Moutasem al-Hameedy – Friday Khutba
AI: Summary ©
The importance of Islam, peace, and blessings for individuals and their families is discussed, as well as the success of Islam in shaping society and shaping people's lives. The success of Islam in shaping society and shaping people's lives is highlighted, along with the need for individuals to be aware of their true selves and seek guidance and forgiveness. The importance of pursuing a deal with Allah as a means of achieving a better life and religion is emphasized, along with the need for continuous self-improvement and using one's mind to make decisions. The speaker emphasizes the importance of learning and staying true to one's beliefs, seeking guidance from Allah, and using one's own money to make donations and make donations from their bank account.
AI: Summary ©
Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, we ask His help,
and we ask His forgiveness.
And we seek refuge in Allah from the
evil of our souls and the evil of
our deeds.
Whom Allah guides, none can misguide him, and
whom He misguides, none can guide him.
And I bear witness that there is no
god but Allah, alone, with no partner.
And I bear witness that Muhammad is His
servant and His Messenger, peace and blessings be
upon him and his family.
O you who have believed, fear Allah as
He should be feared, and do not die
except as Muslims.
O people, 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, whom you ask about, and
the most Merciful.
Indeed, Allah is ever watching over you.
O you who have believed, fear Allah and
speak a just word.
He will correct your deeds and forgive you
your sins.
And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has
certainly attained a great success.
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 its innovations,
and every innovation is a creation, and every
creation is a misguidance.
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 leaves 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 to your
Lord.
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 heretical innovation and
bid'ah, and every bid'ah is misguidance.
It was narrated from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud,
may Allah be pleased with him.
And it was also narrated from Ibn Abbas.
It is attributed to be one of the
words of the statements of Ibn Mas'ud
himself.
It's not traced back to the Prophet, peace
and blessings be upon him.
He said, Surely the servant oversees the affairs
of the world, whether it be commerce or
leadership or leadership.
So Allah looks upon him from above the
seven heavens and says, O my angels, turn
this away from My servant.
For if I bind him to it, I
will put him into the Fire.
So he accuses his neighbors.
This has preceded me before.
That a person embarks on a project from
this world.
It's either a business, work, some leadership position.
And Allah sees him, because Allah sees His
servants and He watches them.
He knows them inside out all the time.
So Allah sees him from above the heavens.
And Allah says, My angels, keep him away
from this.
Keep him away from this project, from this
business, from this profit, from this position of
leadership.
Because if I give it to him, I
know it will lead him to the Hellfire.
So the person wakes up and he sees
that his plan has been ruined.
So he has suspicion, he blames others for
the failure of his idea.
He has a reason, he has a practical,
he attributes the reason why his business or
his plan failed to something that probably seems
to have causality.
But we are looking here at the ultimate
cause, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So the person feels bad for himself.
Because in another narration, another version of this
narration, it says that he wakes up feeling
miserable about himself, that he lost on this
profit.
When the reality of the situation is that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saved him.
One of the influences of this Muslim ummah
about two generations ago, about a hundred years
ago, a writer, a thinker, and a strong
da'ia.
Al ustad Ali Tantawi, rahimahullah, who wrote many
influential books.
He mentions a story that pretty much all
of us heard a version of it.
Which was a reality, a real story that
happened to one of his friends, his personal
friends.
He said he was traveling by plane to
another country.
And he got delayed.
He was delayed before catching his flight.
And he missed his flight.
And it was an important appointment that he
had.
So he felt so bad that he couldn't
catch his appointment.
And soon after, minutes later, the news arrived
that the plane crashed.
And how often in life something seems to
be attractive.
Something that we identify as good.
And ideally it's good.
A profit, a benefit, an advantage.
Something that is positive in this life.
And we grow attached to it.
And we seek it.
And we take the necessary means to arrive
at that.
Be it a business.
Be it a job.
An exam that we want to pass.
A woman that you want to marry.
Or for a woman, a husband, a man
that she wants to marry.
A trip you want to make.
A deal you want to get.
And seemingly it's good for you.
And you have all the right to pursue
it.
If it's halal and it's good.
But in the ultimate scheme of things, only
Allah knows how things are going to turn
out to be.
Sometimes a profit can spoil you and destroy
you.
Sometimes you marry the woman that you love.
She ruins your life and your religion.
Sometimes a woman marries the man that she
loves.
And he crushes her heart.
Life is bigger than simple dynamics.
And that's what we deal with.
And that's why the believers have this advantage.
We turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
When the Prophet ﷺ set forth from Medina
with his companions to go and make Umrah.
And they reached the borders of Mecca.
The Meccans refused.
And they sent Suhail ibn Amr to negotiate
with the Prophet ﷺ.
A deal that he goes back to Medina.
He doesn't make Umrah this year.
Because they were concerned for their reputation among
the Arabs.
They didn't want the Arabs to say, Muhammad
forced his way into Mecca.
So they negotiated a truce.
And prior to that, the Muslims were not
safe.
There were always some skirmishes between the Muslims
and the people of Quraysh.
At any time, Muslims could be attacked or
jumped on in Medina.
It was an open warfare.
So Quraysh offered the Prophet ﷺ in exchange
of going back to Medina, that they would
give him safety, a truce.
We're not going to attack you.
We're not going to be any threat to
you.
And we have conditions, we have to go
back.
And then anyone...
So there were some conditions, some articles in
the agreement, that seemed to be unfair to
the Muslims.
And yes, when you look at them in
isolation individually, they would seem to be unfair.
And they would be a disadvantage to the
Muslims.
Yet, the Prophet ﷺ being guided by Allah
ﷻ, by divine wisdom, and by the insight
that Allah gave him, he could see the
bigger picture.
Sometimes if you look locally, you miss out
on the bigger picture, and your judgment is
deficient.
So the condition said, if someone wants to
leave Muhammad ﷺ, one of the Muslims, and
wants to join the camp of Quraysh, and
leave Islam, he can do that, and go
and join Quraysh.
But, if someone wants to leave Quraysh and
become Muslim, and join the camp of Prophet
Muhammad ﷺ, Muhammad ﷺ has to return him
to Quraysh.
A believer.
And when they were signing the deal, the
Prophet ﷺ agreed.
Before signing the deal, finalizing it, the son
of Suhail ibn Amr himself, who had been
kept captive by his father, Abu Jandal, and
he was tortured by his father.
He had managed to escape and make it
to that point, to the outskirts of Mecca.
And he threw himself among the Muslims, save
me, help me, these people have been torturing
me, because I became a Muslim.
So Suhail ibn Amr watches the scene, just
before signing the contract.
He says, the contract applies now to this
person, his son.
The Prophet ﷺ said, we haven't signed the
deal yet.
So let him go, and then the deal
starts.
He says, no.
Either it applies on him, or forget about
the deal.
The Prophet ﷺ said, sign the deal, it
applies to him as well.
Muslims were heartbroken.
But you're talking about the Prophet ﷺ, who
is guided by the divine wisdom and knowledge.
What seemed to be a disadvantage, even some
of the companions were upset with this.
Some of them came to the Prophet ﷺ,
and they said, Ya Rasulullah, should we be
the lower hand in the agreement, when Allah
has given us honor with Islam?
Allah has put us uppermost with Islam.
We put ourselves down with such a condition?
The Prophet ﷺ said, I know.
And subhanAllah, from this point on, Muslim da
'wah expanded.
It exploded in the Arabian Peninsula.
The energy that was consumed in defending Medina,
and being vigilant and on guard all the
time, now was freed to reach out to
the Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula.
Speak to them about Islam.
Invite them to Islam.
Thousands flocked into Islam.
And the Muslim ummah grew like never before.
And it became a considerable power, and most
likely power number one, the superpower in the
Arabian Peninsula.
Because of that agreement, that seemed to be
what?
Unfair.
And Allah says, وَعَسَىٰ أَن تَكْرَهُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ
خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ How often, how likely you are
to dislike something when it is good for
you.
وَعَسَىٰ أَن تُحِبُّوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ شَرٌ لَكُمْ And
how often, how likely it is that you
would love something and get attached to it
when it is harmful to you.
It's not good for you.
It's bad for you.
وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ And Allah knows,
but you do not know.
Allah is the one who knows.
What you know is little.
So this ties in with the previous khutbah
where we said, the Prophet ﷺ advised us
in the hadith, اِحْرَصْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَنْفَعُكُ وَاسْتَعِمْ
بِاللَّهِ وَلَا تَحِجَزُ Be keen and diligent in
seeking the things that are good for you.
And we will come today to use the
words of the Prophet ﷺ to understand this
phrase or this clause, what is beneficial for
you.
Understand it from the words of the Prophet
ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ, by the way, says in
a hadith, which is collected by Tirmidhi and
it's Hasan.
اِذَا أُعْطِيَ أَهْلُ الْبَلَاءِ الثَّوَابَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يَتَمَنَّا
أَهْلُ الْعَافِيَةِ أَنْ لَوْ قُرِّضَتْ جُلُودُهُمْ بِالْمَقَارِضِ فِي
الدُّنْيَاءِ لِمَا يَرَوْنَ مِنْ حُسْنِ الثَّوَابِ أو كَمَا
قَالَ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ But on the day
of judgment, when the people who led an
easy life, they led an easy life, they
did not go through so much hardship.
They were not tortured.
They did not go through the pain in
this life.
So they had an easy ride in this
world.
When they see the reward that is given
to the people who went through trials in
the world, they would wish that throughout their
life, their skin was cut with pliers all
the time.
Wishing for the reward that was given for
the people who were tested.
And the Prophet ﷺ says in another hadith,
إِنَّ عِظَمَ الْجَزَاءِ مَعَ عِظَمِ الْبَلَاءِ The greater
the test and the pain, the greater the
reward with Allah ﷻ.
Remember, وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ And Allah
knows and you do not know.
That's the bottom line.
So when you are tested, when you are
under hardship, whether you have a financial problem
or a family situation, or a psychological issue,
or a social problem, or things are just
not working out in your life, don't just
say, why me?
Don't turn to Allah and say, Oh Allah,
why me?
Why did you give so and so these
things but you haven't given them to me?
Allah knows how to deal with you.
Sometimes what you dislike is in your best
interest if Allah brings it into your life.
But reaping the fruits is contingent.
It stands with one condition that you submit
to Allah and you trust His wisdom.
Because the Prophet ﷺ says, مَنْ رَضِيَ فَلَهُ
الرِّضَى وَمَنْ سَخِطَ فَلَهُ السُّخْطِ He who is
pleased and content with the qada and the
qadar of Allah, the decree of Allah, then
he will get what?
The contentment of Allah.
Allah will be pleased with him.
And then Allah will reward him.
And Allah will make it up for him
or her.
But those who are upset with the qadar
of Allah, what Allah brings into their life,
they will only get what?
The displeasure of Allah, the wrath of Allah.
Some words for us to ponder on.
أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله واستغفره الحمد
لله رب العالمين الصلاة والسلام على أشرف المرسلين
نبينا محمد وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين So how
do we go about dealing with life?
Does this mean we don't know where good
is or where evil is?
So we just blind and we let the
qadar of Allah, we let the events of
life, you know, throw us left and right?
No.
We already dealt with the hadith previously of
the Prophet ﷺ where he says, Be diligent.
Be assertive in seeking what is good for
you.
Because that's why Allah gave you reason.
This is why Allah gave you an intellect
that you can use to judge things.
But you have to recognize two levels of
existence or two levels of reality.
There is the reality, the perceived reality, your
judgment, how things seem to you.
You have to work on this.
You have to make your decisions in life
based on this.
What is a good way of life?
What is a good decision?
What seems to be a good business idea?
What seems to be a good job?
Who seems to be a good wife?
Or who seems to be a good husband?
What seems to be a good school for
my kids?
Or a good way to educate my kids?
You have to make a wise and informed
judgment.
Use your mind.
But recognize, this judgment is limited.
Because this is the individual meaning of something.
It could be good, but there is always
a contextual meaning.
What is essentially good in a certain context
could be bad.
That's why you don't know everything about the
context.
So you use your best judgment.
Then you ask Allah to guide you through
the ups and downs of life.
Through the mayhem that we call life.
Because there is so much about life that
we don't know.
We don't know.
We are so proud of what we know
and we think we know.
But much of what happens around us, much
of reality is hidden from us.
So the Prophet ﷺ taught us the solution
to this.
And here we come to the hadith of
Jabir.
It's collected by Imam Al-Bukhari.
Which is an etiquette that all Muslims should
really learn and stick to.
Qala Jabir, kana Rasulullah ﷺ yu'allimuna listikharata
fil umuri kulliha kama yu'allimuna al-surata
mina al-Qur'an.
The Prophet ﷺ used to teach us istikhara
in all our affairs.
Just as he would teach us the surahs
of the Qur'an.
Qala idha hamma ahadukum bi amrin fal yarka
rakatayni min ghayri alfareedah thumma liyad'un When
one of you embarks on something, hamma, when
some of you, idha hamma ahadukum, when you
have studied something and you have found, you
have settled on a course of action.
That's the best way to go about these
things.
That's the best decision.
I'm about to engage in it or embark
on it.
Now that's the time.
You've done your homework.
Now turn to Allah to guide you through
the bigger context that you don't see.
So you pray two rak'ah outside of
the fareedah.
None of the five daily prayers.
You volunteer two rak'ah.
And then after you finish the two rak
'ah, you turn to Allah and you make
this dua.
And look at the beautiful words and the
belief that is behind these words.
The state of heart that is behind these
words, that exudes with faith and iman and
trust.
Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi ilmik Oh Allah, I
am seeking you to choose for me.
I'm asking you to choose for me with
your knowledge.
Knowledge of Allah, not my knowledge.
That is limited.
inni astakhiruka bi ilmik wa astakhdiruka bi qudratik
And I seek power through your might.
Because I don't have might.
I don't have power.
I don't have strength.
I'm dependent on you.
So I call on your might and your
power.
wa astakhdiruka bi qudratik wa as'aluka min
fadlikal azeem And I ask you from the
great bounty and the great treasures that you
have.
And Allah is the rich and abundant.
And we are the ones who are poor.
Allah says, Ya ayyuhan nasu antumul fuqara'u
ilallah wa Allahuhu wal ghaniyul hameed Oh humans,
you are in need.
You have nothing.
You have nothing.
And Allah is the one who is sufficient
and rich.
You are dependent on Allah in everything.
Your breath, every breath you take, you are
dependent on Allah for it.
Every heartbeat, you get it from Allah.
Your heart doesn't beat by itself.
Allah makes it beat.
So you are dependent on Allah in everything.
Embrace that truth.
It makes you humble.
And it helps you tap into a power
that Allah only gives to the believers.
wa as'aluka min fadlikal azeem fa innaka
taqdiru wa laa aqdir You are the one
who is able.
You are the one who has power.
And I am unable.
I don't have power.
wa ta'alamu wa laa a'alam And
you know and I don't know.
You are the one who truly knows.
What I know is very little.
And a lot of it is corrupted.
So I call on your knowledge.
wa ta'alamu wa laa a'alam wa
anta'allamu alghuyub You are the one who
knows very well matters of the unseen.
And matters of the unseen are not only
matters of the Akhirah, or matters after death.
The world that we live in, there are
so many hidden realities from us, even within
ourselves.
Even in our own affairs, there are so
many things.
What we don't know about our affairs is
greater than what we know.
That's why we have, we need Allah.
wa anta'allamu alghuyub Allahumma in kunta ta
'alamu anna hadhal amr Oh Allah, if you
know, that this matter, or this affair, or
this project, or this business, or this marriage,
or this school, or this test, khayrun li
fee deeni wa ma'ashi wa aqibati amri
awqal aajili amri wa aajilihi If you know
that this thing is good for me, in
my religion, my relationship with you, my chances
of entering paradise.
This is what good means.
Remember we said, the Prophet ﷺ said, be
diligent to get what's good.
Here he defines it.
What's good, if this thing is good for
me in my religion, in my relationship with
Allah, in my heart, in my heart's love
and devotion to Allah.
If that's good for me in my religion,
wa ma'ashi, and my livelihood, my affairs,
wa aqibati amri, and the final end and
consequences of my situation.
You're looking not only short term, but long
term as well.
wa aqibati amri, faqdurhu li wa yassirhu li
wa barik li fee Will this thing for
me into existence.
Bring it into existence, O Allah.
faqdurhu li wa yassirhu li wa barik li
fee And make it easy for me.
Bring it easily.
Facilitate it for me.
And also increase it in blessings and goodness.
wa barik li fee wa in kunta ta
'lamu anna hadha al-amra sharrun li fee
deemi wa ma'ashi wa aqibati amri aw
qal aajili amri wa aajilihi wasrifu anni wasrifni
anhu waqdur liya al-khaira haythu kan thumma
ardhni bihi And if you know that this
affair or this thing is not good for
me, is bad for me, is evil for
me, in my religion, aspect number one, dimension
number one, my religion, my relationship with Allah,
my heart, my righteousness, wa ma'ashi, and
the affairs of my life, my conditions, and
the final end of how this is going
to turn out to be, what is the
long term consequences of this.
If it's bad in any of those, if
it's bad in those, three dimensions, turn me
away from it, turn it away from me,
and give me something better, and then make
me content with your choice.
So much reliance on Allah.
So much trust in Allah.
Because when you trust your own knowledge and
your own decision making, you are bound to
fail.
You might say, some people, they have their
own ways of doing things, and they go
about a business or a project, and it
works out, and they seem to have control
over everything.
What about their heart?
What about their family?
What about their morality?
You can't get the balance without Allah.
And without balance, your life is gonna be
against you.
You might succeed in one area, but you
will destroy and ruin other areas.
So learn this du'a, and make this
du'a with all of your affairs, and
Allah will guide you.
Allah will guide you, gently guide you, and
your affairs will be blessed.
We ask Allah to accept from us.
And finally, just a reminder of what our
brother Muhammad Hassan said.
We're approaching the end of the year.
Speak to your accountant.
And see how you can donate.
Because the money is already taken from, that
percentage will already be taken away from your
bank account.
You can, this is the procedure, and that's
why you need to speak to your accountant.
Ask them about the maximum amount of donations
that I can do.
And this is what the government stipulates.
You can deduct from your taxes.
Instead of giving the taxes back to the
tax department, you give it to the masjid,
and it will be deducted from what you
owe the government of taxes.
So that's an opportunity for us, inshallah, to
get good, and support the masjid, bi-idhnillahi
ta'ala.
May Allah accept from all of us.
وصلى الله وسلم على نبينا محمد وعلى آله
واصحابه أجمعين