Ahsan Hanif – Jumuah Khutbah 10-05-2024
AI: Summary ©
The importance of holding oneself to account and reflecting on actions of parents is emphasized, along with the need to pause and reflect on future circumstances before thinking about future life. The age of 40 is a major milestone for Islam, and it is necessary to be mindful of it. The importance of doing good deeds and seeking forgiveness is also emphasized. The speaker provides information on job vacancies and encourages attendees to donate generously to the organizers.
AI: Summary ©
Yeah.
One of the issues that we that is
recommended
for us as Muslims
is that we should hold ourselves to account,
that we should reflect
upon our situation whether it is that we
have come from, whether it is that we
are going.
This was the practice of the companions of
the and the salafar Imam
Hold yourselves to account before Allah holds you
to account,
and weigh your own deeds before Allah
raise them for you. His son,
Abdullah
used to say,
if you find the morning
If you reach the morning, don't expect to
see the evening.
And if you reach the evening, don't expect
to see the morning.
The believer is the one who, as often
as they can, they hold themselves to our
account.
But there are certain milestones in our lives
that are even more worthy of that holding
to account.
Even more worthy of us to stop and
pause and to ponder and reflect as to
the direction of our lives, whether it is
that we've come from, what it is that
we're doing now, whether it is that we
are going.
And one such milestone is what is mentioned
in the book of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
in Surat Al Hakaf
verse number 15 in which Allah
begins by admonishing us
and reminding us about the rights of our
parents
because that is from the reflection that a
person has, the blessings of Allah
upon them. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
we have enjoined upon a person that they
are due to dutiful and righteous towards their
parents,
good to them, and that is because of
the extreme right of the parents.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this verse gives
us a couple of reasons as to why
the rights of parents are so great in
Islam.
Whoever studies the book of Allah and the
sunnah of the prophet
you'll know that it is replete with narrations,
numerous narrations
that speak about the virtues and the rewards
of being dutiful to your parents, that speak
about the rights that they have upon you,
that speak about your responsibilities
towards them. Why?
Your mother carried you and it was a
difficult carrying,
and she gave birth to you and it
was a difficult birth.
Ibn Umar
was once making tawaf around the Kaaba, and
he saw a man with his mother upon
his shoulders. He was carrying her making tawaf.
And tawaf is difficult at the best of
times, but he's carrying his mother on his
back and he said, oh, Abu Abu Abdul
Rahman,
addressing ibn Umar, do you think that I've
repaid my mother now? Carrying her around in
Tawaf, this whole umra? Maybe the whole Hajj
has to carry on her back. Have I
repaid her? He said not even for a
single push at the time of birth.
Not even for a single one of them.
So great is the rights of the parents
in Islam. She carried you and it was
difficult, gave birth to you when it was
difficult, and it didn't just stop there.
But her carrying of you and her suckling
of you and her weaning you took 30
months.
2 to 3 years of her life she
dedicated to you. When you couldn't clean yourself,
she cleaned you. When you couldn't feed yourself,
she fed you. When you couldn't look after
yourself, she looked after you. When you were
sick in the night, she's the one that
stayed awake with you. Such as the rights
of the parents. And that is why the
scholars of Islam in their books of hadith
and narrations such as al Bukhari, Rahim
in his book Adab al Mufrad
mentions numerous hadith and numerous chapters that he
dedicates to the rights of the parents
to thank Allah
but then to be ungrateful to those others
that have done good to you is not
from true gratitude as the prophet told us
The one who doesn't thank people hasn't truly
thanked Allah
So Allah rejoins upon us this important thing
that in joining is extremely important. That reminder
is extremely important.
So long as those people are your parents,
no matter what they do to you or
how evil they may be, even if they
tell you to do shirk, you don't obey
them as Allah
mentioned in the other verse in Surah Al
Uqman. It said that
when he accepted Islam, his mother took an
oath that she wouldn't eat, she wouldn't drink,
she wouldn't comb her hair, she wouldn't do
anything unless her son Sa'ad left the religion
of Islam.
Allah said that if your parents tell you
to commit shirk to disobey Allah, don't obey
them.
But be good to them in terms of
your conduct and your character. They're telling you
something which will lead you to the fire.
Don't obey them, but in terms of their
rights and in terms of the way that
you treat them and honor them, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala maintain those rights for them. So
Allah tells us to reflect upon the situation.
And then Allah
mentions to us 2 milestones that are important
in the life of every single person.
Number 1
is until he reaches adulthood.
Because when you become an adult and you
become independent
and you're someone who now has the ability
to understand those issues, It should make you
reflect more upon not only where you have
come from, but it should also make you
reflect more upon the good that people did
to you like your parents. You can now
better understand,
better appreciate,
better acknowledge the sacrifices that they made for
you. You may not agree with every decision
of theirs, but you can at least understand
and begin to appreciate maybe why they did
what they did. How difficult their circumstances probably
were. Now that you are an adult, you're
independent. You have responsibilities
of your own. What is the age of
adulthood? What is the should the scholars of
the different?
Some of them said it is the age
of puberty. Others said the age of 17.
Others said the age of 18. Others even
said in your twenties. Some of them even
said your mid thirties. And Al Hasan al
Abbasi rahi mawluwata'ala said anything below the age
of 40. And that is why Imam al
Zuhri rahi mawluwata'ala,
he said any age from the time that
you attain puberty until the age of 40,
you can reach adulthood. And it differs from
person to person. When a person becomes mature
and responsible,
not everyone's the same, and that's why Ibn
Qayyim like
this position of ul Imam al Zuri. Some
people, they're young and they mature quickly.
Other people, they're in their thirties and they
still act like children. People are different. But
as you grow up and as you grow
older, you should be able to understand some
of the blessings of Allah upon you and
appreciate them. You should be better reflecting and
hold yourself to account, and that is what
Allah
then gives us the 2nd milestone.
And then he reaches the age of 40.
The age of the scholars of Islam used
to call full maturity.
The age of wisdom.
The age of the prophets of Allah a
s a w j were often given revelation
at that age as was the case with
our prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
This is an age now when you reach
that all that comes is weakness after it.
Slowly but surely, your body is going to
become weaker. You're going to start to feel
the pains of old age. Your memory is
not as sharp as it used to be.
You're going to start to reflect and see
things differently now because you can see those
people around you like your parents, your uncles,
if they haven't passed away, your aunts, they're
very old in age. And at that age
most likely, inshallah, you have children of your
own so you can see them now growing
up. You're at that middle place, that middle
age where you can see where people have
come from, you can see where people are
going. And so you're likely to be closer
to your death. The time left for you
is shorter upon this earth than the time
that you've already spent and Allah knows best.
So So you reflect at the age of
40.
The scholars of Islam as some of the
as some of the said such as
the imam of the Tabireen, from the students
of Ibn Musrood and Aisha radiAllahu anhu used
to say that if you reach the age
of 40, the age of 40, then you
should be wary of Allah
Meaning be mindful of Allah. Prepare for that
standing before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. 40 years
of your life you spent. The prophet salallahu
alaihi wasalam was sent with prophet at a
age. He was ready to assume the responsibility
of the whole
umma The age of 40 is an extremely
important milestone.
So as you reflect and as you think,
the believers are those who when they ponder
and they reflect, it takes them closer to
Allah
makes them turn towards Allah
And this doesn't mean that you don't do
this before the age of 40 or after
the age of 40. No. They should be
the normal course of action, but the age
of 40 is a major milestone.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions to us that
as these believers reflect and they hold themselves
to account, they make 3 supplicate 3 a
dua with 3 supplications in it. Three things
they ask for. 1, concerning that which has
already passed in their lives. The second, concerning
the present, and the third, concerning the future
in the dunya.
Allah says that this person reaches the age
of 40 and he says
He says, oh my lord, give me the
ability to be grateful to you for the
blessings that you bestowed upon me and upon
my parents before me. It is from the
greatest blessings of Allah that Allah gives to
you, Iman. There is no greater blessing, no
greater gift that you can receive than the
gift of tawhid and laihi laha illallah.
But also from the gifts of Allah and
the blessings of Allah. Instead of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala gave you parents that were righteous.
You were born into Islam. You grew up
as a Muslim. You knew you knew nothing
other than la ilaha illallah.
That is from the favors of Allah subhanahu
ta'ala upon you. That you were born into
the religion of
And if your parents were upon the sunnah,
they were people who understood the sunnah of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. That is a
further and second blessing that you should be
grateful for. And if those parents were upon
the religion and upon the sunnah and the
people of righteousness and good character and Ibada,
There is a greater blessing of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
And that is what Allah in the Quran
when he speaks about the prophet salayman alaihi
salam as he's coming across the colony of
ants and he hears the words of the
queen ant, he smiled and then he thanked
Allah and he said,
Oh, Allah. This blessing that you gave me,
the ability to understand the language and the
speech of these insects. Oh, Allah, allow me
to be grateful for it. The blessings you
bestowed upon me, upon my parents before me.
Who's his parent? Who's his father?
Dawood alaihis salatu wassalam. This was the way
of the prophets. Yusuf alaihis salam enters into
prison, and he calls those people in prison
to the of Allah
and then he says to them, after he
says, I'm not upon your shirk.
I have taken the original of my forefathers,
Ibrahim, to
acknowledge the favors of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And that is because it is from the
greatest blessings of Allah, aza wajal. That when
you do some good deeds, inshallah, your parents
are getting a share of that reward. And
their parents before them and their parents before
them and who knows how many generations before
was the first of our ancestors to accept
Islam.
Perhaps all of them get a share of
that reward and Allah
is of forgiving most merciful, most generous
The
second thing that we ask to make dua
for then, after reflecting upon the favors of
Allah
the journey that we've been on. And,
oh, Allah, allow me to continue to do
righteous deeds. Now that you're reflected, you acknowledge
the blessings of Allah, what greater way of
using those blessings, those many favors that Allah
bestowed upon you from his bounty and his
grace, except to do further acts of good
deeds. To do that which is pleasing to
Allah
And that is why Imam Abu rahim said
that it used to be said about the
people of Madinah in the time of Salif.
In the time of the Salif, the people
of Madinah, that if they reach the age
of 40, they would spend the vast majority
of their time in the ibadah preparing for
the akhirah. And he took that from the
statement of
Imam Malik said, the imam of Madina, he
said that I found our teachers and our
scholars that when they would reach the age
of 40, they wouldn't busy themselves with sitting
with people in the dunya, but they would
busy themselves with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And
that is what Imam
said in the tafsir of this verse. Anyone
that reaches the age of 40, it is
high time high time that they spend more
time focusing upon the akhira, reflecting upon their
standing before Allah planning for their abode of
eternity that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will take
us all to.
So use that time. It is precious,
especially once you reached a milestone that is
a major milestone in your life. The third
thing that we make dua for in this
dua or the third thing that we ask
for in this dua is then we look
towards our future,
our children,
our offspring.
And oh, Allah, make my offspring righteous also.
How beautiful is this religion? How amazing is
this dua? That you're told not only to
reflect and thank Allah for your parents and
what they did in terms of iman and
the blessings that they helped you gain, but
then you look towards your future children as
well. How amazing is the blessings and the
rewards of Allah
if the people of Jannah are reunited with
their parents and they're reunited with their children
because all of them were upon iman. And
Allah will mention after 2 or 3 verses
within the same passage in the
Quran. Those people who have parents that are
righteous, but their children refuse to believe.
They're dishonorable to their parents. They disrespect them.
They turn away from Allah
and their parents say,
woe to you. Believe. Indeed, Allah's promise is
true. But that person turns away.
If you have parents that were righteous, parents
that were good upon iman, and now Allah
has bestowed you with children upon iman, children
that pray, children that read the Quran, children
that love Allah and his messenger, salallahu alayhi
wasallam. That is from the greatest blessings of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And sometimes in the dunya, we focus on
those things that are hard to reach, that
are far from our grasp, the problems that
all that surround all of us. And sometimes
we neglect and forget that which is close
to us. That which Allah honored and bestowed
upon us, which is easy for us to
hold insha Allahu ta'ala.
So Allah tells
us that this is the way that the
believer should be in terms of their reflection,
asking Allah for these three things. And then
this this verse concludes by Allah
saying,
I repent you when I'm from the Muslims.
As said that the age of 40 is
an age after which
and turning to Allah and seeking forgiveness should
be one of the most common acts of
worship that you engage in. Ask Allah that
he gives us the ability to be grateful
for him for of our blessings, that Allah
allows us to live and die upon righteousness,
and that Allah blesses our offspring and makes
them righteous also.
Allah
loves the people of reflection,
loves the people of contemplation,
loves those people who take stock of their
and take account of their lives, and then
use the taking or self accounting,
uses that as uses that as a springboard.
They use that as a springboard to come
closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So they do more good deeds. They turn
to Allah more in Tawba. They turn to
Allah more in Shukr, in gratitude and thankfulness.
And that's what Allah speaks about these people
in the next verse, and he says,
These are the people that we will accept
from them the best of that which they
did. Not only any action, not only some
of their actions or all of them, but
Allah
will reward them according to the best of
the deeds that they performed. So Allah will
honor them and bestow upon them his favors
in the dunya and in the akhirah.
And Allah says that we will forgive them
for their sins.
And we will make them from the people
of Jannah.
This is the promise of Allah that is
ever true.
What greater reward,
what greater blessing, what greater honor from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala for those people who thank
Allah
and turn to him, for those people that
thank Allah
and then work upon their families and upon
their children, that Allah
by his mercy keeps them all steadfast upon
his religion, gives them life upon his dam
and death upon his dam.
That he makes us from amongst those people.
That he makes us from the people of
humility and humbleness, that we turn to Allah
in du'a and in gratitude, in humbleness and
humility, that we ask
Allah to forgive us our sins, to show
his mercy and forgiveness upon us and our
parents. That Allah makes our families and our
children righteous and our offspring, not only our
children, but the generations that will come after
us.
Still
still out of the
straightening your walls within the gaps.
No, Akbar.
No.
No.
No. Come on.
Few announcements from the Masjid administration.
In terms of events today, the madrasah will
be selling new and used Islamic books
outside the sisters' prayer hall,
and true to world are back with another
GCSE intensive. So if
you or your children are taking GCSEs this
year and want to boost
grades,
covering maths, English,
combined, and triple sciences. The team will be
available now at door e, which is the
clock tower entrance if you'd like more information
regarding the tuition service for 11 plus GCSEs
and a levels.
The Sisters Friday study circle continues today at
5 PM in the Sisters Prayer Hall.
The Link Up Youth Club is on as
usual for boys and girls this evening. And
Islam Wise will be hosting the community kitchen
today after the sunnah prayers. So for those
of us who are in the community hall,
we request that you vacate the space so
that it can be set up for the
community kitchen.
And Islam Wise's Friday study circle with a
said Hassan is on this evening at 7
PM
and that will also include the brothers' social
gathering
where they can gather and discuss over some
pizza.
In terms of welfare, the Department For Work
and Pensions Careers Advice Service is in classroom
1 on the school side.
Aman's solicitors
is in the reception's meeting room for the
legal surgery.
The home office immigration surgery is in the
reception area. And our elders meet up for
brothers and sisters over the age of 60
will take place on the school side. Entrance
for brothers is through door e, and for
sisters, it's door f.
Over the weekend, the usual sports activities for
boys are on this weekend, and the Quran
study circle for Islam Wise Brothers is running
tomorrow.
In terms of special events next week, sisters
Tarbia are launching a new du'a course called
Call on Me, which will be studying selected
duas from the Quran. The course will be
starting on Monday, 13th May, from 10:30 AM
till 12:30,
both online and on-site. So if you're interested
in that, register via the website.
In terms of regular events next week, our
online and on-site medallist have spaces available for
children aged 5 to 18. If you'd like
to enroll your child, please visit the website.
The sisters weekly Urdu Mejlis happens every Monday
after Duhr via door e. The sisters' coffee
morning runs every Wednesday from 10 till 12
via door f. The stay and play facility
is available, so you can bring the little
ones along as well. The pop up cafe
is open to both brothers and sisters on
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays between 11 AM and
2 PM via door f, which is the
community hall. And pop up Islam Wise runs
every Thursday from 12 till 2 PM for
revert sisters via door f. It's a safe
place for sisters and children are welcome as
well.
The youth be fit exercise sessions for sisters
take place every Thursday from 10 AM till
11 AM and this is free to attend.
In In terms of jobs at the masjid,
we have teaching vacancy for a hif lead
Quran teacher. You can apply via the website.
We also have a number of key senior
vacancies across the masjid.
Have a look at what we've got available
and contact [email protected]
or visit the website for more information.
So once again, please donate generously to the
Masjid's many services. Remember to recite swords of
Kahf as it is Friday, and remember to
send plenty of salawat and salaam upon the
prophet Muhammad