Moutasem al-Hameedy – Friday Jummah 29-11-2024
AI: Summary ©
The importance of Allah's guidance and forgiveness for anyone who wants to be declared a winner is emphasized, along with the importance of not dying and pursuing only one path. The speakers discuss the meaning of fitna in shaping reality, the importance of protecting oneself from bad influence, and the importance of fulfilling people's interests and creating their reputation. They also emphasize the importance of fixing social problems, fixing the world behind behind a long goal, and fixing everyone's world.
AI: Summary ©
All praise is due to Allah.
We praise Him, seek His help, and seek
His forgiveness.
We seek refuge in Allah from the evils
of our souls and from the evils of
our deeds.
Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him.
Whomsoever He leads astray, none can guide him.
I bear witness that there is none worthy
of worship except Allah.
I bear witness that there is none worthy
of worship except Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant
and Messenger.
O you who believe!
Fear Allah as He should be feared, and
do not die except as Muslims.
O mankind, fear your Lord, Who created you
from one soul, and created from it its
wife, and spread among them many men and
women.
And fear Allah in Whom you ask for
help and mercy.
Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.
O you who believe!
Fear Allah and say the right words.
He will amend your deeds for you and
forgive you your sins.
And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has
certainly attained a great achievement.
As for what follows, the truth of the
hadith is the word of Allah.
And the best guidance is the guidance of
Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and
his family.
And the worst of things are their innovations,
and every innovation is a creation, and every
creation is a misguidance.
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
he who 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 in a state of surrender
and submission.
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 divine words of
the Almighty.
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 heretical innovation and every bid'ah is
misguidance.
Wael ibn Shaqiq, the great tabi'i, narrates
a story.
He
said,
Hudhaifah
said, In
this gathering, where Wael ibn Shaqiq, the great
tabi'i, narrates as he was present, he
said, We were sitting with the chief of
the believers, Umar ibn al-Khattab, and in
the crowd was Hudhaifah ibn al-Yaman.
And Umar ibn al-Khattab initiates a question,
he says, Who among you knows the statements
of the Prophet or the hadith of the
Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, on
the fitna?
And fitna in the Arabic language, let's clarify
what it means.
It's translated usually as trials.
Fitna in the Arabic language means to expose
metal to fire, to place it in a
furnace.
So the reality or the quality of the
metal is revealed.
Precious metals from the cheap metals.
The quality is revealed and clarified.
And then the good material or the good
metal is purified of all of the blemishes
because they burn off.
The fire burns the blemishes off and it
becomes pure.
That's what fitna is.
And Allah tries humans by exposing them to
trials, challenging situations.
So that their reality is revealed.
And so that those who have iman, their
iman is strengthened.
And those who have hypocrisy and disbelief are
exposed.
That's what the fitna is, it's a test.
So Umar says, who knows the hadith of
the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
on the fitna?
Hudayfa says, I know it, oh chief of
the believers.
Umar says, indeed you are so daring to
speak about this.
So Hudayfa says, the test of the believer,
the test that the believer goes through in
terms of their family, and their wealth, and
their neighbors, their society.
Any shortcomings in these areas will be made
up for when the person offers prayer, and
the person offers sadaqah, and the person enjoys
the good and forbids the evil.
Umar ibn al-Khattab says, that's not what
I'm asking about.
I'm asking about the fitna that rages like
the gigantic mountains of the ocean.
And these are the fitna of the later
times.
The huge trials and darkness of the end
of times.
Hudayfa says to Umar, you don't have to
worry about those fitna.
Because between you and those fitna, there is
a door, closed door.
Umar ibn al-Khattab says, is the door
opened?
Or will the door be opened?
Or will it be broken, knocked down?
He said it will be knocked down.
Umar ibn al-Khattab says, then it will
never be closed again.
One of those who were in the gathering,
they said, we feared to ask Hudayfa ibn
al-Yaman, if Umar ibn al-Khattab understood
the analogy of the door.
Hudayfa ibn al-Yaman said, yes, indeed, he
knows it.
He knows the meaning.
He knows that he himself, Umar ibn al
-Khattab, is the door.
Just as he knows that before tomorrow is
today.
The companions understood from the hadith of the
Prophet ﷺ, that once Umar dies, the fitna
will fall on the ummah like rain showers.
Hudayfa ibn al-Yaman, who specializes in the
questions of the trials and the fitna, that
will confuse the ummah.
This is why he said in one hadith,
كَانَ النَّاسُ يَسْأَلُونَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ عَنِ الْقَيْرِ وَكُنْتُ أَسْأَلُهُ عَنِ الشَّرِّ مَخَافَةَ
أَن يُدْرِكَنِ He said, people used to ask
the Prophet ﷺ about good.
And I used to ask him.
I used to ask him about evil, out
of fear, should it catch up on me
one day.
So his specialty is the fitna.
He had profound understanding about the fitna.
So he says, أَوَّلُ الْفِتَن مَقْتَلُ عُثْمَان وَآخِرُهَا
مَطْلَعُ الدَّجَّال The first fitna to strike this
ummah at a major scale is the assassination
of Uthman ﷺ.
And the final major fitna that will hit
this ummah is the arrival of the false
messiah, al-Dajjal.
The Prophet ﷺ says in an authentic hadith,
لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ مَا أَعْلَمْ لَضَحِكْتُمْ قَلِيلًا وَلَبَكَيْتُمْ
كَثِيرًا وَلَمَ اسْتَمْتَعْتُمْ بِالنِّسَاءِ عَلَى الْفُرُشِ وَلَخَرَجْتُمْ
إِلَى الصُّعُودَاتِ تَجْعَرُونَ إِلَى اللَّهِ يَا لَيْتَنِي كُنْتُ
شَجَرَةً فَتُعْضَدْ The Prophet ﷺ says to the
companions, Only if you knew what I know,
you would have laughed very little.
And you would have weeped a lot more.
And you would not enjoy intimacy with your
spouses.
And you would run out of your houses
to the open plains, crying out to Allah
for help to save you.
I wish I was only a piece of
wood that was left to decay.
That's the reality of this life.
Allah placed us on this earth for a
test and the tests will intensify.
The Prophet ﷺ says in the authentic hadith,
إِنَّ أُمَّتَكُمْ هَذِهِ جُعِلَتْ عَافِيَةُهَا فِي أَوَّلِهَا This
Ummah, this nation of yours, its prime times,
its well-being was made in the early
stages.
The time of the Prophet ﷺ and his
companions and the first three generations.
وَسَيُصِيبُ آخِرَهَا بَلَاءٌ وَأُمُورٌ تُنكِرُونَهَا And for the
later parts, the later generations of this Ummah,
they will befall severe trials and things that
you will have aversion to.
Things that will confuse you.
Abu Dawud, رحمة الله عليه, in his sunan,
he has a hadith.
And the hadith says, the Prophet ﷺ says
in this hadith, إِنَّ السَّعِيدَ لَمَنْ جُنِّبَ الْفِتَنِ
The ones who will be saved, the ones
who will be happy are the ones who
are saved from the fitnah.
The ones who are saved from the trials
that will befall.
Three times the Prophet ﷺ says, the happy
ones, the successful ones, the ones who will
be delivered from the punishment of Allah are
the ones who will be saved from the
fitnah.
وَمَنْ أَصَابَتْهُ الْفِتْنَةُ فَصَبَرَ فَوَاهَا And the person
who is hit by the fitnah and they
remain patient.
They remain patient.
Then congratulations to them.
That's the way to go through fitnah.
Since the passing of the Prophet ﷺ, this
Ummah has been going through trials.
And the trials will intensify.
The companions, radhiAllahu anhum, knew this.
In Al-Basra, some of the tabi'een
came from Al-Kufa to Al-Basra.
They traveled from Al-Kufa to Al-Basra
to speak to the great companion Anas ibn
Malik, who was one of the latest among
the companions to die.
He survived.
He lived a long life.
And he was in Al-Basra.
So they came to him.
And at the time, the governor of Iraq
was Al-Hajjaj.
And we know Al-Hajjaj was a tyrant.
He was oppressive.
He was violent.
And he executed many good people.
He would kill people at a whim.
And people suffered greatly from him.
So those scholars came to visit Anas ibn
Malik in Al-Basra.
We complained to Anas ibn Malik about the
oppression of Al-Hajjaj.
About his iron fist and how he oppresses
people.
It's a trial.
A huge trial.
أَلَيْكُمْ زَمَانٌ إِلَّا وَالَّذِي بَعْدَهُ شَرٌّ مِنْهُ Be
patient.
Be patient.
Every time that comes is worse than the
time before.
سَمِعْتُهُ مِنْ نَبِيِّكُمْ صَلَى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمُ I
heard that from your Prophet ﷺ.
Why?
Why are we talking about these things?
Because the believer needs to understand the fitnah.
Just like Hudhaifah ibn al-Yaman ﷺ.
So we can protect ourselves from it.
One of the main features of the fitnah
is that you will be in the belly
of the fitnah.
You will be active in the fitnah and
contributing to it without even knowing it.
That's what al-fitnah is.
That's how confusing it is.
It would seem to you as though you
are doing something good when you are being
used by shaytan to bring corruption and evil.
And you won't even realize it.
That's al-fitnah.
And that's the danger of al-fitnah.
The companions ﷺ, and they were the most
knowledgeable among this ummah.
A question would come to one of them
and he would fear to give an answer.
Although they know.
But they didn't want to take the responsibility
of even making a mistake.
So they would pass the question on to
another companion.
And to another companion.
And to a third companion.
And so on and so forth.
Until one of the tabi'een says, the
question would be passed on to 20 scholars.
To 20 of the scholars of the companions
ﷺ.
Until it circles around and comes back to
the first one.
Why?
Because they were concerned about the fitnah.
Because they knew the hadith of the Prophet
ﷺ.
They knew that towards the end of the
time, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned the signs of
the end of time.
And the end of times started from the
time of the Prophet ﷺ.
Because he said in the authentic hadith, I
was sent with the hour, with the arrival
of the day of judgment, like these two
fingers.
Close in time.
The companions understood the hadith of the Prophet
ﷺ when he said, If
you see people have become selfish, people have
become obsessed with wealth, with power, and with
influence.
And you see people following their desires, their
worldly ambitions, the blessings of this world.
They are just chasing them.
That's what their life is about.
That's the direction, the main direction in their
life is the pleasures of this world, in
the wealth, in the sensations that they can
get, in all of the material pleasures, and
the social pleasures, in terms of status and
power and reputation.
So if you see people are taken by
selfishness, and by chasing their desires and the
dunya.
And everyone admires their own opinion, their own
logic.
Everyone thinks they are intelligent.
Everyone thinks that they have the best explanation
of what happens in the world.
They think they are right.
They think they are genius.
They think they know the truth of the
matters.
They think they have the solution to the
problems in the world, and they can't see
any flaw with their logic.
The Prophet ﷺ says, If you see these
three signs, wait for the hour because it's
imminent.
The companions understood this.
So when they had any shadow of doubt
about something, even when they could answer it,
they would abstain.
They don't want to take on any responsibility.
Because they understood what al-fitnah means.
They understood the warning of the Prophet ﷺ.
A believer who knows the reality of this
life.
A Muslim who understands the weight of the
trials.
And who knows the severity of the account
Allah is going to hold them accountable by.
Will play it safe.
They will play it safe.
If you don't have to answer, don't.
Don't venture out for things.
Don't venture out for things.
If Allah has made you safe, stay safe.
Make sure that you take care of your
heart.
That you fulfill your obligations to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
That you mind your own business.
And the goodness in the ummah will grow.
But if you have not worked on yourself,
and you still have so much corruption in
your heart, which you are not aware of,
and you refuse to inspect, then you think
good of yourself.
And you think you are Allah's gift to
the world.
Then you go out in the world, you
want to fix political affairs.
You want to fix social problems.
You think you are the source of light,
and the torch carrier in the world.
When your inner world is in shambles, then
you know that you are being used by
shaitan as a tool of fitnah.
The companions always played it safe.
You don't need to prove your intelligence.
You don't need to solve problems.
Solve your problems with Allah first.
And then when you conquer those, then maybe,
maybe you can start helping out the circle
that is around you.
But you know what?
We want recognition.
We want reputation.
We want to stand out.
We think so well of ourselves.
We want to assert ourselves.
We want to get approval.
We want to get recognized.
We want to create our reputation.
And we go on social media.
And we speak about every affair.
Things we know about and things we don't
know about.
And a lot of what we know is
corrupted knowledge.
And that's worse than ignorance.
And the Prophet ﷺ referred to that in
a hadith.
The Messenger ﷺ said, يَتَقَارَبُ الزَّمَانِ وَيَقِلُّ الْعَمَلِ
وَيَكْثُرُ الْجَهْلِ وَيُلْقَ الشُّحِ وَيَكْثُرُ الْهَرْجِ
The Prophet ﷺ describes how the ummah, the
environment of fitan, where they engulf people and
they reach their final stage where people start
to take light human life.
That they find it easy to kill people
because they disagree with them.
Because they have a different ideology.
They have a different opinion.
They have a different political orientation.
Muslims against Muslims.
This is the peak of the trials.
So the Prophet ﷺ says, بَرَكَةً in time,
the blessings in time will go away.
It would seem as though time is just
running fast.
Day after day, the months, the years pass
on so quickly.
That's the blessings of Allah are taken away
because the evil is rampant.
And then ignorance will become widespread.
And then good actions, quality actions that are
sincere, that are done for the sake of
Allah, will become less.
And we see a lot of actions externally.
But those actions don't count with Allah.
Only the true sincere ones have weight with
Allah.
And then the Prophet ﷺ says, when you
see that people are so selfish, are so
about what's in it for me, that kind
of spirit permeates society.
The Prophet ﷺ says, at that time eventually
people will start killing one another.
And murder will spread among people.
Mass murder will spread among people.
These are the fitna.
And every Muslim should always be warned against
these things.
And be on guard against those things.
Play it safe with Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
Fix your heart, fix your own affairs.
Pay attention to your family, help them out,
be the best Muslim.
And this could occupy you for the rest
of your life.
It's a great achievement if you are able
to engage with it in a healthy way
and keep striving in that path.
But most of us leave this behind, and
we wanna fix the world.
And all we do, we bring our corruption,
reflect it, project it out on the world.
And then we think, we're doing well.
I say this, and I ask Allah forgiveness
for me and for you, so forgive me.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of
the worlds.
And peace and blessings be upon the most
honored of the messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and
upon his family and all his companions.
Hudhayf ibn al-Yaman again, may Allah be
pleased with him, says in this narration, and
this is his own statement, he says, The
trials are sent or are meant to expose
three types of people.
Those are the main victims of the trials.
Each one of them is a serious criminal.
Each one of them is a serious criminal.
No matter what happens to him, unless he
wants to cut him or crush him with
a sword.
And each one of them is a preacher,
who invites all matters to him.
And each one of them is a noble
and well-known person.
As for the first one, he is the
victim of the trials.
As for the other two, He says, when
the fitnah comes, it hits mainly these three
people.
These are the ones who really are exposed
by the fitnah.
First, those people who are very aggressive and
they are very headstrong.
People who believe so staunchly and strongly in
their ideology.
And they use violence politically and in military
terms.
Whether they are in a position of power
or they are with the revolution.
These are the people who can hold no
dispute, who can accommodate no differences.
They want power and they are aggressive.
And they always pop up in the ummah.
They sacrifice the masses for their own benefit
and for their own opinion.
They polarize the ummah.
They are very headstrong and they so strongly
believe in their ideology.
And they don't allow any margin of difference.
An example of them is the Khawarij.
And Hudayfah says, these people are destroyed by
the fitnah.
Then the second one is the khatib, the
speakers.
Public speakers who speak and they bring affairs
to themselves.
And they address every affair that comes up.
That's what you see on social media.
If there is a scandal, these people pop
up.
It's an opportunity that maybe they could make
their way to fame.
If it's a political issue, if it's a
social issue, if it's a religious issue, all
of a sudden they have a theory for
it.
And they have a solution for it.
And they come out in the world.
Why?
All they want is more views.
All they want is to get more traction.
All they want is to build their own
reputation.
And create their own personal glory.
These people will be destroyed by the fitnah.
The fitnah will knock them out.
Will sweep them off their feet.
And the third one are the notables in
society.
Because they are notables, people look up to
them.
People look up to them.
And if they don't have the knowledge, if
they don't have the wisdom, and if they
don't have a heart of faith, they will
be swept off their feet.
That's what the fitnah is.
So a believer should play it safe.
And I conclude with this verse.
Allah says, وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنسَاهُمْ
أَنفُسَهُمْ Do not be like those who forgot
Allah.
Those who turned away from Allah.
So Allah led them to lose themselves, to
forget themselves.
Meaning, they would not recognize what is good
for them.
They would engage in what brings destruction to
them, thinking that they are smart and intelligent.
But they will be fooled by their own
intelligence.
So what is the way out of the
fitnah?
Mind your own business.
And if anyone here thinks now, reading into
my words, that I'm actually talking about any
specific events that have been happening recently, most
likely that's shaitan whispering in your mind.
I'm speaking in principles and in general.
So the way is to really start working
on your heart.
Pray from your heart for Allah.
Stand up at night, at least do two
rak'ah of qiyam al-layl.
Fast at least one day every week before
Ramadan comes about.
Start reading more Qur'an and engage with
it.
Does this change the world?
It does because it did 1400 years ago.
When we do that right, when we start
to believe in the power and the might
of Allah and that this world is His,
then the Qur'an will have an impact
on us.
But if we think the Qur'an is
just some cosmetic engagement that has no bearing
on reality, then we pay a hefty price
for that.
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
guide our hearts and to protect us from
the fitna and the trials and to keep
us safe.
اللهم اغفر للمؤمنين والمؤمنات والمسلمين والمسلمات الاحياء منهم
والاموات اللهم اغفر لنا ذنوبنا واسرافنا في أمرنا
وثبت أقدامنا وانصرنا على القوم الكافرين اللهم كن
للمستضع فيهنا من هذه الأمة في كل مكان
اللهم انصرهم على عدوك وعدوهم يا قوي يا
عزيز a final reminder that in the middle
of this month the masjid has a target
of 200,000 that they owe for the
completion of the wudu area so please be
generous and remember the prophet said in the
hadith that the trials that we have in
our personal life the shortcomings they are expiated
with one of them he mentioned the sadaqa
give for the sake of Allah sadaqa changes
the dynamics of the world so consider this
to be as I said the transaction between
you and Allah and donate generously hopefully inshallah
the project will be completed soon we'll have
it available and may Allah put blessings in
your sadaqa in your work we have a
janazah after the salah