“Fifty of us or fifty of them?”

From the lecture Allah is Preparing us for Victory
By Imam Anwar Al-Awlaki (rahimahUllah)

“Fifty of us or fifty of them?”

A Reminder:

“So our time that we are complaining about, among all the other generations after the Sahabah, although our time is not exactly the same it is the most similar to the time of the Sahabah. Why? Because when the Sahabah came there was no Islamic authority and there is no Islamic authority today and this was not the case for fourteen hundred years. When the Sahabah came, they fought entire surroundings including the two super powers – the Persian Empire and the Roman Empire – and all the ‘Arabs around them that were against them. And this is similar to our situation today and this wasn’t the case in our history before. In our history before you would find Islamic authority, you would find people to assist you in Al-Haqq, and there was a place to make Hijrah to. Now we find that the whole world is waging a war against us and this is similar to time of the Sahabah, which means the ajr of the people today could be very great. We are not saying it is equal to the ajr of the Sahabah but it is going to be very great. This is why Rasoolullah (pbuh) has mentioned in a hadith that even though the best generation is of the Sahabah, then the Tabi’een, then the Taba Tabi’een, there will be a generation of people at the end of time and the ajr of one of them will be equal to the ajr of fifty! So the Sahabah asked, “Fifty of us or fifty of them?” Rasoolullah (pbuh) said, “Fifty of you.”

So the Salah will be like the Salah of fifty Sahabah. You fast one day and it will be like the fasting of fifty Sahabah. The ajr is multiplied by fifty, why? Because of the difficulty of that time.

We notice that Rasoolullah (pbuh) said that towards the end of time that there will be people who will be amongst the greatest of this Ummah. Rasoolullah (pbuh) said in hadith that ‘Out of ‘Aden-Abyan will come out twelve thousand; they will give victory to the Deen of Allah and they will be the best between me and them.’ (Aden-Abyan is located in South Yemen, and today there is an active and popular Jihadi movement there in that locality)

They are the best between Rasoolullah (pbuh) and their time. So we can wrap all of these Centuries, and they will be the best. The reason is because their time will be most similar to the time of the Sahabah.

So why complain if you are living in the time of the new gold rush; not a gold rush for gold but a gold rush for Hasanaat?

There are some times when the economy is booming so fast and everybody becomes rich and then there are times when things are stagnating and slow so these people wish they were living in the time when economy was booming so they could become a millionaire like those before. We are living in a time of a boom now; but we just need to realize it and realize the amount of ajr that is out there waiting for us if we just go and do something. The ajr is so great that it’s waiting for someone to come and do something about it. If it comes at a time when things are easy then the ajr is reduced. But if the time is one of difficulty, then the ajr is increased.

Ajr is in accordance to the difficulty. So why complain about a time when really, it is the best time?

If we are talking about the time when victory is around the corner, Wallahu ‘Alam if we are experiencing the knowledge of the Ghayb when Rasoolullah (pbuh) said they (i.e., the Victorious Group) will be the ones to give victory to the Mahdi, to ‘Esa ibn Maryam (‘alayhis salaam); if we are close to that time, the ajr is astronomical, and we do not want to be waiting on the sideline when all of this is happening; people are making millions while you are sitting at home doing nothing. So we shouldn’t complain about our time.

Rasoolullah (pbuh) said, “Indeed Allah gathered up the earth for me so that I saw its eastern and western parts, and indeed the dominion of my Ummah will reach what was gathered up for me from it. [Saheeh Muslim #2889 collected that Thawbaan (ra)]

So this religion will reach to every continent, to every country, and to every city. The banner of La ilaaha illAllah will enter into every city. This religion will reach wherever night and day reaches; is there a place where night and day doesn’t reach? So you O Kafir, O Munaafiq, if you want to hide away from this religion you will need to go to mars or somewhere else! There will be no place for you on dunya! So we must all agree that victory is on its way, but the question is when?”