Muhammed Ilyaas Samaai – BIS MASJID ALFALAAGH JUMUAH 5 MAY 2023
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Respected elders,
brothers,
sisters,
and beloved young ones, Assalamu alaikum Warahmatullahi wa
barakatuh.
First of all, we thank Allah
for the greatest gift which Allah
has given to humanity,
which is the gift of iman,
the gift of the kalamalaylahillah,
Muhammad Rasulullah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Secondly, we thank Allah
for once again having given us the opportunity
of coming together in LaudsfilAllah
on this glorious and auspicious
and beautiful occasion of Jum'ah.
It's been a few months where
I've come back to this masjid
repeatedly, alhamdulillah. So we're getting to know
the community.
And
I'm not sure how many of our people
are regulars at this masjid,
but I thought I'll just mention this as
a opening
that
those who
do attend here regularly and have heard me
speaking before, they may hear that.
I'll always start every talk with thanking Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for the gifts of Iman
and thanking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for having
given us the opportunity to come to be
within the house of Allah.
It may sound
to many like it's a rhyme that we
just wrap off at the beginning of
a
talk or the beginning of a discussion or
the beginning of a Jum'ah.
But Jum'ah means when we say this, then
please do not take this
as merely a introduction
or a
rhyme that we are rapping off.
If one has to spend one's life
in just thanking Allah
for the gift of iman, then wallahi, it's
a beautiful life.
It's a very beautiful life because subhanahu wa
ta'ala tells
us that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, if one shows
gratitude, then Allah will give an increase.
In 2,006,
I was sitting with my beloved Ustad
Azad Maqasim Sema, Muhammadu laihi wa'anhu.
Allah Subhanahu wa'ala. My beloved Ustad, very high
place in Jannah.
It's the Ustad of many many of Alhamaya
in Cape in the Cape
as well as international. Alhamdulillah is the most
of many many great Alhamdulillah.
But I was sitting with
my beloved Ustad, and we had a discussion.
And the discussion was about the niyam of
Allah.
How Allah favors us and how we don't
recognize the favors of Allah
because
they are so many. When
that if you should try to count the
favors of Allah then you'll never be able
to enumerate all of them.
So we are speaking about how Allah ta'ala
favors us while we are undeserving of those
favors of Allah
And Mullah mentioned that if one make shukr
for a particular niyama,
then that particular niyama, Allah will grant an
increase.
Now imagine one thanks Allah for iman. What
happens?
Allah will increase that iman.
So there's one thing that none of us
And I start with myself,
that none of us can ever claim
to have enough of,
and that is
our iman. We need to be grateful that
Allah Ta'ala has chosen us. Imagine there's currently
roughly about 8,000,000,000 people in this world. Approximately
2,000,000,000
of that 8,000,000,000 are Muslim, which means quarter
of the world only are reciting this kalibah.
Which means 3 quarter of this world.
Let's not be impressed by 2 1,000,000,000 the
number.
Let's be concerned.
What about the other 6,000,000,000?
What about the other 3 quarter
of the world population
that are not reciting this kaliman?
So
consider this now, out of every 4 people,
one person
only
is reciting this kalima.
So for us to have been chosen by
Allah
to be the recital of this kalimah is
a huge niyama.
So therefore, when we stop and we thank
Allah ta'ala for this gift of iman,
then it truly is
a major thing that Allah ta'ala allows us
to thank him.
And that brings us to the discussion for
today.
We just come out of this beautiful month
of Ramadan,
and alhamdulillah, make du'a, Allah Ta'ala has accepted
everybody's, ibadah that they have performed during this
month of Ramadan.
But
it now comes to the post Ramadan,
ibadah.
That we learned something during Ramadan.
Each one of us had our own objectives
of what we want to achieve during this
Ramadan.
So we learned whatever we needed to learn
in Ramadan.
But what will happen after Ramadan?
Will we
return to our ways
before
Ramadan? Or will this Ramadan have taught us
whatever lesson is that we want to learn
and improve
after Ramadan?
Ramadan is supposed to be the training rounds,
and we discussed
when we're here in Ramadan, we discussed
the issue of taqwa and how one defines
taqwa.
And the fact that Ramadan is all about
taqwa, the objective of Ramadan is to acquire
taqwa.
So have we
thank Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, number 1,
for
allowing us the opportunity of
spend the entire month of Ramadan in his
obedience.
Because that was also niyamr al Rawlih.
How many people out there We consider
our brothers and sisters in China.
Do we know what's currently happening in China
for the past number of years?
A friend of mine, Shamsazaman,
is from China himself.
And a few weeks before Ramadan,
we were on WhatsApp we were chatting to
each other,
and he told me he fears
Ramadan this year.
I said, Habibi, we're very excited here in
South Africa for Ramadan.
You're saying you're fearing Ramadan? He
says, he doesn't call me mawl, he calls
me mawl, he says to mawl,
I fear Ramadan
not because
I'm not excited to be
in Allah Ta'ala's obedience in this month, but
I fear Ramadan because
What if I'll be one of those people
that will be caught by the police and
force fed during this holy month of Ramadan?
How will Allah view my
Ramadan?
Actually being force fed.
Just if they identify you as a Muslim
or they suspect you being a Muslim, it
doesn't happen to everybody. So yes, some people
may not have experienced this.
But
if they suspect you of being a Muslim
and you're fasting,
halal.
To force feed you something which is haram
in Islam.
This is reality of what's happening
to our brothers and sisters
in China as an example.
So for us to have spent this whole
month of Ramadan
with a comfort and the luxury
of fasting during this month of Ramadan
with nobody holding a gun against Saween.
It is niyama.
It is a favor of Allah
Have we, after Ramadan, thank Allah
for having allowed us
the ability
to be in his obedience.
But if
we are of those
who have thanked Allah
for allowing us
to be in his obedience,
then have we realized
that that ability to thank Allah
is also a gift from Allah.
We thanking Allah for the gift of Ramadan
and I've explained that Ramadan in obedience of
Allah. But the fact that we are thanking
Allah,
that also
is a niyama.
Because how would one thank Allah without
Allah granting
us the ability in the tawfiq to thank
him?
So now it causes a ripple effect.
In order to now
show gratitude to Allah
for having granted us the ability
to show gratitude to Him
for having spent the Ramadan in his obedience,
we need to show gratitude
again. Doesn't make sense, you might ask me.
How do we speak without Allah
giving us the ability to speak?
Is anybody capable of
speaking without
Allah
having granted them that ability?
Is anybody here
able to perform salah?
Will it be standing? Will it be sitting?
Will it be lying down? Is anybody here
able to perform salah without Allah Ta'ala having
granted tawfiq to do so?
Is anybody here capable of doing anything
without the permission of Allah
So
if we recognize that we
are unable to do anything without the tawfiq
of Allah, then we need to recognize that
our thanking Allah is also done by the
permission of Allah, which means thanking Allah is
itself the nirmala of Allah. And these we
need to show gratitude to Allah for having
granted us the ability and the nirmala for
thanking him.
But the problem comes that
that again becomes a nirmala and we need
to thank Allah for that niyama.
And the niyama continues
non stop.
So just
a thing as simple
as thanking Allah,
places another amana on us.
And that is thanking Allah again.
So Jamaat Muslim mean, it may sound
like a simple
thing. Yes. I've gone to the month of
Ramadan.
Shukri Allah, you allowed me to experience a
beautiful month of Ramadan.
But that in its turn brings
more responsibility.
But it is a responsibility
that we should take with a smile in
our face and joy in the heart.
That Alhamdulillah,
my Rabb
has chosen me
to show gratitude towards him.
You know some responsibilities,
we do it but
really now I have to do it again.
So Right?
You do it but you don't really have
the heart for doing it. But this this
responsibility
of thanking Allah, we should
do it with joy that Allah ta'ala has
chosen me. I've been hand selected by Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And therefore,
I express that gratitude to Allah
with joy in my heart, with love in
my heart of my rabbullah.
Jamaatul muslimin,
as we're sitting here and standing here,
don't answer anybody else. Answer yourself.
In your
own life, what is the greatest niyamah that
Allah has given to you?
In your own life, so each one will
have a different answer.
Because each one's life is different.
And each one's perception of
the niyam. Niyam is the plural of niyamah.
Each one's perception of the niyam of Allah
will be different.
One person will say, but my health
is the greatest niyam of Allah.
Another person will say, my family is the
greatest niyam of Allah.
Another person will say, my children. Somebody else
will say, my parents.
Each one will look at the niyamah of
Allah, and you'll see a different thing as
being the greatest niyamah.
But once you've identified that great niyamah of
Allah,
then ask yourself the question, how often have
I thanked Allah for that niyamah?
Consider
And I'm gonna say in inverted commas, consider
the small niyamah
of parents.
I'm saying small niyama of parents because
the era in which we are living today,
it's actually quite disgusting what's happening.
How parents are being treated?
I was recently
actually asked to get involved in the project
of
building a home for
our elderly.
And I felt
disgusted.
I felt absolutely disgusted
at being asked to get involved in a
project of this nature.
Because this is a Muslim community,
we should feel
it our privilege
if our parents live with us.
It shouldn't be that parents are put in
an older home. And eventually, I agreed to
get involved because there are those of our
elders who may not have children who are
alive any longer,
or may not even have had children. So
where do they go? So therefore, the need
for an
older home is there.
But Jamat al Musmi, also a few years
ago,
I went to visit an older home.
Couple of friends of ours
went, made up a delegation, and we used
to take little gifts. Every 3 months, we
used to take little gifts to the elderly.
And we came, and I'm not gonna mention
where this was. We came to this old
age home,
and this couple was there, and
this couple was the couple that I usually
go visit.
And this was our second or third visit,
so I didn't know the couple too well
yet. So I'm getting to know them.
And I find out that
they have 3 children.
They have 3 children.
I'm not gonna mention the area in which
the children live because it might just give
ideas in your mind.
But what I will say is all 3
of the children live in one of the
wealthiest areas in Cape Town.
All 3 of the children live in one
of the wealthiest areas in Cape Town.
When I went to go visit the children
after this visit to the parents,
I actually felt disgusted.
Because the children are now adults themselves who
have children who are at university.
And the children
themselves are driving fancy cars,
and the children who are at university
are driving fancy cars going to university as
well.
But the parents
are in an older home.
Have we understood
the niyamah of a parent?
Imagine Allah Ta'ala decided
that that parents should not have children, they
should not become parents.
Because that's in Allah Ta'ala's ability,
That their parents should not become parents.
Then where would that children have been?
They would not have been a thought of
that children.
But yet those same children,
because they don't understand the value of parents,
they don't understand Allah Ta'ala decided that that
couple should come together and they should become
parents.
And through Allah Ta'ala decision, they were born.
Jamat al Musmi I'm saying this as a
small favor.
But in reality,
none of the favors of Allah ta'ala are
small.
Every favor of Allah ta'ala is a major
favor.
Let me bring it to a smaller
favor than that.
A much smaller favor than that.
Firstly, have we thanked Allah ta'ala for parents?
So let's bring it to a much smaller
favor than that.
Oxygen.
The air that we breathe.
Have any of us even thanked Allahu Ta'ala
for having granted us oxygen?
Now as we're sitting here,
how many times didn't we breathe?
Just while sitting here in this masjid.
And for how long can we survive without
breathing?
Have you ever
thought that Allah has given this oxygen without
any price?
There's no fee that you need to pay
for this oxygen.
But without it, I cannot live.
Have you ever thought of thanking Allah Ta'ala
for this gift called oxygen?
We come out of a period now of
COVID.
I'm not gonna get involved in discussion, the
debate about whether COVID was this and whether
COVID was that. That's for each their own.
Mashallah, I respect everybody.
But people are struggling to
what the niyamat is
to be able to breathe without any machinery.
If you ask me, I'm not gonna see
the niyamah of oxygen as a great niyamah
because
it comes natural.
Comes naturally to me to breathe.
But as that person who is in a
hospital
who needs that machinery
to breathe, ask that person the value of
that oxygen.
That person will be able to explain to
you the value of that
oxygen. Because it experiences difficulty
of being without.
A favor is only appreciated once it's lost.
Why one has that favor? We don't truly
appreciate it.
Once that favor is lost, then we start
appreciating that niyama.
Don't wait for Allah to remove the favor
from us in order to start showing appreciation.
While that favor is there, show that appreciation
of Allah
immediately.
I always make this example when we go
to the makhabir,
to the graveyards,
janazah time,
then people come with
a whole lot of bunches of flowers to
put in the kabir of the parent.
What benefit is that flower to that parent
now?
Wasn't it a greater benefit
to that mother to bring that bunch of
flowers to that mother while she was still
alive? Mommy, I love you. I was just
thinking of you. When I saw the beauty
of these flowers, I saw the beauty of
my mother.
Don't we think that's a much greater use
for that flowers than putting them in a
cuddle?
But because we did not understand the niyamah
of the mother while she was alive, when
she was taken away from us, then we
want to
recognize. Because
We only understand the value of the niyamah
once it's taken away. Jamatul Musli mean
Ramadan has been taken away from us. It's
gone.
We don't know,
young or old, healthy or sickly,
we don't know who of us will see
the next Ramadan.
None of
us are guaranteed to see the next Ramadan.
So have we thank Allah for
the past Ramadan?
Have we shown gratitude to Allah?
For having given us entire month, with His
favors upon us will multiplied.
We He's waiting for us
to say, that, O my love, I'm a
tawba unto you. And he said, so tawba
really.
Have we been appreciative
of that niamahullah?
Jamat Mus' mean shukr is a very small
thing.
Very small
in terms of
how much time it takes from us to
do so.
But
it's a major thing in the sight of
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
At end of jamaatul's min, with the hadith
of Rasulullah
salallahu alaihi wa sallam,
she sees Nabi's alaihi salallam
standing up in Ibadah
all night.
Every night she see Nabi Sam standing up
in Ibadah all night.
And she asked Rasulullah, Why
don't you rest?
Take some rest. Don't spend all of your
time
crying in front of Allah. Allah knows your
heart.
Take some rest.
Yourself up? You know, there's one line,
I believe this jama'ah is,
jama'ah of, lafunabi salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
So is
something that this jama'ah should know.
Isn't
it?
But read the itself.
In that
there's a line which Imam al Busayiri says,
Read the entire kasidah burdah. Read the actual
thing. There's a beautiful translation, explanation
of kasidah burdah written by
Burda
written by Mufi Ibrahim Desai It's translated into
English. He wrote it in English.
I've been unfree and unjust to the
sunnah of that one who
spend the nights awake
until his feet got swollen.
Speaking of who?
Speaking about beloved master, Nabi Muhammad Sala alaihi
wa sallam. I've been unjustly.
Nabi salaam.
All of these sins have been forgiven. Why
are you spending up the nights now? Your
feet are swollen. Why are you spending the
nights, a week
in law this ibadah? Nabi's alaihi wa sama
says,
Should I not be a slave of Allah
who is grateful to Allah?
So Jama'at Musumeen, my message to you today
is a very simple message, and I start
that message for myself.
I came here thinking about this message.
When I was reminded about,
today's Jumu'ah,
I thought about this message.
And the message is simple.
Appreciate
what Allah Ta'ala has given to us.
Show gratitude
for Allah Ta'ala's favors upon us.
And Allah Ta'ala says,
If you show gratitude, Allah. If you show
gratitude, he will give increase.
May Allahu Ta'ala allow us the ability to
show gratitude towards him, firstly for the gift
of iman, and secondly for every other gift.
And in that way, may Allahu Ta'ala allow
us that our niyamas which He has given
to us. May that niyamas increase and multiply
and multiply.