Mufti Menk – Jumuah at Masjid Al Fatah – La Lucia
AI: Summary ©
The importance of relationships in Islam is discussed, including the shaming of praying for Islam's importance. Investing in reading the Quran and practicing prayer is also emphasized. The speaker emphasizes the importance of avoiding regret and not causing one's behavior to cause fear. The speaker also discusses various relationships, including a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse, a spouse
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Alhamdulillahi wa barakatuhu wa salatuhu wa salamu ala
nabi al rahmat wal huda muhammadin al amin
wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.
I'm delighted to be here, wonderful ambience, beautiful
place, La Lucia, mashallah.
And at the same time, lovely people, beautiful
faces, some of whom I recognize and some
I don't.
But nonetheless, we make dua sincerely to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala to gather us in
Jannatul Firdaus, in the companionship of none other
than Nabi Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
Today I wish to talk about relationships.
And the reason I choose this topic is
because we are created and Allah Almighty has
definitely a purpose that He made us.
And with us, there are so many people.
It's not just us alone.
When you are created, the first thing is
you have parents.
And you may have siblings.
And you are born into a community and
society.
So all these responsibilities we need to touch
on.
But if I were to ask you, which
relationship is the most important relationship for you?
What's the answer?
Can you say something?
Anyone?
Say it.
Relationship with Allah.
Correct.
So there is no doubt that the most
important relationship you and I have and should
be having as believers is that with the
one who made you.
The reason is, we are in the company
of others, but we were not with them
prior to our birth.
And we will not necessarily be with them
after our death.
In fact, when we die, to a certain
point, we will be alone.
To the degree that Allah Almighty says, regarding
the Day of Judgment, And you have come
to Us alone, as We created you the
first time.
And you left behind your backs that which
We had made you.
And We do not see with you the
intercessors of those whom you claimed to be
partners.
Beautiful verse, which has a lot of meaning.
And it's vivid in its description of that
day.
Allah says, you have come to Us all
alone.
Here you are, you've come back to Us
all alone, similar to when We created you
in the first place.
All alone.
Allah says, and We don't see with you
others.
You have left behind everything that was giving
you company and companionship.
Where are they?
You are here with Us all alone.
Like the time We first created you, you
were alone.
And Allah says, those whom you thought would
intercede on your behalf, where are they?
Obviously, we believe in the intercession of Rasulullah
s.a.w. And I'm going to get
to that, because that's the second most important
relationship you and I should be having.
And the first relationship is not complete without
the second one.
But before I speak about that, this verse
Allah is telling us, that everything else that
gave you company on earth, you left it
behind.
You left it on earth, the people you
left behind, everything you left behind, your wealth,
your status, everything you left behind, today you
are a single person in front of Us,
to do what?
To give accounts.
To give accounts.
May Allah make it easy for us on
that day.
The hadith says, that as you leave this
world, one thing certain, you will be asked
about a few things.
Number one, your prayer.
Your prayer.
You know Allah Almighty speaks about so many
things, Allah would never ever have made an
issue out of prayer, if it was not
for our benefit.
Remember this.
Allah says, I only make things compulsory, when
I know they are beneficial for you.
Firstly.
Do you really reckon Allah wants to benefit
from us?
He can't, He won't, He doesn't.
His status is far higher.
No matter how much we worship Him, He
doesn't benefit, we benefit.
No one can say, I did it so
that Allah's status can go higher.
Allah has the highest status with you or
without you, with the whole world or without
it.
His status is His status, there is no
change to it.
It's like Nabi Muhammad SAW, Allah gave him
a rank, that rank with you or without
you is already there.
But the rank Nabi Muhammad SAW accumulates more
and more, for the status that was already
the highest to become even higher, through the
worship that you and I engage in, and
the salawat that you and I engage in,
from his teachings.
And that's why he says, have many children.
Because I want to be the Nabi, who
has the largest number on the day of
Qiyamah.
Already it's there.
But still he wants it to go even
more.
The Prophet SAW, when you read your durood
or you read your salawat on Nabi SAW,
today is a Friday, it should be happening
more.
There is a competition every Friday, who has
done more salawat on Nabi Muhammad SAW.
Many of us don't.
And we don't give it importance.
We are supposed to give it importance.
But it gets to Nabi Muhammad SAW in
a manner known by Allah, and it benefits
us tenfold.
Who ever sends blessings and salutations upon Muhammad
SAW once, Allah will bless him ten times.
So, you are benefiting from this.
Allah made prayer five times a day at
certain times compulsory, because He knows how He
made you and how He created you.
He wants you to be leading a life
that will bring about maximum results for this
world and the next.
Uniformity is something without which you don't succeed.
You go to work, they tell you 8
to 5.
I don't know, Durban might be 9 to
3 or something.
Or it might still be 8 to 5.
But you try and get to work at
9 o'clock, 10 o'clock, every day,
an hour, two hours late, they'll fire you.
Uniformity, why?
That's how it is.
Work, they give you a Saturday half day
off, a Sunday full day off a lot
of the times.
For us as Muslimin, whenever there is some
celebration, there is an extra act of worship,
Allah says, don't forget me.
The day of Eid, there is an extra
prayer, right?
The day of Friday, there is an extra
khutbah.
A lecture, a sermon that is necessary for
you to listen to attentively.
The day that you're getting married, there is
a khutbah, sunnah, for you to be able
to listen to something extra, you see?
So whenever there is a celebration, there is
something more you got to do.
So Allah says, we give you a reason
to celebrate, don't transgress on this day.
In fact, do something more for Allah.
When Allah gives you a day of Eid,
be careful how you tailor your clothes.
Be careful where you're going to go.
Be careful what you're going to do.
You know what many people say?
They tell their girlfriends, you know what, Ramadan
is coming, I'll see you after 30 days.
30 days, we're not going to do anything
wrong.
Come on.
Is that what you really think Allah wanted?
Allah wanted you to change your life and
say Ramadan is coming, change my life, let's
make tawbah, we make this thing halal, otherwise
nothing is going to happen.
That's the way you should talk.
But some people, day of Eid, they phone
again.
Hey, guess what?
They saw the moon.
Really?
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us.
Whenever I witness the moon fighting that happens,
I always say, you know what, actually for
a lot of people it's better if they
don't see the moon.
One more day of worship.
The minute they see it, we all know
that shaitan also comes out, right?
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keep us
strong.
That relationship with Allah is prime.
The day you begin to enjoy, to please
Allah is the day you're a true believer.
Mark my words.
The day you begin to enjoy your five
daily prayers is the day you've hit the
right spot.
The day you enjoy reciting the Quran is
the day you are connecting with Allah.
The day you begin to enjoy doing dhikr,
you are connecting with Allah.
Up to that point, you're a Muslim, no
doubt.
But guess what?
Your relationship is not on the level where
it should be.
I attended recently a four day workshop, international
workshop.
And the brothers were practicing brothers.
We do fajr with jama'a and immediately
after that, there's a small reminder, five minutes,
not more than five minutes, after that everyone
sits with their Quran.
And I was super impressed.
And I came across an Islamic organization where
part of your contract is that they have
15 minutes Quran recitation, everyone has to.
They pay you for it.
So everyone, tea time, just before the tea
break, everyone comes to a standstill, everything happens.
Everyone has to pick the Quran and read.
Even the boss and everybody else.
Muslim business, he said, look, Quran we have
to have.
Amazing.
And guess what?
When I witnessed this, it was hair raising.
Because I checked everybody, like we would go
out for tea, go out for lunch, everybody
picking up a Quran.
The guy said, no, it's a policy we
have in this business, you must read Quran.
We pay you, 15 minutes, our time, you
take it, Quran.
I said, brother, include one quick thing.
Have a small explanation of a verse or
two also.
Later on, they included something, they made it
voluntary, but they included voluntary, but they're all
going.
Subhanallah, because why?
I want to tell you something about the
relationship with Allah today that you may not
know.
Wallahi, my beloved brothers, my sisters, I swear
by Allah, when you make a small effort,
Allah's relationship has a magnetizing effect.
It brings you through more than you can
imagine.
You won't be happy with a little.
You're going to have to go.
When you start enjoying your farad, you're going
to have to pop in a few sunnah
and the nafil, and you'll have to enjoy
it.
And when you read one verse a day,
you're going to have to go to 2
and 5 and 10.
When you give it 15 minutes, it's going
to pull another 15 minutes of yours.
That is how Allah works.
He says, you come to me walking, I
come to you rushing.
You come to me a hand span, I
come to you a whole foot.
That is wallahi the truth.
Wallahi.
Make a small effort.
See the result.
Enjoy your prayer.
It's not easy to get up early morning
for fajr when the timings are a little
bit awkward.
Trust me, in southern Africa, we have it
golden.
In some countries, the timings are so awkward.
There, it's a jihad.
Go to northern Europe and see.
Go to England.
Listen to them.
They'll tell you, you know what, sometimes the
fast is 18, 19 hours.
We barely made iftar and we're making suhoor.
And they have to do taraweeh and it's
just a roller coaster.
From iftar, maghrib, short gap, they have isha,
taraweeh, suhoor, and you're closed.
How is that?
Imagine when there is no fasting, how they
have to wake up for salah in the
morning.
Trust me, we have it easy.
We have it very easy.
Throughout the year, it's not so bad.
No matter which month of the year it
is.
But here we are, lazing around.
We'll come for jumu'ah, yes.
We'll come for jumu'ah, yes.
You know what, make an effort.
Today is the day.
Promise Allah.
Oh Allah, my relationship with you is going
to improve from now.
I'm going to read my adhkar after salah.
I'm going to ensure that I spend these
15 minutes being spoken about.
Others are doing it.
Others are doing it.
You know how I get encouraged to do
things.
I went to Nigeria.
I see people, poverty.
But they're all reading Quran like husari, man.
Like top reciters.
The guys are standing in salah.
Fajr, the masjid is packed.
One day I went early, before the adhan.
There was no space.
It was more packed than what this masjid
is for jumu'ah.
And I tell the guys, what's happening today
in the masjid?
He says, this is how it is everyday.
You know what I did?
From that day, I told myself, no chance.
They can't be the only ones going to
jannah.
We need to go.
We look at the people and we think,
what are these guys going to achieve in
life?
They are achieving the akhira.
Because already in life, they are not into
all these things that others are into.
And so it motivates me when I see
others doing it.
I tell myself, it's true what Allah says.
You don't want to do it, no problem.
We don't need you.
We got 10 others doing it as a
result.
The Quran says, وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ
ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَالَكُمْ If you are going
to turn away, and the address is for
all of us.
If you are going to turn away, here
is Allah telling you and I.
You are going to turn away, we will
replace you with others who will not be
like you.
I see people removing their hijab, throwing it
out, saying, you know this and that.
Fair and good in their own way.
Exactly the same moment, there are 10 to
a 100 to a 1000 others, somewhere in
the world, be it in the poorest part
of Africa, or somewhere in the Far East.
As a direct result of your disobedience, Allah
created others with your name tag on them
as a result.
And He will show it to you on
the day of judgment.
Because He says in the Quran, when you
go away, I will replace you with someone.
You want to know who they are?
I don't know.
You might not know right now.
Allah knows who they are.
He'll show it to you.
Say, you see, you remember when you disobeyed,
well look at all of those as a
result of that disobedience, they obeyed.
Would you like that to happen to you?
No.
As a result of you abandoning the Quran,
there are so many others who took it
in.
There's no shortage of worshippers here.
No shortage.
The question is, are you in or are
you out?
That's what you got to ask yourself.
Are you in it?
If you are, good news only to you.
If you are out, bad news only to
you.
It's not like you have benefited Allah.
Allah gives you encouragement.
And then you later on start reading things
more and more of the medical benefits of
salah, medical benefits of fasting, medical benefits of
memorizing the Quran.
Recently I was with an elderly man, very
sharp, very intelligent, in his 90s.
And I asked him, I said, Hey, mashallah,
tell us something.
You know, normally by this age people have
forgetfulness, memory loss, this that.
He says, you know what?
Memorize the Quran and keep the Quran every
day on your lips, in your heart, in
your mind.
Let someone listen to you and ensure that
you're not making blunders.
You see, one is to memorize the Quran
and read it every day.
Two is for someone to listen to you.
Why?
You have to put it into memory again.
Remember this, this, this.
He says, when you keep yourself fresh every
day, challenging your mind, it remains fresh.
I've heard other answers also from different people,
because I like to ask.
If I see something outstanding, I say, please
tell us, give us a bit of a
word.
What advice you have?
We are still young.
By the way, we're no longer young.
We've kept saying young, young, young ever since.
We're becoming older.
No one, no people are passing away.
I just want to be in that caravan
when I pass away.
The same caravan that Nabi Muhammad s.a
.w. led.
Let's be in it.
Come, let's join each other.
And we go inside.
The ending will be beautiful.
How long we're going to do whatever we
want to do on earth?
Let's do what Allah wants.
I don't want to do what I want
to do, I do what Allah wants.
And Allah is so merciful, He's allowed me
to do most of the things that my
desires would like to do on condition that
it's regularized.
We can get married, mashallah.
We can earn halal income, alhamdulillah.
We can eat and drink, mashallah, for as
long as it's halal.
A few things that He's made haram, there
are very few, you can count them.
The rest of it is all okay.
Good to go.
But He wants you to connect with Him.
That relationship, trust me, my beloved brothers, my
sisters, you will never regret the relationship you
made an effort to build with Allah.
Once the caravan is rolling, you will enjoy
it.
You will feel like an orphan if you've
missed one prayer.
You will feel like an orphan if you
haven't touched the Quran this day.
You will feel like someone who really has
lost a big deal when you're unwell and
you can't do what you used to do.
But I swear Allah will write the reward
for you.
That's Allah.
Why does Allah write the reward of a
person who has habitually engaged in worship when
he missed it for a human reason?
You know what I mean.
If you are always in the masjid for
salah, you get a reward.
The day something happened, you got delayed, your
name is written in that saf exactly as
is.
Why would Allah do that?
To prove to you that you made the
effort, the issue is that relationship is such,
you get the reward for it.
Relationship.
I quickly want to move past, I hope
that we've been motivated to do something about
our link with Allah.
Like I say, for me the motivation is,
I see others whom you least expect to
do things, doing more than me.
I say, no, no, no, no, I can't
allow that to happen.
I'm gonna do more than them.
That's a motivation for me.
I hope it is for you too.
May Allah make us strong.
Small things, but they're...
It becomes a habit.
I've seen the 40-day rule.
40-day rule is when you push yourself
to do something for 40 days in a
row.
It becomes easy for you after that.
But the first 40 days are tough.
After that, inshallah, you're good to go.
Now, the second relationship is your relationship with
Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. This evening we
have a talk at the masjid, Masjid al
-Saliheen in Musgrave, related to this, the seerah
of Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. I just
ask you a simple question.
A few questions.
Do you know his life history?
Do you know the details of his biography?
And what happened?
Do you know his habits?
Do you know his dress code?
Do you know the way he did things?
And do you realize that your relationship with
Allah won't be fully fledged if you don't
even know the messenger he sent to you
and I as the best of creation, the
most noble of all prophets of Allah.
And you don't even know the details of
his life.
So, invest in reading the seerah.
Invest in knowing who he is.
Invest in trying to follow every detail.
Invest in so much more when your relationship
with Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. is something
that will earn you the intercession that we
believe in on the day of judgment.
Imagine...
And this is just one point.
Imagine you arrive on the day of judgment
and everyone is going to be worried.
About whom?
About themselves.
كُلٌ يَقُولُ نَفْسِي نَفْسِي Everybody is worried about
themselves.
And suddenly you are called.
And suddenly there is recognition of your face
by someone.
And you notice this is Nabi Muhammad s
.a.w. And imagine the feeling.
And he calls you through by name.
Hey, you are from my ummah.
Come here.
I'm interceding.
Don't worry.
Intercede on your behalf, O Allah.
This is our man.
May that happen to all of us.
I believe it will happen.
InshaAllah.
Make an effort.
That shafa'ah and that intercession is haq.
It is true.
It will be.
But you have to have a relationship with
him.
I got no relationship with...
I won't be recognized.
Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. says that the
members of my ummah will be recognized by
the shining of the places they used to
wash when they made wudu before they prayed.
How's your wudu?
It's in order.
When you make wudu, add one thought at
the back of your mind with your intention.
Say, inshaAllah, I'm gonna be recognized with this
day of judgment.
Imagine the intercession.
Increase your salawat.
Your adhkar.
You need to know what he looked like.
Important.
Read the shama'il.
You know, a youngster came to me a
few months ago.
He tells me, I dreamt of the Prophet
s.a.w. But I said, what did
he look like?
He described something out of the scope of
acceptance.
I said, that was not the Prophet s
.a.w. He says, no.
I was told that if you dream of
the Prophet s.a.w., it has to
be him.
Because it can't be anyone else.
I said, agreed.
If you read the conditions the ulama have
written, they say, if you dream of the
Prophet s.a.w., shaitan cannot imitate him.
But shaitan can lie to you that someone
who's not the Prophet is the Prophet when
you don't even know your Prophet.
Because you can't have a guy, astaghfirullah, in
jeans, smoking with shaved face.
And you're telling me that was the Prophet?
No chance it's not.
That was shaitan.
And he did not imitate the Prophet.
He lied to you.
Because you don't even know the Prophet, that
someone besides the Prophet was the Prophet.
I hope you understand the difference here.
Because the hadith says, shaitan cannot imitate the
Prophet s.a.w. You saw him, you
saw him.
But he has to be with the qualities
and saying the things that you know about
him.
You have no relationship, you wouldn't know.
May Allah Almighty grant us all success and
ease.
I spoke of two relationships, one more, and
we keep it going.
I could talk about brothers, I could talk
about parents, probably the most important relationship.
I could talk about some, but today I
want to talk about a spouse.
Spouse.
Very quickly.
Why?
It's one of the relationships you chose.
You chose it.
Allah has written it for you, decree.
But the other ones, Allah didn't leave a
choice for you.
This one, He kept you in it.
He wants you to ensure that you fulfill
each other's rights with a beautiful respect.
And a loving trust.
And facilitate each other's lives so that you
can worship Allah nicely.
So go easy on each other.
That's what I want to say today.
Respect each other.
Solve your matters, your problems.
And try your best to work and build
each other in the obedience of Allah.
May Allah Almighty grant us happy homes.
The reason why I touched on this towards
the end is because many people are struggling.
Many people come from broken homes.
Many people have relationships that have broken or
sometimes they don't even know the importance of
a relationship.
Wallahi, look, we are human.
We go through these things.
Learn to take it in your stride.
Always remember Allah is watching.
Convert it into a reward.
No matter what it is, make it into
something that will earn your paradise.
No matter what it is.
And Allah will grant you good.
Are you a good person?
Are you kind-hearted?
Do you have a good nature?
Do you care for your relationship with Allah?
Are you worried about the Day of Judgment?
Then be careful how you talk to people.
Be careful how you come across, no matter
what.
This morning someone was...
We were talking about something and I said,
you know what?
We want Jannah.
If people have made a mistake or they've
said things about us, no problem, we still
excuse them, we still forgive them, we still
love them, but we will not say bad
about them because we are worried about getting
into that caravan.
Once we're in, we can all be in,
no problem.
There won't be any hatred in the heart
or anything.
Let's keep it going.
So imagine, when we have a relationship, choose
for the right reasons.
You won't go wrong.
Choose for the right reasons.
You want to get married?
I joked with one youngster today.
I won't tell you exactly what I told
him.
He knows what I said.
I'm trying to look for where he is.
I told him, you know, you must choose
from that family.
He said, how?
I said, because they're good.
They are religious.
They are generally God-conscious.
They have the good, you know, the right
attitude.
I'm sure he was shocked because he wasn't
expecting that.
And I spoke about a big, quite a
prominent sort of a name in Durban.
And subhanallah, one of the reasons is, I
just wanted him to think, to say when
you are selecting a spouse, don't just look
for beauty.
Don't just look for what looks nice.
Because not everything that glitters is gold, you
know.
But look for something that is really going
to make Allah happy.
He tells you, look for deen, akhlaq.
It doesn't mean that you don't look at
what they look like.
There has to be a spark.
I mean, you know, that's why they got
Sparks Road down there.
But the reality is, make a lot of
dua.
And choose for the right reason.
That's gonna be the parent of your child.
May Allah Almighty make it easy for all
of us.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
I've extended by two minutes.
But inshallah, we'll cover the time soon.
And I really make dua for this beautiful
masjid.
I was telling Mawlana that, you know, earlier,
because of this place and what it used
to be, people used to call towards something
totally different.
The same pulpit is being used today to
call towards Allah.
Look at how Allah does it.
The same pulpit.
The people who built it and established it
had no clue that the day will come
when mu'mineen will come and make sujood for
the sake of Rabbul Alameen.
May Allah bless everyone who made this facility
into this beautiful house of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and continue to bless every one
of us.
I have a lot to say.
I need to come back to La Lucia,
inshallah.
But speaking alone is not beneficial unless we
digest it, do something about it.
The minimum today is all of us, myself
included, need to be motivated to build a
better relationship with Allah.
May Allah bless you all.