Moutasem al-Hameedy – Be a Force For Good
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And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has
certainly attained a great success.
As for what follows, the truth of the
Hadith is the words of Allah.
And the best guidance is the guidance of
Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and
his family.
All praise is due to Allah.
We praise Him.
We seek His aid and we ask for
His forgiveness.
We seek refuge in Allah from the evils
of ourselves and the evil consequences of our
actions.
Whomsoever Allah guides, none can lead astray.
And whomsoever Allah leads to go astray, none
can guide.
I testify that there is none worthy of
our worship and devotion but the Almighty Allah
alone.
And I testify that Muhammad, peace and blessings
be upon him and his family, is His
servant and His messenger.
O you who believe, fear Allah as He
should be feared and die not except as
Muslims.
O mankind, be dutiful to your Lord who
created you from a single person and from
Him He created His wife.
And from them both He created many men
and women.
And fear Allah through whom you demand your
mutual rights and observe the rights of your
kin.
Surely Allah is ever and all-watcher over
you.
O you who believe, keep your duty to
Allah.
Fear Him and speak the truth.
He will direct you to righteous deeds and
will forgive your sins.
And whoever obeys Allah and His messenger has
indeed attained a great achievement.
The best words are the words of Allah.
And the best guidance is that of Prophet
Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and
his family.
And the worst things in the religion are
the newly invented matters.
For all the newly invented matters in religion
are innovation and every innovation is bid'ah
and misguidance.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in
the Qur'an about Isa Ibn Maryam, peace
and blessings be upon our Prophet, that he
says to Bani Israel, وَجَعَلَنِي مُبَارَكًا أَيْنَ مَا
كُنتُ And Allah made me mubarak.
Allah made me blessed.
And a source of blessing wherever I may
be.
And that's a description of the believer.
And what it means as the scholars of
tafsir commented on this verse is that Allah
made me a source of good.
Allah made me a person who engages in
good and spreads good wherever I may be.
And that's how the believer should be.
That's how every believer should be.
This is the advice of Prophet Muhammad, peace
and blessings be upon him.
And this statement captures the heart of the
religion of Islam.
Brothers and sisters, the khutbah has sanctity.
I don't stipulate it.
It's not my ideas.
The khutbah in Islam has a high place
regardless of who gives the khutbah.
Sanctity is not about me.
It's about the khutbah.
Allah made it sanctified.
And it's Allah's right that we respect the
khutbah.
It's Allah's right that we respect the khutbah.
It's from sha'airullah.
This is from the legislations and the signs
of Islam that Allah established for us.
And Allah says, ذَلِكَ وَمَن يُعَضِّمْ شَعَائِرَ اللَّهِ
فَإِنَّهَا مِن تَقْوَى الْقُلُوبِ Those who glorify and
those who observe the rituals that Allah set
for us, this is a sign, a good
sign about the heart.
And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon
him, warned us against even speaking in the
khutbah.
Or engaging in anything during the khutbah.
Whether you like what is being said or
you don't like it.
Whether the speaker or the khatib appeals to
you or not.
So when we come into the masjid, you
either turn your phone off or you put
it on silent.
We don't bring the voice of shaitan and
the singing of shaitan into the house of
Allah.
The house of Allah has sanctity.
And we are supposed to observe it.
The khutbah has rights.
These are the rights of Allah.
They are not my rights.
They are the rights of Allah.
And we ought to observe it.
So when we enter the masjid, make sure
that your phone is on silent or turned
off completely.
And I will take this opportunity as well.
Because many times in the khutbah, people will
be checking their social media or they'll be
surfing the web.
And this is forbidden in the khutbah.
It's forbidden.
There are people who play games in the
khutbah on their phone.
Why did you come here then?
Why did you come here?
The Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam says, من لغى
فلا جمعة له Whoever engages in anything other
than the khutbah, then he has no jum
'ah.
There is no reward.
So if someone, why do we come here?
We come here in obedience to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
We come here seeking Allah's reward.
Then we waste this reward.
And we violate Allah's rights just to check
our messages, or our social media, or play
some games.
Things have rights.
And we have to observe the rights.
So please keep this in mind.
جزاكم الله خيرا So the believer is someone
who is supposed to have a positive and
blessed presence wherever they may be.
And the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam captured this
in the hadith where he advised Mu'adh
ibn Jabal radiallahu anhu.
When he said, اتق الله حيث ما كنت
وأتبع السيئة الحسنة تمحها وخالق الناس بخلق حسن
Beautiful advice from the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam.
And it's a lifestyle.
This advice is a lifestyle.
The Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam says, Have taqwa
towards Allah wherever you may be.
In every place.
When you're at home, when you're by yourself,
have taqwa of Allah.
Be mindful of Allah.
Be respectful of Allah.
Be fearful of Allah.
Be beautiful to Allah.
Observe Allah's rights.
Know that He is with you wherever you
are.
And act accordingly.
When you are with your spouse, observe the
rights, treat them well.
When you're with your children, when you're with
your parents or your siblings, or when you
are outside the house at work, you should
be a man of honor and dignity and
righteousness.
Even if the environment around you is corrupted,
you strive to be on the truth.
You're supposed to be blessed wherever you may
be.
So be mindful of Allah wherever you may
be.
Be beautiful to Allah wherever you are.
Be obedient to Allah.
Be a servant of Allah, a true servant
of Allah.
Anywhere you may be.
اتق الله حيثما كنت وأتبع السيئة الحسنة تمحوها
And if you fall in a sin, or
if you slip, and we humans are bound
to slip, كل ابن آدم خطأ وخير الخطأين
التوبون All of us fall in error.
And the best among those who fall into
error are the ones who repent.
So when you follow up a sin or
a slip with a good deed, it would
wipe it.
And that's what we want.
Renew your commitment to goodness.
Renew your commitment to obedience to Allah, to
being a good presence in the world.
وخالق الناس بخلق حسن And treat people, socialize
with people with a good demeanor, with akhlaaq.
Good demeanor, the akhlaaq of Islam, with morality,
a high standard of morality, of justice, fairness,
respect, generosity, kindness.
Wishing good for others as an act of
obedience to Allah, as an act of worship.
Worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with your
heart, with your attitude, with your demeanor.
And since we're talking about this, the best
example of this is Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi
wasalam.
Every incident of his life was a manifestation
of being mubarak wherever he was.
And the good, the manifestation of this good
is still available and present in our lives.
Allah guided us through him.
Allah guided us through his message.
Allah guided us through his sacrifice that still
continues until the day of judgment.
So each one of us, we're supposed to
be good wherever we may be.
Sometimes we get excited and we start looking
for opportunities to do good.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brought good
to your doorstep, wherever you may be.
Any capacity that you find yourself in has
opportunities for doing good.
And the greatest good that you can do
is to fulfill the obligations that Allah has
upon you.
This has priority over everything else.
There's always this balance.
What Allah loves the most are the obligations.
That's what he loves the most.
And what Allah hates the most and what
angers him the most is violation of the
things or committing something that he made prohibited.
Before you go out of your way to
do good and fix evil, you need to
fulfill the obligations.
You need to build that foundation.
But if you leave what is an obligation
and you commit what is a prohibition, and
then you want to do extra good, you'll
have a serious problem with how you view
the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
This is why in the divine hadith, the
hadith al-Qudusi, Allah says, وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ
عَبْدِي بِشَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِمَّا افْتَرَبْتُ عَلَيْهِ My
servant will never draw nearer to me, close
to me with anything better than what I
made an obligation, what I made binding on
you, whether it's an obligation or a prohibition.
That's where good starts.
And once you fulfill this, you go out
of your way to look for opportunities of
extra good to do.
This is the right order.
So we have to be that type of
Muslim.
That's the reality of a Muslim.
That's the reality of a believer.
That's what faith brings about.
Faith and goodness are synonymous in many ways.
They are the same.
Islam and goodness are the same.
Many people like to reduce Islam to certain
rituals that they are comfortable with or they
are happy with.
But in other areas of their life and
of their behavior, you'll find that they display
despicable kind of behavior.
And that shows that there is a serious
flaw in their understanding of Islam or even
a serious flaw in their intentions.
That they are doing things that are pleasing
to them.
That's it.
They are obedient to their nafs, to their
self and to their ego.
They are not obedient to Allah.
What decides what they do and what they
engage in and what they observe is their
personal preference, not the command of Allah.
So they are a slave to themselves, not
a slave to Allah.
And we take an example here from the
Muslim history, a beautiful example of a great
character from Tabi'i Tabi'in.
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, rahimahullah ta'ala.
One of the great characters in the early
generations, the salaf of this ummah.
A great scholar, a great worshiper, and even
a great businessman.
He was a man that was born to
a father from a Turkish origin.
And his mother was from Khawarizm, which is
now in the area between Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and
Uzbekistan, to the north of Afghanistan today.
He started seeking knowledge at the age of
20.
And as he was studying just to show
you certain, will take certain glimpses from his
life to show you the goodness of this
man, how he is a manifestation, a manifestation
of how to be Mubarak as a believer.
That it's simple, that it's easy, but it's
easy only for those who have good hearts.
Allah made Islam easy for a good heart.
This is where it starts.
Many people want to be good outwardly, but
they don't want to fix the diseases of
their heart and they struggle.
Doing what's good becomes hard for them.
Why?
Because they're not going about things the right
way.
If you don't fix your heart, doing what's
good, fulfilling the obligations and staying away from
prohibitions becomes very difficult.
Why?
Because of the discrepancy, because of the contradiction
between what's in your heart and your desired
action outside.
So many people say, I struggle with prayer,
I struggle with dhikr, I struggle with a
sin, I want to keep away from it,
but I can't.
What do I do?
It starts with the heart.
This is why the Prophet ﷺ told us,
this is where Allah looks.
Allah looks at your heart.
And the Prophet ﷺ told us in another
hadith, that if the heart is sound, then
everything else is sound.
Because this is where it starts.
That's the seed.
All of your actions outside are a reflection
of your heart.
So start with the heart, it becomes easier.
So Abdullah ibn Mubarak, as he was studying,
he traveled to Yemen, to Egypt, to Asham.
And as he was studying in Asham, and
he finished his studies, in the later days
he borrowed a pen.
He didn't have a pen, so he borrowed
a pen from someone.
And he had in mind to return the
pen to its owner.
And he thought he did.
Then he traveled to his city, which is
Maro, today known as Merv.
It's in Turkmenistan today.
When he gets very close to his hometown
of Maro, he checks his luggage, and he
finds the pen that he had borrowed.
He turns back, goes back to Asham.
Talking about Damascus.
Thousands, probably hundreds, or maybe thousands, more than
a thousand kilometers.
He goes back to return the pen.
And then he goes back to his hometown.
That's his example.
He starts doing business with one main goal.
First, to protect his honor, so he doesn't
need anyone.
And so that he is not put under
pressure by, you know, politicians, who want to
use, sometimes, the people of knowledge and the
people of influence.
So he wants to be independent.
That's one reason for himself.
The second reason, he said, I wanted to
save the students of knowledge and the scholars
from the need for anyone else.
So he sponsored countless number of students of
knowledge and scholars.
Even the son of al-Fudayl ibn Iyad,
Ali.
Fudayl ibn Iyad, one of the greatest worshippers
of our ummah.
His son Ali asks Abdullah ibn Mubarak, he
said, you always tell us and talk to
us about zuhud, and about staying away from
the dunya.
But you have all this business.
And he was a multi-millionaire.
He was very, very, very rich.
His business flourished.
So he said, you always tell us about
staying away from the dunya.
But I see you doing all of this
business, buying all these goods and selling them.
He said, I'm doing this to protect my
honor, so I don't need any human being.
So I don't have to compromise on my
principles and my attitude.
And number two, it's for the students of
knowledge that I could save them.
Wallahi, had it not been for them, I
would never have engaged in any business, just
to sponsor them.
And he was a very advanced scholar in
terms of hadith.
He would spend much of his time at
home, reading and studying.
To the point that some of his companions
and friends, they said, you pray with us,
then you leave.
You don't stay with us.
You don't spend time with us.
He said, why should I stay with you?
I spend my time with the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wasallam, when I read his hadith at
home.
I spend my time with the sahaba, the
companions and the tabi'een.
Their company is better when I read about
their life.
It's better than spending my time with you.
And all you engage in is matters of
this life and backbiting, talking about others.
Why should I spend time with you?
That's how he spent his time.
And he was very generous.
And he would perform hajj every year.
And then, so one year he would make
hajj, and one year, he would engage in
the Muslim expeditions, military expeditions.
And one day as he was going to
hajj, which was not his first hajj, more
of a voluntary hajj, they stopped by a
place, and there was like a dump.
They passed by it, and they had, they
used to carry their food, like they would
carry the chickens, and some of the food
that they would eat.
And a chicken died.
So they threw it in the garbage.
So as they were leaving, he noticed that
a local woman picked up that dead chicken
and took it home.
He followed her.
And he knocked on the door, and he
said, I saw that you took the dead
chicken.
You know, it's haram to eat caracass.
She said, you know, we don't have food,
so it's halal for us.
We can eat.
We can eat it, because we haven't had
food for a long time.
So he turns to his assistant.
He used to manage his affairs in hajj.
And he said, how much do we have
in terms of finances for hajj?
This is on the way to hajj.
He said, a thousand dinars.
He said, how much do we need to
make it back to our hometown if we
return from this spot?
He said, 20 dinars.
He said, okay, give the rest to her.
Keep 20 with us.
Helping those needy Muslims is better for us
to make voluntary hajj, which we made many
times in the past years.
So he gave her the wealth and he
said, fix your own affairs.
And he went back to his home city.
That's an example of being mubarak.
And subhanallah, his name was Abdullah ibn al
-Mubarak.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept from
him and bless him.
And may Allah allow us to be an
example of this great generation, of these great
personalities that followed the sunnah of the Prophet.
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, he would go for
hajj as well from his hometown.
And he created some sort of a framework
where he would manage the hajj for the
people from his city.
So he would take their finances and say,
I would cover all of your needs throughout
the hajj.
I will take care of all of that.
Because I have some assistants and they can
manage the details.
You don't have to.
So just give me the finances you have
for hajj.
And many times, the finances were not sufficient.
So he would take those and keep them.
And keep them where?
Keep them in Maru, in their home city.
And he would sponsor them throughout hajj and
treat them very well.
Give them a luxury experience from his own
pocket.
Give them the best food, the best accommodation.
And on the way back, he would buy
gifts for their families from his own pocket.
And they don't know, they're clueless.
And then, before they arrive at their hometown,
he would send one of his assistants to
each house of his companions in order to
refurbish the house.
Renovate it.
Beautify it.
Paint, give it a new painting.
And so that when they arrive, it's a
pleasant experience.
Something fresh.
And he would, once they arrive, he would
give them the gifts that he bought for
them.
And then he would give each one of
them the finances that he had given them
before they set out.
He would say, Here's your money.
Your hajj was a gift from me.
That's what he would do.
So that's an example of someone.
An example to be followed.
And we all, you know, we don't have
to be Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak.
We don't have to be rich.
You don't have to be special in any
ways.
Wherever Allah puts you, Allah puts so many
opportunities.
Wherever you find, you know, the responsibilities, start
with the responsibilities that are upon you.
The people around you.
Start, you know, charity at home.
It's not about the excitement of getting out
of your way and doing charity.
If charity is for Allah and if it
comes from a good place, it starts at
home and you would enjoy it.
If it's not for some kind of psychological
reasons and not for show-off, it would
make so much sense just to do good
and not get any credit for it.
That's a sign of sincerity.
So, let's be a source of good and
blessings wherever we may be.
First in our private life by being obedient
to Allah and being true and honest with
Allah.
Fixing our own mistakes.
Addressing our own shortcomings.
And then being good with our spouses, our
children, our parents as well.
Our youth are taught now to be cool
is to be rebellion and defiant and disrespectful.
And to act in unethical ways.
Don't succumb to that.
Don't fall for that kind of foolishness.
Don't fall for that.
Be a man of dignity and a man
of honor.
Because honor and dignity are timeless.
A timeless.
Don't let this culture that is corrupted, don't
let it eat at your heart.
Don't let it destroy you.
Be good, be good to your parents.
Be good to your siblings.
Be good to other people.
That kind of trying to be cool and
being immoral and unethical and selfish.
And it's all about how you look and
it's all about show and it's all about
looking different and looking trendy.
Wallahi, you will regret it.
You will regret it because it will destroy
your life sometimes in ways that you can
never fix afterwards.
Don't fall for these trends.
Wallahi, they are there to destroy you.
Be mubarak.
Be a person of blessings.
And wallahi, you will reap the fruits in
this life and in the next.
Start with your family around, with your friends,
with your colleagues, with people around.
Don't be a source of suffering for someone
else.
Don't be a source of suffering.
Be a source of good.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
guide our hearts and to forgive our sins.
اللهم اغفر للمؤمنين والمؤمنات والمسلمين والمسلمات الأحياء منهم
والأموات اللهم اغفر لنا ذنوبنا وإصرافنا في أمرنا
وثبت أقدامنا وانصرنا على القوم الكافرين اللهم ابرم
لهذه الأمة أمر رشد يعز فيه أهل طاعتك
ويذل فيه أهل معصيتك ويعمل فيه بكتابك وسنة
نبيك صلى الله عليه وسلم اللهم كن للمستضعفين
من المؤمنين في كل مكان اللهم ارحم ضعفهم
واجبر كسرهم اللهم انصرهم على عدوك وعدوهم اللهم
عليك بالظالمين اللهم عليك بالظالمين ومن عاونهم اللهم
خذهم أخذ عزيز مقتدر اللهم كن لإخواننا المسلمين
في غزة وفي فلسطين وفي السودان وفي الشام
وفي جميع بلاد المسلمين برحمتك يا أرحم الراحمين
إن الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيتاء ذي القربة
وينهى عن الفحشاء والمنكر والبغي يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ
اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ واشْكُرُوهُ عَلَى نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ وصلِّ
اللَّهُمَّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى عَبْدِكَ وَرَسُولِكَ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى
آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ