Bismillah (dua). So
inshallah tonight we're gonna move on to Waraka and we ended off last week with a very beautiful
poem that Waraka offered to his companion Zaid Ibn Amr Ibn Nufair (r). Waraka eulogizing his friend, the second of
the two who went to As-Sham together to study Judaism, to study Christianity, to try to
find monotheism and to prepare themselves for what Allah had promised for that region. Inshallah ta'ala tonight we're gonna go ahead
and move on to Waraka and I want to have everyone just repeat who were the four of those who
identified as haneefi, those who identified as monotheists. Can anyone name them, you should be able to
name two very easily. Ubaidullah Ibn Jash, Zaid Ibn Amr, Waraka
Ibn Naufar, one more person. We said there was Zaid Ibn Amr who we talked
about last week, there's Waraka Ibn Narfar who we'll talk about tonight. There's Ubaidullah Ibn Jash who migrated to
Abyssinia and there's one more who became haneefi and moved to Ash-Sham, became a Christian,
moved to Ash-Sham, took up a position in the Roman Empire. What was his name? Uthman Ibn Huwairith. So these are the four people who were considered,
not the Hanafis, the hanifeen, just to be clear again, the monotheists. The four that were on the religion of Abraham,
the way of Ibrahim (a) that went out in search on that oneness of Allah. Now out of the four the only one that didn't
become Christian was Zaid Ibn Amr. Right, so three of them became Christian including
Waraka who we'll talk about tonight. Now Waraka is such a mysterious figure that
we find in the seerah of the Prophet (s) because he shows up in the very beginning of Saheeh
al-Bukhari. If you all remember we did a long series,
we did the Saheeh al-Bukhari, we did the book of revelation, a couple of years ago, and
Waraka shows up in the very beginning of Saheeh al-Bukhari, he's in the beginning of the seerah. But the seerah starts off with his death,
essentially, right. You don't hear anything about his history. You just know that Khadijah (r) took the Prophet
(s) to him to confirm or deny what happened to the Prophet (s) or explain what had happened
to the Prophet (s) in Hira. And then it ends. Who was he before? What's his story? What's his status? It's really a fascinating story and inshallah
ta'ala I want to contextualize this as much as possible and his story is so beautiful
and touching that I couldn't decide whether to start with him or to start with Zaid, but
it just makes sense in setting the stage for the prophethood of the Prophet (s). Here you have Waraka and Zaid, the only two
that go to Ash-Sham, that study Christianity, and that deepen their knowledge of the Abrahamic
way and then Zaid Ibn Amr dies five years before the Prophet (s) receives revelation. So it's really just Waraka right now in Makkah,
he's the only one there that is waiting for this prophet of Allah to arise, that has studied,
that has prepared himself and so then obviously transfers to him, and then transfers to Khadijah
(r). How is Waraka related to Khadijah? Is he her nephew, is he her cousin, is he
her uncle, how is he related to Khadijah? He's her cousin but more like an uncle. He's her cousin but more like an uncle because
of the age gap. His name is Waraka Ibn Nawfal Ibn Asad. Khadijah has an uncle named Nawfal Ibn Asad
and she has a brother names Nawfal Ibn Khawaylid. Okay Khadijah has an uncle named Nawfal who
is the father of Waraka and she has a brother name Nawfal as well. Waraka Ibn Nawfal Ibn Asad is the first cousin
of Khadijah (r). Now Nawfal, Khadijah is Khadijah Bint Khawaylid
Ibn Asad. Nawfal and Khawaylid are brothers but Nawfal
is the oldest son of Asad and Khawaylid is the youngest son of Asad. And so the age gap between Khawaylid and Warakah
is at least 25-30 years. At least between the two. So it's a pretty big gap so he really plays
more of a role of an elder, of an uncle in her life. Also the father of Khadijah (r), Khawaylid
passed away early on, and in the early wars known as the ---, the early wars that took
battle in Makkah and claimed many of the senior tribesman. That's why Khadijah (r) inherited so much
money and became the woman that she became at such an early age when it comes to her
wealth. She inherited that from her father who was
killed early. So Waraka is of the oldest of this clan that
exists and it is considered of the most noble families of Makkah at the time and Waraka
is considered on the most noble of the most noble families. So I want you to kind of just imagine the
scene. And it'll put into context the little bit
of why Waraka never really faces much opposition from his people. Waraka is the noble of the noble. His family are direct descendants of ----. They
are from this banu adi. They're very very up there. And Waraka's elder, noble, respected. And his akhlak are very high, his manners
are very noble, and because of that and obviously this description is true of Khadijah (r) as
well, that she was the most noble woman of her family. Because of that, Waraka was actually expected
to marry Khadijah. Context is important here. Waraka was expected to be the natural suitor
of Khadijah in terms of just his akhlaq, his family, his character, his nobility. Khadijah and Waraka both are considered the
best of their people. But Waraka rejected this world, he became
a priest, or he considered, when you say raahib, it can be a priest or a monk. The point is Wakara decided he would not get
married. He would stay in pursuit of the religion for
his entire life. He would not get married. Waraka was a Zahid, he was known to be an
esthetic, spent his days in worship, his journeys in travel. Waraka would never be in the sook, he was
not someone to go into the marketplace, he only ate once a day to suffice himself. So he was known to eat very little. He rejected the wealth of his family. His pride was naturally a very rich tribe. Waraka did not care for it. He used to dress very simple. So Waraka maintains celibacy. Takes up the life of a priest or a monk and
stays away from all of this. He also doesn't challenge his people. Zaid Ibn Amr Ibn Nufair-what makes him so
incredible was not just that he was on this way of Ibrahim (a), insisting on the way of
Abraham, and never becomes a Christian, never becomes a Jew, just I'm on the way of Ibrahim
(a), rejects paganism, he also confronts his people all the time. Constantly confronting his people. Waraka does not have that combative behavior
towards his people. Khadijah never worshipped idols either. She had an aversion to it, she never really
cared to idol worship. Abu Bakr didn't care for idol worship. Waraka was known to be a Christian but Waraka
was not combative, he was not out there in the way that Zaid was going after the people
for the way they were worshipping those idols. Instead Waraka had this idea that Allah would
clarify this in due time and so he avoids being combative with the people. He keeps to himself from society as a whole,
maintains a position of high authority, in an elder, is a senior, is someone who is learned
in religion, and he's also, interestingly enough, the dream interpreter of the Arabs. More context. So even though they were pagans, they were
people who worshipped idols, they recognized Waraka as a man who studied language, who
studied religion, who studied philosophy, who was noble, and so the araba at the time
would go to Waraka to have their dreams interpreted even though he didn't worship the idols. Remember the idol worshippers did not care
much for their idols. They cared about the commerce, the business
of idol worship. They really didn't care much for (arabic),
they could replace names, replace idols all they wanted. He's a nobleman and he's someone that studied
Hebrew, he's been to Ash-Sham, he's really a good man, he's someone that we can go to
with our dream interpretations and so there's a very interesting dream that Khadijah (r)
had as a young woman. Khadijah (r) had a dream that the sun descended
in her home, that the sun descended in her home. And Subhanallah just the connection that I
was actually sharing with my wife, it's a really interesting connection. When Ayesha (r) had a dream, she had a dream
that three moons descended in her home and she asked Abu Bakr (r) what that meant and
he said that there will be righteous people that will be buried in your home and when
the Prophet (s) died, Abu Bakr (r) said that's your first moon. And then when Abu Bakr died he was the second
moon. And when Umar died, he was the third moon. Khadijah has a dream of a sun, the sun, descending
into her home. She goes to Waraka, she tells Waraka this
dream that she has and Wakara says in may be that you will marry a noble man or a prophet. So Waraka actually tells Khadijah that there's
a special marriage in your naseeb, in your destiny. You'll either marry an extremely noble man,
that's the sun coming into your house, as in a spouse, or a prophet. He mentions to her that it could even be a
nabi, a prophet. Now Khadijah (r) married multiple times before
the Prophet (s), two or three times even according to some narrations and of course became widowed
in the process. But this is very early on in her life. She does not know what's coming her way. Now this is really important to put to context
because we have to understand that the Prophet (s) was already looked at as someone very
special. He already had these deesharat, these glad
tidings surrounding him throughout his entire life, miracles that would happen with the
Prophet (s). When the Prophet (s) was born, it was a miracle. Abu Lahab goes and sacrifices all of these
sheep in celebration of the Prophet (s) because of the light that came from the womb of the
mother of the Prophet (s) when he was born. They knew he was special. And also Waraka clearly sees something special
in this young man. The Prophet (s) would also have other priests
that saw something in him. When? To contextualize, the Prophet (s) only went
to Ash-Sham which is generally the land where Christianity is surviving, at least in the
nistorian Christianity, the Christianity the Salman (r) was seeking around, Zaid is going
around and seeking around, and now the Prophet (s) goes there twice. Twice, once as a very young man, and once
as the broker of Khadijah (r). As a very young man, as was narrated by ----- and
it's in multiple books of seerah, Abu Talib took the Prophet (s) with him on a trade route
to Ash-Sham very early on and this was a habit of the Arabs (arabic) so in the winter they'd
go to Yamen, the summer they'd go to Ash-Sham and they would trade with the people of Ash-Sham
and come back. So Abu Talib took the Prophet (s) when he
was a young man, 11, 12, 13 years old as a very young man, still unable to care for himself
and while Abu Talib was there with the Prophet (s) there was a raahib amongst the monk that
followed Abu Talib when he saw things from the Prophet (s). So he noticed the back of the Prophet (s),
the seal of prophethood. That there was a seal of prophethood on the
back of the Prophet (s). So he asked the people, he said who is in
charge of this young man? So they pointed to Abu Talib. Abu Talib said to him, or he said to Abu Talib
who are you? He said Anna abbi, I'm his father. Now in the language of the arabs, an-am ab,
the uncle, the paternal uncle in particular was the father. And Abu Talib was acting like the father of
the Prophet (s) in true effect. And the monk says to him you're not really
his father. And he says to him what do you mean? He said, this person, his father would not
be alive. So Abu Talib is very interested in what is
this man saying, what is this monk, this priest saying. So the man says this young man of yours did
not pass by a single area until he reached bursa which is the area they're in at this
moment, until he reached bursa except that the trees and the stones sajadoolahum, they
prostrated towards him. They don't do that except for a prophet. So Abu Talib is listening to this strange
priest in Ash Sham tell him, and some of the narrations mention his name is Bahaira or
Buhaira, even though there's nothing authentic with his name in particular, but some of the
narrations mention his name as Bahira or Buhaira. Abu Talib is like I have no idea what you're
talking about. So the man says to him, he says listen, this
young man is going to be the sayid leader of the worlds, sayidul alameen. He's going to be the leader. of the worlds. And he then says to Abu Talib where are you
taking him right now? He said I'm taking him to the marketplace. He says to Abu Talib don't do that because
if people know who he is they might try to hurt him, take him back to where you came
and protect him and make sure that he never goes to cities again. So Abu Talib took his advice, took the Prophet
(s) as a young man back to Makkah and the Prophet (s) never went back with Abu Talib
to Ash-Sham until later on when he got the big contract, right. Khadijah (r) was looking for a mudarib, was
looking for a broker, an honest person to take her caravans to Ash-Sham, she appointed
the Prophet (s). Otherwise the Prophet (s) for his entire life
was raising sheep in Ajiyaad. If you actually go to the area of ajyaad that's
where the Prophet (s) said I used to raise sheep for the people of Makkah. So the Prophet (s) didn't accompany Abu Talib
to Ash-Sham after that. He stayed in Ajiyaad. Later on he goes to Ash-Sham. Again, the second time he goes to Ash-Sham,
who does Khadijah (r) send with him? Anyone remember the name? Maysara, right? Khadijah send Maysara with the Prophet (s). Maysara falls in love with the Prophet (s). This man's character is different. He comes back to Khadijah and he says there
was a cloud that never left the Prophet (s), a cloud followed him. He said that I swear that I would see the
Prophet (s) sleeping under a tree and when the sun would move over and the shade would
no longer cover him, the tree would extend itself to cover him. And Maysara was watching these ajaaib, watching
these strange things happen with the Prophet (s) and you gotta understand, from the Prophet
(s)'s perspective, when he was a kid, Jibreel (a) removed from his heart, the Prophet (s)
witnessed many ajaaib from his life, many of these things from his life. He didn't know what to make of it. Maysara doesn't know what to make of it. And Maysara, he says that I thought to myself
maybe it's just a wind, or maybe it's coincidence that the trees shade him and he's just perfectly
shaded throughout this entire time in Ash-Sham. He said that except we were out there and
while he was taking a nap and I was marveling at him this monk came to me and said to me,
another raahib, priest in Ash-Sham, he said to me man-haza? Who is that? So I said to him Muhammed Ibn Abdullah, from
the land of the sanctuary. The monk responded to him and said only prophets
rest under that tree. And just walked away from him. So Maysara said I had no idea what to make
of this man. He said people would deal with the Prophet
(s) in Ash-Sham and they would tell him swear by Allatu al-uzzah. And the Prophet (s) would say, I've never
sworn by them before in my life. The Prophet (s) would not take an oath with
idols because that was their way of transacting was to say take an oath on that which is holy
to you, and they know people from Makkah hold Allatul azzah. The Prophet (s) I won't swear to these two
and I never have sworn for these two. So the point is both of the times the Prophet
(s) went to Ash-Sham there were people that recognized something about him, there were
things that were happening in Ash-Sham, it was the land where people were studying or
they still had the monks, the priests, the people of the baqaya of ahlil qitaab, that
leftover from the people of the book that the Prophet (s) said Allah was pleased with
in the midst of it all. Waraqa and said Zaid went there, looking for
guidance. So the Prophet (s) has had these things happening
his entire life. Khadijah (r) had that dream that was interpreted
by Waraka that you're going to marry a nobleman or a nabi or possibly even a prophet of Allah. After the Prophet (s) comes back from Sham
the second time we know what happens. We'll get more in the details of it next week,
but the point of it is that Abu Talib, Al-Abbas, and Humza, the uncles of the Prophet (s) come
with him to formally propose. Khadijah's uncle, Amr Ibn Assad, was the oldest
uncle that was still alive performed the marriage, I'm sorry, acted as the wali of Khadija and
Waraka actually performed the marriage of the Prophet (s) and Khadijah on the meher
of 500 dirhams, so a very small meher. So Waraka is actually the one that conducted
their (marriage) because again he's the nobleman. He's considered and looked at as the most
knowledgeable man, he's the man who understands scripture, he's the nobleman of the family
and the tribe. He stays with Khadijah (r), or his interaction
with Khadijah and the Prophet (s) really predates the incidence that we all know of. At that point Ayesha (s) she said in the Hadith
in which she mentions, or she gives some context about who Waraka was. She says (arabic). He was a man who became a Christian in the
days of ignorance. So Waraka unlike Zaid actually identified
as a Christian. (arabic) So he used to write from the gospels
in Hebrew and he would write as long as Allah (swt) would allow him to write. So he had actually had full command of Hebrew
and he would write from the gospels, write of his lessons and what he was learning and
compiling in Ash-Sham. So he's one of the few literate people, as
well. Literate not just in Arabi and reading and
writing, but literate even in Hebrew in reading and writing. So she says (arabic) and then he became an
old man and he lost his sight, so Waraka became blind towards the end of his life. When the Prophet (s) had come to him at that
point, he was already blind. He was in his nineties, and he was already
blind. And this is where we have the famous incidence
that takes place. Where Khadijah (r) would take the Prophet
(s) to Waraka to contextualize what had happened in Hira. It was common for people to go to Waraka and
Khadijah (r) has a particular relationship, the Prophet (s) has a particular relationship
and he understands, especially understands what it is that would denote prophethood or
would denote something that is special. So Khadijah (r) takes the Prophet (s) to Waraka
and this is what Allah says in the Quran. (Ayah) Ask the people of knowledge if you
don't know any better. This is one of the ways that Khadijah (r)
was already acting in accordance with revelation before it even came. Khadijah (r) was guided toward the good ways,
it was her suggestion to take the Prophet (s) to Waraka, and that was her fitra, that
was her goodness and that was there. And so we get to the narration. So after the Prophet (s) has calmed down a
bit Khadijah (r) and the Prophet (s) walk to the house of Waraka, the man who predicted,
who prophesied that Khadijah would one day marry a nobleman or a nabi. He's in his nineties. He's blind. He's sitting there. So Khadijah (r) says to him (arabic), Oh son
of my uncle, listen to the son of your brother. Why ddi she say akheek. Some of the scholars mentioned that it's just
a way of showing the closeness he had to Waraka. That he was like the nephew of Waraka. That the Prophet (s) was like the nephew of
Waraka. Others actually pointed to the lineage of
the Prophet (s) and Waraka, that they were actually, they had the same amount of ancestors
from sayid ul-kilab, so they are related, their lineage is related and Waraka is in
fact the third cousin of the Prophet (s). So the point is that this is a means of presenting
the Prophet (s). Listen to what he has to say to you. So Waraka says to the Prophet (s) (arabic)
oh son of my brother what do you see? Why do you think he asked him what do you
see? Cuz we said Waraka was a dream interpreter,
Waraka assumed that's probably what it is that he's coming to ask him about. Tell me what you have seen. So at that point the Prophet (s) (arabic)
The Prophet (s) tells him everything that he saw in the cave of Hira (arabic). He said this is the namos that Allah has sent
to Musa (a), the word namus is the one who bears secrets and he's referring to Jibreel
(a) that this is Jibreel (a) the same angel that Allah sent to Musa (a). Why did he say (a)? He's a Christian. Why didn't he say Isa (a)? Because the way that Jibeel came to the Prophet
(s) is liek the way that Jibeael came to Musa (a) and the Prophet (s) and Musa (a) have
more similarities in their being that Isa (a). So he said this is the same namus, the same
bearer of secrets that Allah sent down Must (a). At that point Waraka is not even thinking
about the Prophet (s). He says to him, at that point he's says (arabic)
he actually confirms to the Prophet (s) you are the prophet of these people. Like I knew it was coming. You are the nabi, you are the prophet of this
people. Waraka immediately says (arabic) he
said I wish I was young. I wish I was young. Subhanallah he was in his 90s now, he was
blind, he lived his life, didn't get married, learned Hebrew, learned the scriptures, like
Zaid (r) was a lifelong peruser of truth, trying to find Allah, following the ways of
the Prophets that came before, and the man who he married to his cousin, the man who
he knew his entire life since childhood is in front of him, and now immediately Waraka
says it's him and before he even goes into detail he says to him (arabic) I wish I had
Jada'a. Jada'a is like youth, I wish I still had that
young strength, I wish I still had that young strength. The strength of youth. I wish that I woudl be alive the day that
your people would run you out. Now the Prophet (s) has no idea of the implications
of what just happened. First of all you just told me I'm a prophet. And then right after you told me I'm a prophet
your people are gonna run you out, which is, can you imagine, it's already enough that
you just delivered the news that you are a prophet of Allah. On top of that your people are gonna run you
out. I wish that I could be with you when your
people run you out. (arabic) Wait, are my people going to run me out? How is that possible? My people will run me out? And Waraka says (arabic) yes no man has ever
come with what you have come with except that the people took him as an enemy. There's so much to unpack here. Number one, the Prophet (s) obviously from
his perspective all of this coming down on him. He cannot imagine his people taking him as
an enemy. The Prophet (s) has never had a single person
bring a complaint against him. The Prophet (s) is everyone's peacemaker. The Prophet (s) is the one who brings together
waring tribes who otherwise cannot be brought together. He's the man that stands for justice. Khadijah (r) just told the Prophet (s) (arabic)
Allah will never disgrace you and mentioned all the khayr, all the good he does for the
people and on top of that Waraka's first reaction, Khadijah's first reaction is Allah will ever
disgrace you. Waraka's first reaction the people are gonna
disgrace you. The people will fight you. So the Prophet (s) is receiving this very
quickly and he's shocked and Waraka immediately says look it's not personal, it's not about
you, it's about what you have. It's about have, it's about the message that
you have. You could be the best person in the world
the nicest person in the world, all of that, but it's about the substance, it's about the
message that Allah has given you. The Prophet (s) has not received any commands
yet to give dawn or anything but Waraka can see, he knows the way that this has gone down
for all of the prophets that came before including the one that he follows, Isa (a), Jesus peace
be upon him. He knows how this goes. It's not about you ya Muhammad. They don't hate you as a person. But it's the message that you bring that will
threaten them. And Waraka's immediate reaction was what? I wish I was young. I wish I could be with you when people run
you out. And you know what Waraka tells him? This 90 something blind man says to him (arabic)
if I live to see that day I will support you with everything I have, with all of my strength. Whatever Allah has given me to support you
with, I will support you with. Subhanallah, I mean it's really beautiful. There's so much to talk about this. Ayesha (r) says he died just a few days after
that. So he didn't live, he died just a few days
after he tells the Prophet (s) that if I'm alive to see that day, I'm going to support
you with everything that I have, I wish I was young, but I hope that Allah keeps me
alive so I can be by your side. So much to go with this. And Ayesha (r) said he died just a few days
after and the revelation was paused. That's when the fatrah happened to the Prophet
(s). Number one-that good intention. (arabic) There are people that are truthful
when they make promises to Allah. They don't offer lip service. Waraka was sincere in saying this 90 year
old blind man will be by your side and will fight on your behalf. Because Waraka does not just know the signs
of prophethood. Waraka knows the virtues of the people who
follow prophets in their most vulnerable times, and Waraka wants to be the hawaree-this righteous
ones. I want to be the righteous sahabi, I want
to be your disciple, I want to be by your side when your people come after you because
this is going to go down like Isa (a) like Jesus peace be upon him. And I want to be there by your side. I want to be that person to share that burden
with you. Also Waraka did not ask Allah for taqfeef,
he asked Allah for quwa, he didn't ask Allah to lighten the load, he asked Allah for the
strength to bear it. And that's a sign on sincerity. He could have said I hope Allah makes it easy
and I'm an old man, and we're not gonna be able to bear this. No Waraka asked Allah for strength because
Waraka wanted the full reward of being beside the Prophet (s). That's his natural reaction. I've been living nine decades, almost an entire
century for this moment, to support a prophet, to support the prophet when he comes. Waraka is the only Christian left there in
Makkah, the only Christian one, Zaid is dead. It's just Waraka. I've been waiting my whole life. I'm ready. I've rehearsed for this moment intentionally. I've purified myself. And he asked Allah (swt) for that. And by the way him dying a few days after
that, don't think Waraka's burden would have been easy because Quraish knew that there
were certain influential voices. If they spoke in support of the Prophet (s)
things would be very messy for them. So you know what Nawful did? Nawful was the one who tied Abu Bakr and Zubair
together and tortured them together privately. See the powerful ones were not tortured out
in the public. They were tortured amongst their tribe. The tribes wanted to maintain the dignity
of the tribe in as twisted way, maintain the dignity of the tribe but at the same time
deter their own from accepting Islam. So alqarinain, the two qareens, the two tied
ones were Abu Bakr and Zubair. It was Nawful that was tying them together
and torturing them. Nawful, the one who used to put Zubair in
a mat, tie him up in a straw mat and set the mat on fire from the bottom so it would burn
his feet, and roll him and punish him and as Zubair's screams are being heard our from
the qariya, out of their area. So imagine if Waraka would have with his authority,
with the effect he had amongst the Arabs, imagine if Waraka lived to see those days,
Waraka would have been amongst the first people tortured. They might have killed him privately and said
he died a natural death because they would not have been able to afford the voice of
Waraka from a spiritual authority perspective, being lent to the call of the Prophet (s). But Subhanallah Allah chose that this man,
unlike Zaid, lives to see the Prophet (s), lives to see him as a nabi and it's as if
Allah kept him alive just to see that moment and then to die. Dies a natural death. Just a few days after telling the Prophet
(s) what he saw before the Prophet (s) would ever have any followup from Jibreel (a) Waraka
passes away. There is some weakness in the narration because
it doesn't match up. --- talks about it where Waraka would live
and he would see Bilal (r) being tortured and he would say (arab), one god one god oh
Bilal. Sabar ya Bilal. Warning the people about killing Bilal. It doesn't match up to the authentic hadiths
in al-Bukhari that he died just a few days after that moment. Also also don't have any followup. Bilal (r) accepted Islam after the public
call. So we would've had more on Waraka had he lived
to see that. So Waraka dies just a few days after. Now what does that mean about his status? This is where it gets very interesting. He's the first man to believe in the Prophet
(s) so is he a sahabi, is he a companion or not? Was Abu Bakr (r) the first man as you commonly
here? Or is Waraka the first man? What do you all think? Let's take a vote. How many of you think Waraka was a sahabi
and was the first man to become a Muslim? How many of you think he's not a sahibi? I guess a lot of you just don't know. You don't want to answer, good answer. There is ikhtilaaf, there is a difference
of opinion amongst the scholars because they're trying to reconsile how Abu Bakr (r) plays
into this because commony Khadijah (r) was the first woman and Abu Bakr (r) was the first
man. But here is Waraka telling him you're a Prophet. Not just saying it but telling him look, I'm
going to support you, I will fight by your side. I will make sure that no one hurts you. So some of the scholars came up with very
interesting ways to resolve this. Some of them said (arabic), he caught the
prophethood of the Prophet (s) but he didn't live long to see the message of the Prophet
(s) because the Prophet (s) still hadn't been told to call the people yet. He was just resolving himself what was happening
to him. So he called the appointment of the Prophet
(s) as a nabi, as a prophet, but not the dawah of the Prophet (s), not the message. Therefore he died musadiq as someone who confirmed
the prophethood of the Prophet (s) as a believer but not a sahabi because he didn't technically
join the ummah of the Prophet (s) because he didn't live to be a Muslim in the formal
sense. Some of the scholars said he died in the fatrah,
he died in the pause, so they had a similar conclusion. They said he's a believer, they said he's
a mu'min but we can't say he's a sahabi. Another group of scholars actually wrote entire
rasail like bakhdadi, khateeb al bakhdadi and others who wrote these treatisisms saying
that no he was indeed a sahabi and Waraka is indeed the first male companion of the
Prophet (s) and we say (r) and we consider him that first sahabi of the Prophet (s). So there is an interesting difference of opinion
and like Zaid, Waraka's situation confuses even the close companions. So remember with Zaid it was Saeed, his son
and Umar his cousin coming to the Prophet (s) saying Ya Rasulullah what happened to
Zaid? Does he go to Jannah? Paradise?Does he go to hellfire? Was he a believer? What did we say about Zaid? Think about this one now. Khadijah (r) in an authentic Hadith asking
the Prophet (s) Ya Rasullulah oh messenger of Allah, (arabic) he confirmed, he believed
in you, he confirmed you were who you were. (arabic) And he died before you were made
public, your dawn was public, what sin did this man commit? What would happen to him? So the Prophet (s) responds to Khadijah this
concerned woman over her cousin, over this man who was so precious to the Prophet (s)
and Khadijah's life and who, you talk about niya at how he didn't just say I believe in
you, he said I'm gonna fight on your side, I will support you against all else. The Prophet (s) says ya Khadijah, oh Khadijah,
(arabic) I saw Waraka in my sleep and he was wearing these white clothes, these garments,
and he said to her (arabic) if was to be of the people of hellfire then I would not have
seen him in that state. He looked absolutely fine, he looked beautiful,
he looked assured. In another narration there was a person, this
is narrated from Ibn Asaqir---- that the Prophet (s) was asked (arabic) I saw him, he was asked
about Waraka and the Prophet (s) said I saw Waraka in the middle of Jannah literally in
the stomach of it, in the belly of jannah (arabic) and he was wearing silk so he looked
absolutely fine. He looked like he was in jannah and he looked
like he was in absolute beauty in the blessing of Allah (swt) and one more Hadith. Al Haqim, also an interesting Hadith narrated
by Ayesha (r) he says that the Prophet (s) (arabic) he heard a man who was cursing Waraqa
or mentioning Waraka in a bad way and the Prophet (s) said do not say anything negative
or bad about Waraka, don't you know that I saw Waraka in Jannah, not just with one level,
but actually even with two Jannahs, two gardens, two levels in paradise. So these are the ahadith about Waraka. And Subhanllah I was thinking about this its
interesting that the Prophet (s) mentions Zaid and Waraka, two Jannahs. If you remember last week we talked about
Zaid Ibn Amr and the Prophet (s) said I saw that he had two gardens, two levels of paradise. And he says the same thing about Waraka. And it's very interesting because if you look
at the Quran, when Allah (swt) says (arabic) for the one who fears the station of the lord,
the greatness of their lord, and I'm sorry standing in front of being in front of being
beholden by Allah (swt) in that moment being resurrected in front of Allah the almighty,
fears that moment, Jannah are two gardens. And the mufassirun generally say this is why
Allah mentions this, because this is talking about a person that committed a sin, made
tauba to Allah, and then immersed themselves in good. So basically the two Jannahs refer to them
leaving off sin and then immersing themselves in good because when a person repents from
a sin, the sin turns into a good deed. So Allah gives them a Jannah for leaving off
a major sin or for that sin, that place of disobedience, and replaces it with another
Jannah because of the good that they then exert themselves in. So they don't just make tauba, they live the
rest of their lives in good as a result of the lessons learned from that tauba. So lahum jannataan. They have two Jannahs. Subhanallah for Zaid and Warakah, the Prophet
(s) to be very specific about both of them that they have two jannahs and there could
be many reasons for this. One that they believed twice in a way. They believed before the Prophet (s) even
came and when they knew of a prophet they expressed another level of belief. So clearly they've got a distinction amongst
even the sahaba of the Prophet (s) in that they believed when no one else believed. And then again when they were told that the
Prophet had come out they believed once again.Why is that significant? There were some people that were in Madinah
waiting for the Prophet (s). As soon as they knew who he was they said
no no no not him. So they knew a prophet was coming, they dedicated
themselves to tawhid, to monotheism, but once they saw that it was him, Muhammed (s), banu
hashim, we can't so that. So the fact the Zaid was on his way back to
embrace this prophet, Waraka confirmed this prophet and both of them upheld monotheism
even in jaahiliya. Allahuta'ala alum, but that could be the wisdom
for why the Prophet (s) mentioned that they have two Jannahs. This next thing which is extremely powerful
and it's just a beautiful transition if you think about it. The last way the Allah mentions Jesus, Isa
(a) in the Quran is, who can tell me, in the Quran, those of you that memorized the Quran,
you can go through it. When's the last mention of Isa (a) in the
Quran? If you read the Quran front to back what's
the last time you heard about Jesus, Isa (a) five time? Sarah Al-Suf. And what happens in Surah Al-Suf. (arabic)
literally the last mention of Isa (a) in the Quran is very beautiful, Isa (a) in telling
his people about the coming of the Prophet (s) that I've confirmed to you what came before
me from the Torah, and I''m here to give you glad tidings of the prophet that will come
after me, Ismuhu Ahmed. Alright, who's name will be Ahmed. How beautiful is it that the first person
to confirm prophethood of the Prophet (s) is the last follower of Isa (a) in makkah. Subhanallah the first one to accept the prophet,
the long Christian in Makkah who was exerting himself to follow the true way ofIsa (a) to
follow Ibrahim, He's the first one to confirm, it's you. You're the prophet of this ummah, and then
he died. Then it was not one of the pagan arabs, it
was not someone to tell him that you are a prophet. You're the one that is following the Bushra
of Isa (a), glad tiding of Jesus peace be upon him and handing that off to the Prophet
(s) and then he dies and the story of the Prophet (s) picks up right from where Isa
(a) where Jesus peace be upon him, left off, continuing that legacy fo Ibrahim (a), Zayd
Ibn Amr said that he was on the way of Ibrahim (a). So Subhanallah it's a very, if you just think
about the wisdom upon wisdom upon wisdom about how this is happening and the beautiful mercies
that Allah has embedded and just the succession here of the Prophets of Allah, it's incredibly
beautiful. And so we ask Allah (swt) to be please with
Waraka (r), to join us with him and with the Prophet (s) and Khadijah (r) and with Zaid
and those righteous ones in the highest level of Jannatul Firdous with the prophets of Allah,
with the siddiqeen, with the shuhada, with all of those righteous ones that preceded. And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahuma Ameen.
