Asif Hirani – How To Listen To The JumuAh Khutbah For Spiritual Growth
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of listening to others' emotions and values in a scene. They emphasize the need for effective listening and offer advice on becoming a good listener. The speakers also touch on the benefits of learning from hadiths and being humble, as well as the responsibility of being effective in achieving worship goals. They stress the importance of measuring one's successes and avoiding liability. The conversation also touches on the topic of groupism and the potential for antagonism in society.
AI: Summary ©
Before I can start today's khutbah, I just
want to make a few du'as.
First of all, please remember our brothers and
sisters and our kids in Gaza, in Palestine,
in Lebanon.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give them
the status of shuhada and help them all.
And also, please make du'a for our
brothers and sisters in Muslim community and here
in America.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us
all from the external evils and internal evils.
Almost 10 years back when I was a
PhD student, someone gave me a book when
I was just starting, I guess 12 years
back.
Someone gave me a book and a few
resources about how to read a book.
And that really helped me because as a
PhD student, as a researcher, you have to
navigate so many books.
That really helped me to understand how to
analyze different books and methodology of different books.
So I realize actually now in today's khutbah,
let us understand how to listen to a
khutbah.
Because we listen to so many khutbahs, so
many talks.
On average, almost 52 khutbahs we listen in
every year, 52 khutbahs.
Times 10, almost 520 khutbahs in 10 years
we're supposed to listen.
It means if we pay attention to every
khutbah, we can learn so many things.
And when a khateeb is good, mashallah, this
masjid have great speakers and imam, mashallah, it's
easy to pay attention.
But when a khateeb is like me, ill
-prepared khateeb, then it's a nap time for
the audience.
How to make sure that we are making
our listening productive.
So whether a khutbah is of good quality
or an ill-prepared khateeb comes, you are
still taking benefit and getting something for spirituality.
So that once you are leaving the masjid,
you still get something.
And it is so important, subhanallah.
In a khutbah, you might see in your
interaction with the different people, the person sitting
right next to you, he or she might
be crying.
In the same khutbah, you don't even know
what the topic is.
Why different attitude in listeners is because we
listen.
Same speaker, same speech, but we listen in
a different perspective.
So let us understand how to listen to
Jummah khutbah attentively and effectively so that inshallah,
we can have a productive listening habits.
And we live in an information overload time
where we have so much information, but we
comprehend less.
In almost all the masajid, especially for last
few years I'm in Dallas, I see every
masjid, inshallah, have public speaking workshops.
And they should have those khateeb workshops.
But now we have many speakers in our
community, but few listeners.
So now we need actually listening workshop also.
Whatever advice I'm going to give you from
Ibn Qayyam, Imam Ghazali and other scholars, it's
just five, six advice depending on the time.
I will going to restrict myself to the
Jummah khutbah, to the halaqat in the masjid.
But please do not restrict this to the
Jummah khutbah once you go from the masjid.
In your work, in your family, in your
school, try to apply these listening skills even
at your work, even in your family.
Because most of our conflicts actually comes by
not listening properly.
We need our parents and our kids and
our spouse and our community member to listen.
No one is asking you to compromise on
your values, but just listen to the other
person.
See the perspective, he or she, where he's
coming from or she's coming from.
No one is asking you to compromise the
principle.
But that will going to have a good
community in development.
Okay, now let's start inshallah.
Only one ayah from the Qur'an about
the importance and then we're going to go
to those five, six techniques.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, dozens of
ayat, but I'm just telling you one about
the importance of listening.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in surah
al-anfal, ayah 23, وَلَوْ عَلِمَ اللَّهُ فِيهِمْ
خَيْرًا لَأَسْمَعَهُمْ Allah says, and listen to this,
how important is listening.
Allah says, if Allah known, had Allah known
any good in them, had Allah known any
khayr, good in them, لَأَسْمَعَهُمْ Allah would have
made them good listeners.
Subhanallah.
Basically, the simple explanation of this ayah, if
we are not listening, if we are not
good listeners, if we are not getting the
straightforward message coming from the member, Qur'an,
hadith, there is a sign, there is a
symptom, that there might not be any khayr,
any goodness in our heart.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us
all.
Ameen.
First thing we have to do, when you
are coming for Jummah khutbah, is the change
of heart.
Today I'm going to Wali Ranch for Jummah
khutbah, I'm going to learn something new.
Make your heart changeable.
Today whatever I'm going to listen from the
member, I'm going to make sure I will
apply, and while going back, while driving back,
I will ponder, I will reflect, that how
I'm going to become a better person, depending
on the advice what I got.
Have that attitude, that change of heart, on
whatever you will hear.
By the way, in Islam, we believe, our
ears and our heart, spiritual heart, is connected.
Just like our eyes and our spiritual heart
is connected.
What do you think?
If I was going to see inappropriate things
on cell phone, will that impact my spirituality?
Absolutely.
Similarly, if you were going to listen to
inappropriate things, trash, filth, garbage, that will going
to impact your spiritual heart also.
And it's other way around also, by the
way.
If my heart is filled with trash, garbage,
then eventually, sometime good speaker, good speech, good
recitation, won't make immediate impact, because your heart
is filled with the trash.
So it's other way around also.
And that is why, with no surprises, in
multiple places in the Quran, when Allah talks
about the misguided person, Allah is going to
connect the sealing of the heart, and sealing
of the ears.
Subhanallah.
Allah says, خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَعَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِمْ
And multiple places in the Quran, that these
were misguided people, Allah has sealed their hearts,
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has sealed
their ears.
May Allah protect us all.
Ameen, Ya Rabb.
Whenever we are listening to anything, the words
go from our ear, and before it will
reach to our heart, we have many filters
based on our environment.
The biggest filter we have is our ego
filter.
The biggest filter.
You will hear something, and before you will
going to process that information in your spiritual
heart, that will filter out with your ego
filter.
So if you are listening everything, from an
egocentric perspective, most likely you won't able to
get any spiritual benefit.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us
all humble.
Ameen, Ya Rabb.
So now let's start point number one.
Point number one is, become humble when you
are listening to Jummah khutbah.
When you are listening to any Friday night
halaqah, any conferences, anything, become humble listener.
If Imam comes and says, today I will
going to give you tafsir of surah Fatiha,
and you are like, I already know tafsir
of surah Fatiha.
Ten years back I actually got this from,
I attended Sunday school class, and I read
the translation in English language, so I know
tafsir of surah Fatiha.
That's not humbleness.
I'm sorry to say this is arrogance.
There's so much to learn in just surah
Fatiha.
Imam Razi wrote 150 pages tafsir only of
surah Fatiha.
So much to learn.
That entire idea, how can this jahil is
ignorant person going to teach me.
Relax Habibi.
Become humble.
Become humble.
This is too arrogant.
There's so many examples, I will just tell
you, my own example.
Three years ago, four years ago, after ten
year imamship, I took sabbatical, and I went
to Medina, and I finished Sahih Bukhari with
my Sheikh, Sheikh Ahmad bin Hafiz al-Shanqiti.
Hafizahullah.
So when we, and by the way, this
hadith I'm about to tell you, I had
given khutbah, at least four khutbah in New
Jersey when I was imam there.
I have memorized this hadith.
So now we are finishing the Sahih Bukhari.
When we reach to this hadith, Baul al
-Arabi, the hadith where a Bedouin man came
and he urinated in the masjid, and Rasulullah
corrected him in the most polite, beautiful way.
We all know the hadith.
When we reach to this hadith, my heart
called me that I should tell the Sheikh
that don't waste time to give the explanation.
I already know the hadith.
I give so many khutbahs in America.
But out of respect of the Sheikh, I
said, I should actually not say anything because
of the respect of the Sheikh.
But my heart was saying, we should move
on.
Sheikh should not take that much time.
After we finish the reading of the hadith,
Sheikh said, this hadith have more than hundred
benefits.
And I was like, Sheikh is saying metaphorically.
I swear to Allah, for next three hours,
we were writing and writing and writing the
benefits of that hadith until we got 110
benefits of the same hadith.
And I have those in my WhatsApp, by
the way, in Arabic, if you want after
the khutbah.
You know what I realized?
That that voice which was coming from my
inside, that was my arrogance.
That was my small Iblis telling me I
know this.
And Alhamdulillah, I had someone who can correct
me and crush my ego.
Many a times when we listen to Friday
khutbah, we have this ego, ego filter that
you think you know something.
There's so much, so new shades of meaning
we're going to come out.
Just listen, be humble.
Don't evaluate prematurely what other person is trying
to say.
So be humble listener and ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala to make us all humble.
Ameen Ya Rabb.
Second point, to be an effective listener in
the Friday khutbah.
We worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Agree?
We don't worship a speaker or scholar.
Very important point.
I agree that when a good speaker comes,
when a good shaykh comes, it's easy to
feel connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And when an ill-prepared khatib like me
will come, it's easy to have nap time.
But that's a test from Allah that you
have now ill-prepared khatib.
Will you worship Allah or you are here
for some other reason?
We are in the masjid to worship Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
These speakers, these mashayikh, these volunteers are only
a mean to connect to that goal to
worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Our problem is our means have become our
goal.
And we don't have any goal.
Even Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, when he
passed away, the Jummah institution continued.
It means, اين الفرا من الثرية?
Where are we and where is Rasulullah sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam?
And you know Imam Ghazali and Imam Harawi
mentioned this, that usually masses pay attention, only
when good speaker comes.
But if you want to speed up your
game in spirituality, if you want to join
the elite ranks of spirituality, then you don't
have to be concerned about who is giving
you the message of Allah.
Rather you should connect yourself directly to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
One of the other harms of worshiping a
sheikh or a speaker is that, God forbid,
if that khatib or speaker or imam leaves.
Because no one is here forever.
Then your entire deen will collapse.
Scholars will come and go.
Imams will enter and leave.
Male or female speaker will going to rise
and they might fall.
Our dedication, our sincerity, our loyalty should be
towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone.
Third thing, we should not judge the khutbah,
we should judge ourselves.
Yes, if there is a mistake, give the
feedback to the khatib.
If he makes a blunder, give the feedback
to the shura, so that harm doesn't spread.
It's your responsibility to do that.
But that's exceptional situation.
By default, coming to the masjid, listening to
the speaker, whoever is the khatib.
Listen, we are living in such an egocentric
culture, my brothers and sisters.
We are judging everything, everyone, every speech, except
ourselves.
How you are going to become a better
person, if this is your skeptical lens, 24
hours you are wearing this skeptical lens.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us
all the ability to understand this, to take
benefit from this.
Ameen, Ya Rabb.
نحمده و نصله على رسوله الكريم أما بعد
تعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن
الرحيم Just the last two points.
Actually subhanallah, only one point, because we don't
have time.
Whenever you are listening to a khutbah, or
to a halaqah, how to listen in an
effective way, avoid preconceived notions.
It's like some of us listen to these
speeches when a republican party was going to
listen to CNN news outlet, or liberals were
going to see Fox News.
They will always have critical mindset.
You know, groupism or partisanship is an intellectual
disability.
Again, I'm repeating, groupism and partisanship is an
intellectual disability.
Whether this groupism is because of religious different
school of thought, or whether because of this
gender antagonism, or because of this political different
flavors.
Groupism, it's an intellectual disability.
And partisanship also.
We are part of one ummah.
Whenever we are here, we should not put
people into different compartments because eventually it will
go into create antagonism in community.
It won't bring solidarity in the community.
You won't be able to take benefit.
And I'll finish with this example.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is a best speaker.
Yes or no?
He's giving Qur'an, best book.
Yes or no?
So you have best speaker, best presentation, best
presenter, best book, best speech.
But Abu Bakr Siddiq r.a have a
response, زادهم إيمانا His iman increases every time.
And Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab, listening to
same speaker, same speech, but their response is
radically different.
Question, why same speaker, same speech, but two
different responses is because of the listener's attitude.
I want you to become Abu Bakr r
.a when you are listening.
Sahaba.
And may Allah give us all the ability.
But if your heart is filled with prejudice,
even good khateeb won't be able to penetrate
in your heart.
I ask Allah to give us all humbleness.
Ameen, Ya Rabb.
Please make a special du'a for the
entire Ummah.
One of the sisters in our community, her
grandfather requested for the du'a.
She recently had a car accident in our
community.
And after multiple surgeries, she lost her legs.
And the grandfather and the family made a
special request for the du'a.
Please make a special du'a that may
Allah give easiness to her and to the
entire family.
Ameen, Ya Rabb.
Ameen, Ya
Rabb.