Today, the khutbah was about a story. A story of a boy who was mentioned by Imam Ahmad bin Hambal. The whole khutbah is about this story, but at different times, the Imam would stop and clarify the point or the message of the significant parts.Here goes the story:

There was a king, who had a sorcerer. The sorcerer was getting really old, so he told the king "I am getting old. Get me a boy so that I could teach all my knowledge to him". So the king did get a boy. The boy was ordered to learn all the magic kinda stuff from the sorcerer. So the boy walked to the castle. On his way, he saw a monk (A monk here refers to a male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work ). He was interested in what the monk was teaching,so he stopped by and started learning from the monk. This will result in him arriving late to the castle. The old sorcerer will always scold him and ask him why he was late. The monk reminded him not to tell the sorcerer about him, instead tell him that his people was making him late. So he continued on doing this, learning from the monk and learning from the sorcerer. There was one incident where the boy was walking with his people, and out of nowhere came a beast right in front of them. The boy took a stone as said, "Oh Allah, if the knowledge that the Monk is teaching me is better than the Sorcerer's, please kill this beast". Then he threw a stone at the beast and the beast died at the place.

The message here is that though he is just 7-8 years old , he has the faith in Allah like not many of us.

One of the king's friend was blind and heard that the boy is a sorcerer. So he met the boy, and brought lavish gifts for him. "If you cure my blindness, all these gifts are yours". The boy replied, "I don't cure people. Allah does. If you believe in Him and pray to Him, He will cure you" That's what the guy did, and his blindness was cured. The king met the once-blind-guy and asked him, how was his blindness cured? He answered, "My Lord cured me" The king was like,"I cured you?" "No,my Lord and your Lord cured me" The king was unhappy coz the guy believed that there's another Lord besides him.

So he asked his guards to punish him, before he finally revealed about the boy. The boy came and met the king. "Your magic has improved so much that you can cure blind people now?" "No,my Lord and your Lord cured the blind guy" The king was again unhappy and punished the boy before he revealed about the monk. The monk than met the king. The king asked him to abandon his religion. The king then send him to be punished. The king ordered the guards to bring the once-blind-man to met him. A sharp blade was put on his head. The king said, "Abandon your religion" . The guy refused to so his head was cut into half. The king then brought the monk and put a sharp blade on his head. "Abandon your religion," the king said. But the monk refused and his head was cut into half too. The king then ordered for the boy to be brought in front of him. Again,the king ask him to abandon his religion, and he refused to. The king ordered the guards to bring the boy to the top of the mountain, and scare him. If he agrees to abandon his religion,then release him. However, the boy wasn't scared. When they reached the top of the mountain, the boy said, "Allah, save me from this anyway you want,". Suddenly, the mountain started shaking and all the guards died falling from the mountain. The boy was safe.

So he went back to the castle and met the king. The king was surprised and asked what happened to the guards, and he told him what happened. The king then asked the guards to bring this boy to the middle of the ocean and drown him if he refused to abandon his religion. Again, a wave came and struck the boat,drowning everyone except the boy. The boy went back to the castle and told the king,"You won't be able to kill me unless you gather your entire nation,tie me to the tree,and shoot me with an arrow while saying 'In the name of Allah' ". So the king agreed and did just that.

He gathered his entire nation,tied the boy to the tree. Then, the king shoot him with an arrow while saying 'In the name of Allah'. The arrow hit the boy, and the boy died. The whole nation saw this, and they all said that they believe in Allah. After witnessing this incident,almost the entire nation believed in Allah. The king was furious. The king ordered that a large hole is dug. Those who won't still believes in Allah, was killed and buried in the big hole. These people were called 'The Ditches'. (This story was apparently mentioned in the Quran, but I can't recall which verse was it from.Sorry.)

I know most of you will be wondering, what's the point of telling this story. This story reminds me the most of the biggest fitna that our ummah will ever face, Dajjal. He exist, and he will come to us and tempt us. He will ask us to leave Islam and becomes his follower. As we know, by becoming his follower, we are signing up for hell. But by refraining to go with him, we are staying on the right path, and will not die in vain. This story reflects on how a young boy, would believe in Allah, more than anything else in the world, and Allah didn't disappoint him. He knows that he is in danger every time he says that he believes in Allah, but did he give up on Allah?No.

Just as a reminder who Dajjal is, he is a creature created by Allah, who has three eyes. He's also gifted with superpowers, to show that he is more powerful than Allah, and ask people to deviate from the teachings of Islam. Some of us will be dumbfounded enough to believe in him, but that's not a surprise coz he is really good at making us believe that he is God etc. But nevertheless, every problem has it's solutions. If we are strong enough iman wise, we won't be easily swayed by his powers. Do realize that we are the last ummah living this earth,and it is promised in Quran that dajjal will come to our ummah.

But then,looking at how our people are nowadays, I am not that surprised that a lot of people will be his follower. Our Prophet, Muhammad S.A.W has reminded us about the coming of Dajjal:

HADIS yang MENGISAHKAN perihal "AL-JAZZAZAH" yang diriwayatkan oleh Muslim dalam Kitab Shahihnya dari Fatimah binti Qais, di mana dia berkata. "Aku mendengar seruan dari tukang seru Rasulullah untuk melaksanakan solat berjemaah maka aku berangkat ke masjid dan solat bersama-sama Rasulullah. Ketika Solat telah selesai, Rasulullah duduk di atas mimbar, sambil tersenyum beliau berkata: DEMI ALLAH, sesungguhnya aku telah mengumpulkan kalian bukanlah untuk satu khabar gembira atau khabar buruk, tetapi aku mengumpulkan kalian kerana Tamim Ad-Dari yang dulunya seorang lelaki beragama Nasrani, maka dia telah memeluk Islam dan membai'atku.

Dia telah berkata kepada ku, dengan satu perkataan yang sudah aku katakan pada kalian semua tentang Al-Masihuddajjal. Dia mengisahkan perjalanannya kepadaku, bahawa dia belayar dengan sebuah kapal laut bersama 30 orang laki-laki dari kabilah Lakham dan Judzam. Kemudian mereka terumbang-ambing di lautan selama satu bulan. Hingga kapal tersebut terdampar pada sebuah pulau di tengah laut di arah tempat matahari terbenam. Lalu mereka semua duduk di sebuah tempat yang sangat dekat dgn kapal. Setelah itu mereka masuk ke dalam pulau itu.

Lalu mereka bertemu dengan seekor binatang berbulu lebat, sehingga mereka tidak dapat memperkirakan mana ekornya dan mana kepalanya, kerana tertutup oleh bulunya yang terlalu banyak. Maka mereka berkata: Celaka, dari jenis apakah kamu ini. Ia menjawab: Saya adalah Al-Jassasah. Mereka Bertanya: Apakah Al-Jassasah itu? (tanpa menjawab)ia berkata: Wahai orang-orang, pergilah kalian kepada lelaki di biara itu. Sesungguhnya ia sangat ingin mendengarkan berita dari kalian. Tamim Ad-Dari berkata: Ketika ia telah menjelaskan kepada kami laki-laki itu, kami pun terkejut kerana kami mengira; bahawa ia adalah syaitan.

Lalu kami berangkat sehingga kami memasuki biara tersebut tiba-tiba disana terdapat seorang manusia yang paling besar(yang pernah mereka lihat) dalam keadaan terikat snagat kuat. Kedua tangannya terikat pada pundaknya serta antara dua lutut dan mata kakinya terikat dengan besi. Kami berkata: CELAKA! SIAPAKAH KAMU INI? Ia menjawab: Takdir sudah menentukan bahawa kalian akan menyampaikan khabar-khabar kepada saya, maka khabarkanlah kepada saya siapakah kalian ini? Kami adalah orang Arab yang belayar dalam kapal. Tiba-tiba kami menghadapi laut yang bergoncang, lalu terumbang-ambing di lautan selama satu bulan, maka terdamparlah kami di pulau ini. Lalu kami duduk di kedudukan dekat dengan kapal, kemudian masuk ke pulau ini.

Dia(Lelaki besar yang terikat itu) berkata: Beritakanlah kepada saya tentang pohon-pohon kurma di daerah Baisan. Kami bertanya: tentang apa yang kamu ingin bertanya tentangnya? DIA BERKATA: Adapun pohon-pohon kurma itu, hampir saja tidak berbuah lagi. Kemudian dia berkata lagi: Beritakanlah kepadaku tentang Danai Tiberia. Kami bertanya: tentang apa yang kamu ingin bertanya tentangnya? DIA BERKATA: Apakah ia tetap berair? Kami menjawab: YA. Dia berkata: Adapun airnya, ia hampir saja akan habis. Kemudian ia berkata lagi: Beritakanlah kepada saya tentang mata air Zugar. Kami bertanya: tentang apa yang kamu ingin bertanya tentangnya? Dia berkata: Adakah di sana masih ada air dan apakah penduduk di sana masih bertani menggunakan air mata Zugar itu? Kami katakan kepadanya: Benar, masih ada air dan petani manggunakan air itu.

Lalu dia berkata lagi: Beritakanlah kepada saya tentang Nabi yang Ummi, apa sajakah yang sudah dia perbuat? Kami menjawab: Dia sudah keluar dari Makkah menuju ke Madinah. Lalu dia bertanya: Apakah dia diperangi orang-orang Arab? Kami menjawab: Ya. Dia bertanya: Apakah yang dia lakukan terhadap mereka? Kami menjawab: bahawa Dia[Muhammad S.A.W] telah menundukkan orang-orang Arab yang bersama dengannya dan mentaatinya. Lalu ia berkata: Apakah ia semuanya sudah terjadi? Kami menjawab: Ya.

Ia Berkata: Sesungguhnya adalah lebih baik untuk mereka mentaatinya dan sungguh saya akan beritahu kalian tentang saya; saya adalah Al-Masihuddajjal dan sesungguhnya hampir sahaja diizinkan untuk keluar. Maka saya akan berjalan di muka bumi, dan tidak akan ada satu kampung pun yang tidak akan dimasuki dalam waktu 40 malam selain Makkah dan Thibah. Maka kedua-dua itu terlarang, dimana setiap kali aku ingin memasuki salah satu dari dua negeri itu, saya dihadang oleh Malaikat yang di tangannya ada pedang berkilau yang sangat tajam untuk menghambatku dari kedua negeri itu.

Dia[Fatimah Si Perawi Hadis] berkata: Rasulullah s.a.w bersabda sambil menghentakkan tongkatnya di atas mimbar: Inilah Thibah, inilah Thibah, inilah Thibah[Kota Madinah]. Bukankah Aku sudah menyampaikan kepada kalian tentang hal itu? Orang-orang[para sahabat] menjawb: Benar. Beliau s.a.w. berkata: Saya tertarik dengan apa-apa yang dikatakan oleh Tamim Ad-Dari, kerana ia bersesuaian dengan apa-apa yang pernah aku sampaikan kepada kalian di Madinah dan Makkah. Bukankah ia[tempat Dajjal] terletak di laut Syam atau Laut Yaman? Di mana Rasulullah mengisyaratkan tangannya ke Timur. Dia[Fatimah] berkata: Hal ini saya hafalkan dari Rasulullah s.a.w.


Dajjal is true. But whatever it is, if we believe in Allah,do what we were told and leave thing we are not supposed to do, there's nothing much for us to worry about. The stronger our Iman is, the safer we will be.

Sorry for making this post extremely long. Again as any other post, whatever I'm saying here goes to me first before anybody else. We learn to be a better Muslim by reminding each other everyday in our life. The day of judgement is real, and will happen. Lets work our way to be a better Muslim and InsyaAllah, we will meet in Jannah. Amin.

Salam.