, there was nothing there, just desert). Ibrahim left Hajar and Ismail in the middle of Makkah and started to leave. Hajar asked him if this is what Allah has commanded and Ibrahim nodded and left. Hajar said, "Allah will not let us down!" Hajar had full confidence in Allah. She put her trust in Allah AND put in effort. Which is why when they were out of water, she looked for signs of the water from Safa to Marwa 7 times. She then sees that the water came out from where Ismail was. Sometimes we do something and it fails, but leads us to something else and success may come a few years later. So even if things don't pay off in the beginning, do not think that we're losing. Don't feel like things are not working out the way we want. We plan but let Allah do His way. Because it is the best for us.
Sacrifice of Ibrahim
Ibrahim a.s would visit them once in a while. One day he sees in his dream slaughtering his son. Dreams of prophets are revelations. There are things that Allah kept to himself. If something came from Allah, then it is good. Ibrahim is someone who is obedient to Allah. He tells Ismail about his dream, and Ismail (eventhough he was only a teenager at that time) said, " Do what Allah has commanded you to do". It takes years of devotion, education, and purification to get to that standard of faith in Allah. We need to believe that whatever is wajib is good for us, and whatever haram is harmful to us. When you do haram, it's going to make your life very hard. Tawakkal is when even if it is painful and scary at first, you go with it because of Allah. Life is a rollercoaster,up and down. Just let it be. Ihsan means worship Allah as if you can see Him. Faith cannot be blind, so do not become a person who does "blind faith". This is indeed a real test for Ibrahim. Sacrificing the one thing that he valued the most. Who does he put first? Allah or Ismail? That is what sacrifice means; choose 1 that you feel is the most important and sacrifice the other thing. Make your sacrifice wisely. The hypocrites (munafiq) are the ones who "purchased" the world for the hereafter. Do the right sacrifice, and you will get both. When you sacrifice this life for the next life, you will get dunia and akhirat. You can NEVER lose if you make the right sacrifice. Because Ibrahim chose Allah, he got Allah and Ismail since it was replaced with a sheep. It shows that Ibrahim was not attached to this world, but in fact put his trust in Allah completely.
Q&A session
Q: Is this hardship because of sin or test?
A: Do not bother about what it is. Rather, think about the action, what should you act when hardships happen. Will you grow closer to Allah or further away.
Q: Where did Ibrahim go after leaving Hajar?
A: He was in Palestine with Sarah and they had a son named Ishak.
I hope that this post have benefited you and may Allah guide us all.
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