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Celebrations are meant to be simple and expansive.
And Subhan Allah, nowadays we actually see
the opposite of that,
where celebrations are extravagant and exclusive.
And that's the opposite of how
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam's celebrations were,
in his lifetime.
(nostalgic music)
So, we went through what it was like to see
the Messenger Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
in times of hardship.
Literally in the trenches, in battle,
serving alongside the people.
And we talked about what it was like to see
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam and pray behind him
in the month of Ramadan.
Now, I want to talk a bit about the feasts
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
the celebrations of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
and let's start with Eid, but let's not get to Eid yet.
Let's stay in Ramadan mode Insha'Allah,
but let's start with Eid and some lessons we can glean
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
and how he sets the community feel in the time of Eid.
- First and foremost,
when the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam would come out
on the day Eid, he wore this red striped cloak,
Alayhi Salatu Wasallam a beautiful suit from Yemen
and you looked at him Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
and he was so beautiful, as he came out
to speak to the people.
And the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam would say,
"Everyone come out to the Eid Salat".
He would bring them out to the Eid Salat,
all of the men, all of the women, all of the children,
all of the elderly.
Everyone come out to the Eid Salat
and the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
would make it a point to greet everyone individually.
And he would even give his Khutbah differently,
on the day of Eid, Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
He would be closer to the people when he gave the Khutbah
on the day of Eid Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
walking around to his companions,
reminding them of the Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
A lot of times we think of Eid,
as a day of as a day ghaflah,
as a day of heedlessness, rather than a day of
celebrating the worship of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam said three times
at the end of his Eid Khutbah ta sadaquh,ta sadaquh,
ta sadaquh. "Give, give, give. Give in charity.
Give in charity. Give in charity."
So, Eid is actually supposed to be a day of charity
in the time of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
as well, reminding everyone that it's not like
you go through this exercise of gratitude
just to become ungrateful on this day,
but include everyone.
Make sure that you're giving on this day as well,
so that everyone has Eid.
That's why you have Zakat al-Fitr and Eid al-Fitr, right?
That everyone is able to eat and feast on that day,
not just those that can afford to do so.
And of course Eid al-Adha, is where the sacrifice is made.
So once again, everyone is able to eat in Eid al-Adha.
So the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam reminds people
of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He reminds the people to be generous.
He reminds the people to be open and of course,
he allows the people Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
to celebrate that day.
And sometimes it was hard to know the boundaries
around the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
in that regard, until he set them Alayhi Salatu Wasallam.
So, there's this narration that
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam was there
and there were these two girls that were singing
these old songs from the Ba'ath Wars.
And Abu Bakr RadiAllahu ta'ala anhu
he reprimanded those two young girls to stop singing
and the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam said
to leave them.
He said that every people has Eid.
Every people have a day of feasting
and this is our day of celebration.
So, let them sing it's okay and of course,
there is nothing objectionable in what they were saying
on that day.
Aisha RadiAllahu ta'ala anha
She describes the day of Eid
with the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
in a very special way.
She says that the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
was laying down
and when Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu had gone away,
"I asked the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
if we could go and we could watch the Abyssinians
that were doing some of their Eid dances,
or their celebrations in the masjid
with their shields and with their spears."
They had their special war dances and their dances
of celebration of course, with modesty.
Nothing haram within them
and they particularly were doing so in the masjid
at the time of Eid.
So, Aisha radiAllahu Anha said,
"Can we go and watch them?"
So, she says that
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam said,
"Let's go and watch them".
"And he sat in front of me,
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam and I put my head
on his shoulder.
So I put my chin on his shoulder behind him,
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
and my cheek was touching his cheek
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
And we were watching the Abyssinians doing their dances."
And the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam said,
"Carry on."
And he allowed them to go and to go and to go.
And Aisha radiAllahu Anha
sitting behind the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
leaning her chin on his shoulder,
with her cheek to his cheek, watching.
And the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam says,
hasbuki
"Have you had enough?"
She said, "No, keep on going."
And she wanted to see if
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
would be patient with her and let her continue
to enjoy the celebration.
So some time went on and she was starting to get tired.
The Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam said,
"Is this enough yet?"
And she said, "No."
The Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam said, "Okay."
And then finally, she told
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
"Now I've had enough."
So the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam takes her home
after witnessing the celebration of Eid.
And of course that was a form of him
approving that celebration, Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
Now, we also know that to the Eid Salat,
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam used to go one route
and then he would come back another route.
And they're usually individual tazkiah reasons
that we talk about,
in terms of spiritually taking a new path,
at this point in your life.
But one of the things that the ulama mention,
they say that the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
used to do that and some of the wisdoms of that include:
going those two paths,
so that the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
could give Salaam to everyone.
Ah'li tari qayn
So, if you lived on this path,
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
could say Salaam to you.
And if you lived on this path,
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
could say Salaam to you.
They also say that the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
could encounter all of those that had needs on that day,
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
because the day of Eid was the day of Sadaqah
for the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
It was another day of generosity
for the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
So he goes forth and he greets everyone,
Alayhi Salatu Wasallam
He serves the people, Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
He celebrates with the people Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
and you could see him in all places of Medina
on the day of Eid Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
What about the weddings?
The Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam used to encourage
the people to feast,
but the feasts again, are not extravagant.
Sometimes it was bread and meat.
Sometimes it was just bread.
Sometimes it was just some dates, some milk and some ghee,
which is a clarified butter.
Sometimes it was hays,
which is a particular favorite
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
where you mix you know, the milk
and you mix the clarified butter
and you mix some of the date paste.
And sometimes it was just barley.
And the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
would eat whatever was there
and he would celebrate with the people
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
And you even find that
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
made some of the feasts potluck style.
So, everyone bring what you have and guess what?
That was his wedding with Safiyyah radiAllahu ta'ala Anha.
Just everyone bring whatever food you have
and let's eat together.
And they spread these black leather mats
and the people sat together
and they ate the food that was brought from
all of the different parts of al Medina.
And the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam said,
and listen very, very, very carefully.
He said, "The worst feast is the one
to which only the rich are invited
and the poor are excluded.
That's the worst feast that you can have."
So if you want baraqah in your feasts,
baraqah on your occasion, don't exclude the poor.
Don't exclude people and make it extravagant and small.
Remember, simple and expansive is the way
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
And he would attend all of the weddings
Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam, that he could,
not just a special group of people.
And when someone poor was getting married,
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam would encourage
everyone to pitch in with the expenses
and he himself Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
would help finance the mahars of people.
Help finance the dowries of people
Help finance their weddings.
And with Ali radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu marrying his own
daughter, Fathima radiAllahu Anha
we see that everyone in the household
of the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
participated in that wedding.
People prepared all that they could prepare.
The food is prepared from different directions
and the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam himself,
furnished the house of Ali radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu.
So when the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam
was there in celebrations,
the Prophet Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam did not just bring
his own spirit of baraqah.
He was changing paradigm Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam,
to where celebrations were meant
to be community celebrations and no one was going
to be left out of celebration,
in the community of the Sallalaahu 'Alayhi Wasallam.
(nostalgic music)