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Do you nurture Allah’s plants?

Do you nurture Allah’s plants?
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August 11, 2023
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Abu ‘Inabah Al-Khawlani (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

عن أبي عِنَبَةَ الْخَوْلاَنِيّ، رضي الله تعالى عنه وَكَانَ، قَدْ صَلَّى الْقِبْلَتَيْنِ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ ‏:”‏ لاَ يَزَالُ اللَّهُ يَغْرِسُ فِي هَذَا الدِّينِ غَرْسًا يَسْتَعْمِلُهُمْ فِي طَاعَتِهِ ‏”‏. رواه ابن ماجه وأحمد.إسناده حسن.

“Allah will continue to plant new people in this religion and use them in His obedience.”
(Ibn Majah and Ahmad)

As we see from this Hadith the Prophet (peace be upon him) said Allah Almighty will continue to plant new people in His religion. The actual Arabic expression says ‘He will place new plants in the religion’ which is an expression that means bring new people who will be obedient to Him from His Ummah and use them to serve His deen.

This is a beautiful narration, a comprehensive Hadith that reflects Allah’s promise in the Quran that He will protect His religion:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ

Surely We revealed the Message, and We will surely preserve it. (15:9)

The protection was pledged by Allah Almighty and He has promised never to break to His word.

Always, regardless of time and place Allah will keep renewing the people in His service and in His Ummah. He will bring fresh plants and fresh blood to enable His religion to flourish. This is gives us hope and optimism.

Moreover Allah plants these people Himself. This is significant because no one can uproot a plant that Allah placed Himself. No one can abolish our deen.

Nurture Allah’s plants

The promise that our deen cannot be uprooted does not mean we can relax and say our deen is protected so we can sit back. In fact it is the opposite – we have to work hard to be among these people – either be the plant and become a knowledge seeker or even a scholar or nurture these plants by supporting knowledge seekers or supporting the knowledge seekers institutions which deliver Islamic knowledge.

Lasting legacy

Those who disseminate the religion and serve Allah are given a high status. As Allah Almighty stated in the Quran:

يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ

Allah elevates those among you who believe, and those given knowledge, in ranks. (58:11).

The reward of supporting those who disseminate also continues after your death as per the famous Hadith – Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said,

“When a man dies, his deeds come to an end, except for three: A continuous charity, knowledge by which people derive benefit, pious son who prays for him.” [Muslim]

One of the things that lasts is beneficial knowledge which you left behind. This if you supported somebody to seek knowledge and later he/she became a scholar, everyone who benefitted from that scholar will be in your account in the akhirah.

If he/she taught a thousand people, you will get the reward of that thousand and those who benefitted from that thousand and so on. It is encouragement for us to be among those who spread goodness.

The revivers of the religion in every century

Scholars explored the meaning of this Hadith by asking who are these plants? Is it a general term or a particular category of people. Some said it is a particular category and they connected it with another Hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that in every century Allah will send Mujaddid – the ones who renew the religion and revive it. This is a possibility but it can also be a general term for those contribute to learning and spreading knowledge.

في سنن أبي داود : (عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- قَالَ « إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْعَثُ لِهَذِهِ الأُمَّةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ كُلِّ مِئَةِ سَنَةٍ مَنْ يُجَدِّدُ لَهَا دِينَهَا ».

At the beginning of every century Allah will
send one who will renew its religion for this Ummah .” (Abu Dawud)

This is confirmed by the ayah in which Allah Almighty states that He selects leaders from the Ummah to guide others:

قال تعالى: {وَجَعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ أَئِمَّةً يَهْدُونَ بِأَمْرِنَا لَمَّا صَبَرُوا وَكَانُوا بِآَيَاتِنَا يُوقِنُونَ} [السجدة:24] .

And We appointed leaders from among them, guiding by Our command, as long as they persevered and were certain of Our verses. (32:24)

The characteristics of those who spread the religion

Allah Almighty has granted those whom He plants certainty in the religion:

في الحديث: «وسلوا الله اليقين والمعافاة، فإنه لم يؤت أحد بعد اليقين خيراً من المعافاة» مسند أحمد.

“This is the very place where the Prophet (ﷺ), had stood and said: ask Allah for Yaqeen (certainty in Allah) because nothing greater than it is given to anyone apart from well-being.” (Ahmad)

In another hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

في الحديث: «في كل قرن من أمتي سابقون» .رواه أبو نُعَيم الأصبهاني في الحلية، والديلمي في الفردوس والحكيم الترمذي في النوادر.

In every century of my Ummah there are foremost. (Abu Nu’aim in Al-Hilyah, and Daylami in Al Firdows)

Allah Almighty says:

قال الله تعالى: ﴿ وَالسَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ * أُولَئِكَ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ * فِي جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ *.)

The foremost are the foremost, those are the nearest, in the gardens of bliss. (56:10-12)

Teach children the deen so they can become the next leaders

Al-Baghdadi said in his book “Sharaf Ashab al-Hadith”:

كَانَ ابْنُ الْمُبَارَكِ ، رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ ، إِذَا رَأَى صِبْيَانَ أَصْحَابِ الْحَدِيثِ ، وَفِي أَيْدِيهِمُ الْمَحَابِرُ ، يُقَرِّبُهُمْ ، وَيَقُولُ : هَؤُلَاءِ غَرْسُ الدِّينِ ، أُخْبِرْنَا أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ :”لَا يَزَالُ اللَّهُ يَغْرِسُ فِي هَذَا الدِّينِ غَرْسًا يَشُدُّ الدِّينَ بِهِمْ”. هُمُ الْيَوْمَ أَصَاغِرُكُمْ ، وَيُوشِكُ أَنْ يَكُونُوا كِبَارًا مِنْ بَعْدِكُمْ.

Ibn al-Mubarak (may God have mercy on him), when he saw young boys who are seeking hadiths with inkwell in their hands, he would bring them closer to him and say: these are the new plants of the religion, we were told that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said:” Allah will continue to plant new people in this religion to strengthen the religion in them, they are the youngest of you today, and they are about to be great after you.

This is a Hadith to implement in our lives and be part of this goodness, to be the from those who invite people to stay in this religion, in obedience to Him, and the Sunnah of His Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions.

We ask Allah to use all of us to please Him. Ameen.

Shaykh Haytham Tamim 11th August 2023

Who are the Revivers of the Religion for each generation?
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Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.

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