What Did Bilal Do to Enter Paradise First?

Continuing in Al Wajeez, in in the book of purification, the chapters of wudu. We are in the sub chapter regarding my used to have blue. The whole and will do. The instances or scenarios or times in which it is preferred that a person have will do. It is preferred that a person highly encouraged that a person have will do for these occasions. Now, obligation, that's different. We have three instances that a person must have will do in order to engage in these three actions. Number one is salah. Number two is the laugh around the Kaaba. Number three is touching or handling the most half the Quran. Now, as far as the instances in which it is preferred that a person have will do. The author mentions nine of these instances. We've thus far discussed six of them. just very quickly at for the occasion of any remembrance of Allah. When a person wishes to sleep, if a person is in a state of janaba, if he wishes to eat or drink or sleep or have relations a second time. The fourth is making will do before bathing always. Making will do as a prelude to bathing. Number five is making will do after eating something that has been cooked on an open flame. Number six is what we mentioned yesterday, which is making will do for each prayer, for each salah. And when we say each salah, what's meant by that is each time we stand to make salat. Right? So, let's say for instance a person wishes to make salat of Dhuhr, they're going to make two rakat and then, you know, the the fard and then two rakat, making wudu once for all of this. So, the entire moment of prayer, right? And then when salat al-asr comes, they make wudu another time even if they already have wudu. Right? And that's how it used to be. That's how it was obligated in the very beginning. It was obligatory to make wudu for every salat. And then later that was relaxed in the very last year of the prophet's life. As a matter of fact, roughly 4 months before his death, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, that was relaxed and it became highly encouraged to make wudu for each salat, but no longer obligated. Or this was relaxed earlier during the conquest of Mecca. The verse of surat al-Ma'idah, ya ayyuhallazina amanu idhā qumtum ila.

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Ila ākhirihi, this was revealed with surat al-Ma'idah altogether. And surat al-Ma'idah was revealed during Hajjatul Wada, which is in the ninth year after hijrah. Right? However, we read the narration of Buraydah yesterday, Buraydah ibn al-Husayb, radiyallahu anhu, in which the prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, made wudu and then made all of the remaining prayers of the day on that same wudu that he made in the morning. And this was during the conquest of Mecca. So, at the earliest, that's when this was relaxed, and at the latest, it was in last year of his life. Now, the seventh instance in which it is preferred that a person make wudu.

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The author tells us that the seventh time when it is the sunnah and encouraged that a person make wudu is anytime he breaks his wudu. Anytime the person breaks his wudu, uses the restroom, or their wudu is is is broken, to make wudu. Why? Because in all of your conscious time, and even in your sleeping time, it is highly preferred that a person have wudu. That a person have constant wudu.

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The obviously is a reference to Bilal ibn.

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Sallallahu alaihi wasallam's muezzin in Medina. And he was actually a slave that was purchased by Abu Bakr.

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Early days in Mecca because he he saw that his masters were torturing him. So, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq actually purchased him for ex- for a a a reasonable you know, a reasonably high amount of money and the master their masters, his masters didn't want to sell him at first. They wanted to keep him because they wanted to break his spirit, but they were unable to do so. He broke their spirits by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's will. And so, finally, they just wanted to get rid of him. And so, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq purchased him and then he he emancipated him, radi.

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Maula to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and he had accepted Islam before this and he made hijrah. He was there for all of the.

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Made hijrah. He was there for all of the major battles. I think most of us know.

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Notably what he is known for is he was one of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's two mu'adhdhin mu'adh- mu'adhdhins. I don't using like mu'adhdhins, but ahadi mu'adhdhinay an nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam in Medina. He had Bilal ibn Rabah, and he had who was the primary, and then Abdullah ibn Ummi Maktum or Amr ibn Ummi Maktum, radi.

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And so, Bilal was also a servant to the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He's with him for all of his major battles. And.

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His the way that they did things in the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's time for the prayer is that he would make the adhan on time. And then he would be in the masjid, and people would come in, and they would trickle in, and when he sees that the majority of the people are there, he would make the iqama, or and then he would go to the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and he would tell him "It's time for salah." And he would come out, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and they would line up for salah, and then he would lead them in salah. And so, this went on for 10 years. 10 years this went on. So, the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was very well acquainted with Bilal and well acquainted with Bilal's footsteps, you know, like have I heard someone walking so much that by the cadence of their walk, you know, that that is them, you know, because he's always listening to hear when Bilal is coming because it's time for salah. And so the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam here he says Buraydah tells us that one day the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam woke up, meaning from sleep, and he called Bilal. And so Bilal came and he said, "Yeah, Bilal, bima sabaqtani ila jannah? Inni dakhaltul barihal jannah fasami'tu khashkhashatak amami. Khashkhashatak ya'ni saut khashkhashat qadamayk, ya'ni mashiyatak amami fil jannah." And so the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was sleeping, he woke up from his sleep and he called for Bilal. And when Bilal came, he said, "Bilal, what did you do, what did you manage to do, what have you what do you do to have managed to have entered paradise before me? Yesterday, I entered paradise and I heard your footsteps in front of me in paradise." Faqala Bilal, "Ya Rasul Allah, ma adhannu qatt illa sallaytu rak'atayn. Wala asabani hadathun qatt illa tawaddha'tu indah.".

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Wasallam said, "What do you do to have managed to have gotten to paradise before me because I entered paradise last night and I heard the sound of your footsteps in front of me therein. And so, Bilal said, "Oh messenger of Allah, I have not made adhan ever except that I will make two raka' directly after making adhan, always." And also, I do not break my wudu and have never broken my wudu ever except that I would always make my wudu again right after. All right, so he's always in a state of wudu. And so, the messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasallam said, "Lihadha, for this reason." This is This is the reason. And this is an important point that he would always make two raka' after adhan. And this is one of the evidences that the scholars use that how much time should be between adhan and iqama. They say, "At least enough time for two raka'." At least enough time for two raka'. As a matter of fact, these two raka' are so highly encouraged by the prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam that they are almost obligatory. Almost wajib. Because in a narration he says "Bayna kulli adhanayni rak'atani. Bayna kulli adhanayni rak'atani. Bayna kulli adhanayni rak'atani liman sha'." He said in a narration between the every adhan and iqama is two rak'. Then he repeated it again. Between every adhan and iqama is two rak'. Between every adhan and iqama is two rak'. So, he said it three times and then he said, almost reluctantly, "For whoever wants to." Meaning it's just short of being obligatory. this is how the companions, radiyallahu anhum, would usually behave between adhan and iqama. Not stand around chit-chatting and lollygagging between adhan and iqama. This is This happens, right? This happens. You don't see someone, you come into the masjid, you see him, you talk to him. That's okay. But this to become our custom to the point that if you come into the masjid and want to make two rak', you can't because they're going to see me and I have to entertain them. And if I don't entertain them, they're going to think something is wrong with me because I'm not chit-chatting and lollygagging before adhan and iqama because we all know that between adhan and iqama, this is the prime time to chat about the weather, or to chat about the news, or to chat about how fat someone is getting, or how skinny someone is getting, or how much weight he lost, or how wet or dry it is outside. And what happens, The days of our lives are slipping through our fingers just sand. Just absolutely hemorrhaging time left and right. How much time is there between adhan and iqama? Usually, about 5 or 10 minutes. Imagine if all you did, all you change in your life, nothing else. You say, "From now on, from now on, this is the only thing I'm going to change in my life right now. I have a lot of bad things going on in my life that I shouldn't be doing. A lot of good things that I should be doing. But, I can't change everything right now. I'm going to change one thing. I am going to be in the masjid for every adhan from now on, and I am going to spend every moment between adhan and iqama either in salah or making dua. What would change in our lives? Everything. Literally, everything would change. Everything. This is what the companions did. They didn't get to paradise by doing these great big amazing acts. No, some of them did, but most of them, they got to paradise by what? One step at a time. Right? But, what happens is the masjid turns into a certain culture where it becomes almost impossible to come here just to worship Allah. You can't do that anymore. Right? You cannot come in and just make salah because there's people talking and chatting and walking back and forth and joking and and so, I I can't really focus in my prayer. And so, the real good prayer is at home in my house. But, at the masjid, that's kind of you know, it's kind of a rotary club. That's where we go to hang out. We pray, we make salah, but the bulk of our time is spent hanging out and chit-chatting. It cannot be this because if the masjid turns into this, where are we going to go to get away from the dunya? Where? Speaking, talking, interacting in the masjid should always be incidental. And as we continue through the sunan of salah and masajid in the future chapters, we'll see how the prophet saw these same habits start to come up in the masjid. Talking, chatting, hanging out too much to where it would start to impede impede worship and how he put a stop to it. Sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And we will learn that inshallah. Nas'alullah subhanahu wa ta'ala an yu'allimana min dinina ma jahilna wa an yanfa'ana bima allamana minhu. As'alullah ta'ala an yubarika li walakum fil Qur'anil Azim wa an yanfa'ani wa iyyakum bima fihi minal ayat wadh-dhikril Hakim. Wallahu.

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Ashabihi ajma'in. Walhamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin.