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Abu Jahl was a small man.
Abu Lahab was a small man.
Not in the physical sense.
Just like those who are blind
are not those who are physically blind,
but they're people who have blind hearts.
Those who are small people
are not those who have small bodies,
that's just the physical vessel,
but they're people of no character.
And people without character
tend to overcompensate with all sorts of things:
clothes of vanity, braying, loud voices,
and just utter obnoxiousness.
Now, you have all these scales in this life,
and if you look at these scales,
they try to weigh things that a typical scale can't.
So you have the muscle versus fat density,
or whatever it is that doesn't show up on a regular scale.
But you know what a worldly scale can't weigh?
It can't weigh your character.
Only Allah's scales can do that.
(somber music)
If you look at Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu,
the man is a giant in this deen.
And that was true in his lifetime,
and it's also true in his legacy.
He's the first person to recite the Qur'an publicly.
He's the one who the
Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"If you want to hear the Qur'an fresh and beautiful,
like the way it was revealed,
then listen to the recitation of this man."
And it was he who would bring the
Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam himself to weep
when he would recite to him.
And if you open any book of Hadith,
and you just see the name Abdullah without any last name,
then you know it's talking about him
because you know he's the greatest of them all.
Now you compare this man,
Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
to Abu Jahl.
Abu Jahl was huge in physical stature.
He was likened to Umar ibn al-Khattab
radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu in size.
The difference is that Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
was guided, and he would go on in life
to sit at the feet of ibn Mas'ud.
While Abu Jahl would actually meet his death
under the feet of Ibn Mas'ud.
Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
was known to be much shorter physically
than any of the companions.
And when he went out
reciting Surah Ar-Rahman in public,
which was the first time the Qur'an was read in public
under very dangerous circumstances,
he was almost killed.
People stomped him and threw things at him.
And the main culprit that was stomping him that day
was none other than Abu Jahl,
the fir'awn of this ummah.
Now, you fast forward
and it's the Battle of Badr.
And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la would have it so poetically
that Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
is climbing on top of this mountain of a tyrant,
meaning Abu Jahl.
After Abu Jahl has been struck, and he's laying there,
he looks up and he sees this man standing on his chest,
and he can't believe that it's Ibn Mas'ud,
the one he used to oppress.
So he says, "Laqadir taqaita murtaqan
sa'ban ra yuwa'el ganam!"
"You have climbed a difficult mountain, O tiny shepherd!"
But that was the victory of Allah.
And the last thing that Abu Jahl saw in this life
was Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
standing on top of him, saying,
"Victory belongs to Allah.
Victory belongs to the Messenger
SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And victory belongs to the believers."
Now, the Sahaba also had to learn this lesson
about what makes a person mighty.
And one time the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
was sitting with the companions,
and Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
was picking a siwak,
and the wind actually blew him into the tree,
and it exposed his legs.
And the companions laughed.
Now the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
could have merely just chastised them for their laughter,
but he said, "What are you laughing at?"
They said, "Ya Rasulullah, his legs are so small."
And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
'Those two legs,'
"Lahuma athkaru fil mizahni yawmul qiyamati min Uhud."
"Those two legs are bigger on the Day of Judgment
on the scale of good deeds than Uhud."
Can you imagine Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
showing up on the Day of Judgment,
and his legs are actually the size of Uhud in his Mizaan,
because the Mizaan doesn't just weigh what you say.
It also weighs you.
And so you have this Hadith
where the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"Innahu laya'ti ar-rajul al-azeem as-sameen yawmal qiyama"
That on the Day of Judgment,
Allah brings forth this huge fat man
on the Day of Judgment .
"Fala yazinu 'indallahi janaHa ba'uDa"
And he's not worth
in the sight of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la,
the wing of a mosquito.
"Fala nuqeemu lahum yawmal qiyamati waznaa"
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam then recited.
"And we will give them no weight on the Day of Judgment."
So where does that leave us?
What do you weigh in Allah's sight
with your faith, and with your character?
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"ma min sha'yin athQaru fil Mizaani min Husnil quluq"
"Nothing on the Day of Judgment
is going to be heavier on the scale
than good character."
And character is to your deeds
what your sincerity is to your faith.
It's the inner quality, it's who you really are
in the sight of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
And Ali ibn Abi Talib radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu
describing this moment
where you were physically picked up and placed on the scale.
He said, "man kana dhahiruhu arjaHamin ba'tinihi
khaffa mizaanuhu yawmal qiyama
waman kana ba'tinuhu arjaHamin dhahirihi
faqula mizaanahu yawmal qiyama"
"Whoever is better on the outside
than they are on the inside
will have a light scale on the Day of Judgment.
They're not going to weigh much,
but whoever is even better on the inside
than they are on the outside
will have a heavy scale on that Day."
Remember how we said that The Book records things
that are otherwise intangible?
Allah Azawajal says, "sanaktubu ma qaddamu wa aHsarahum
wa kulla shai'an aHsai nahu fi imamim mubeen"
'We will record everything.
The footsteps, the effects,
everything they left behind is recorded with precision.'
In the same way, the scale of Allah
weighs things that are otherwise unweighable.
They're intangible.
And that's mainly to His mercy and never out of cruelty.
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
for example,
"Whoever keeps the horse for the sake of Allah,"
'imanan waHti saaban'
"Out of faith in Allah and believing in his promise,"
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
"That horse, its eating, its drinking,
its defecating, and urinating.
All of that is going to be hasanat
on your balance, on your scale, on the Day of Judgment.
Because Allah Azawajal weighs all of that for his sake."
Anas ibn Malik radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu he
narrated that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
said,
"Whoever goes out in the cause of Allah,"
'ma asaabahu minal gubaar miskan yawmal qiyama'
"Whatever touches him of dust
will come forth as musk on the Day of Judgment."
So Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la weighs it all.
And here, we see that your words have been weighed.
And now, you are being weighed.
What now of the Book of Deeds that you brought with you
to be weighed alongside you?
Faamma man thaqulat mawazeenuh
Fahuwa fee AAeeshatin radiya
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