Great and numerous lessons from this story.

The Shaykh : This story contains many great lessons. Ibn al-Qayyim spoke about some of them in *Zad al-Ma'ad*. It also contains a virtue for these Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). The virtue is that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sat under the tree at al-Hudaybiyyah and had the people pledge allegiance to him that they would never flee. The reason for this pledge was that people were saying that Uthman ibn 'Affan, the Messenger of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) to Quraysh, had been killed. The Messenger is not killed, even in disbelief; they do not kill the negotiating messenger. So he pledged to fight them if they had killed him. They had killed Uthman, but Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was not killed. However, this pledge took place, which was a source of honor for them. Allah revealed regarding this pledge: and the peace, As for Uthman, he returned safely. He (may Allah be pleased with him) had a tribe with status in Quraysh, so they said to him, "O Uthman, you have come to us, and this is the House. Descend and perform tawaf around it." He said, "By Allah, I will not perform tawaf around it while the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is prevented from it, forever." He refused to perform tawaf around the House, even though it was easy for him to do so, because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was prevented from it. When he returned safely, having achieved the purpose for which he was sent, one might say that he missed this pledge because he was in Mecca when the pledge was taken. But we say that this pledge did not pass him by (may Allah be pleased with him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) placed one of his hands over the other and said, "This is the hand of Uthman." So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) pledged on behalf of Uthman with his own hand. Thus, the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for Uthman was better than the hand of Uthman for Uthman. Glory be to Allah. I want you to read this story in *Zad al-Ma'ad* so that you may take lessons from what is in it. I also want you to read the entire biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), for in it, by Allah, is an increase in faith, and an increase in love for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions. In it are lessons in tawhid (the oneness of Allah), in fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), in character, in everything. Indeed, the biography of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is the best of creation, the most sound in opinion, and the most balanced in intellect, peace and blessings be upon him. Therefore, buy this book, *Zad al-Ma'ad fi Hady Khayr al-'Ibad* (The Provisions for the Return in the Guidance of the Best of People), and study the biography in it. This book also contains medical benefits, some of which were summarized and placed in a separate book. An American doctor who embraced Islam, and may Allah improve his Islam, told me here in our land that he benefited from the Prophetic medicine to the extent that he says, "Among the things that led me to Islam was the cleanliness and the noble, good morals I found in it." For example, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If we had applied this, we would not have been afflicted with any disease of the stomach. But we eat until we fill our bellies, until we fill them with food. Some people say, "I will fill my belly with food, and as for water, it is fine, it finds its way out, and as for breath, it is a spear that pierces through." All of this is wrong. Eat a little, and when you are hungry, eat again, so that you give your body its nourishment little by little, in a way that it can bear. Some people gave the example of the stomach as being like workers who are given many tasks that exhaust them. Yes, they made them work, and in a short time, they became tired and their strength was torn apart. But if you give the stomach what benefits it without hardship for it, that is better for it and for the body. And by the permission of Allah, you will not be afflicted with diseases related to the stomach if you follow what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) guided. The important thing is that if a person reads the biography of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) with reflection and consideration, it will benefit him greatly. We remember this expedition and know the extent of what the polytheists harbor against the Muslims. The truth is that in our time, unfortunately, we are in severe heedlessness. We think that the polytheists, or the disbelievers from the Jews and the Christians, are our allies. But we say, in faith and creed, that they are our enemies. We say that in faith and creed before we cite the incidents that occur from them. For Allah the Exalted says in His Book: And He says: And He the Exalted says: As for the incidents, look at what happened from the Jewish faction in their making lawful the Bayt al-Maqdis (the Sacred Mosque), though they are not its people. Who are the people of the Bayt al-Maqdis? The Muslims. We do not say the Arabs either. The Arabs, if they are not on the religion of Allah, are not worthy of it. For Allah the Exalted says: Who? They are the people of the land. And Moses said to his people, and they were the believers at that time: Because they were fighting a tyrannical, disbelieving people, so they were more worthy of the land than them. But after the land of Sham (Syria) was opened by the hands of the believers, they are its people and they are more worthy of it. And I say, in my opinion, and knowledge is with Allah, that Sham, and I specify by that Palestine, cannot be recovered except as it was recovered at the beginning of this Ummah (the Muslim community), under a leadership like the leadership of whom? 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), with men like the soldiers of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who do not fight except so that the word of Allah is the highest. If this happens for the Muslims, then they will fight the Jews until the Jew hides under a tree, and the tree will call out, "O Muslim, O servant of Allah, there is a Jew under me, kill him." But as long as people look at this enmity between us and the Jews as tribal nationalism, we will not succeed. We will never succeed, for Allah does not support except those who support Him, as He the Exalted said: So if we look at the beginning of this Ummah, by what did this Ummah succeed, and on what basis? On tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and sincerity to Allah, and following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), staying away from trivial matters, from bad morals, from obscenity and evil, and from imitating the enemies. The problem is that some people today see imitating the disbelievers as honor and glory. Some people today see imitating the disbelievers as honor and glory, and they see returning to what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions were upon as backwardness and regression. Apply what the former ones said: So it is obligatory upon us, O brothers, to return to read and reflect on what came before in the beginning of this Ummah, so that we may take what they were upon. And then victory will be written for us. And I say, and I repeat, it is obligatory upon us to be cautious, to be cautious of the evils of our own selves, and to be cautious of the evils of the servants of Allah, the disbelievers and the hypocrites and their followers. And we ask Allah the Exalted to write victory for us and for you by His religion, and to support us with it and support it through us, and to make us among His awliya (close friends of Allah) and His party. Indeed, He is Generous and Bountiful. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.