Nadim Bashir – One Thing That Will Make You Or Break You
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the benefits of staying in a company with a good person, including increasing chances of being a "POor person." They also discuss the importance of being part of a group and making fun of them, as it is essential for everyone to support each other. The speaker emphasizes the importance of worship, particularly Allah, as the most powerful person in the world and encourages individuals to come inside the main hall and ensure the rows are straight.
AI: Summary ©
Allah is the Greatest, Allah
is the Greatest.
I bear witness that there is no god
but Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the
Messenger of Allah.
There is no god but Allah.
I
bear witness
that there is no god but Allah.
I bear witness that there is no god
but Allah.
Allah
is
the
Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.
Or one thing that can break you.
And in my observation, based on all the
years of my professionalism, the countless hours behind
counseling people, listening to people's issues and so
forth, I really have concluded that this one
thing today, that I'm gonna be talking by
my khutbah, can really either make a person
in this dunya or the akhirah, or it
can break a person in this dunya and
the akhirah.
And that one thing is good company.
If you are around people that are considered
as righteous, noble, upright, then you will succeed
in this dunya and the akhirah.
And if you are around people who don't
have the best interest for you, who don't
care for you, who don't respect you, and
who don't care about your religion, these are
people who have been surrounded, they surround themselves
with other corrupt people in terms of their
faith and spirituality, then this will break your
dunya and most certainly it will break your
akhirah.
There's a saying in English that good company
is like a garden.
How often, when you look at a garden,
a garden is a place where people they
go into a garden and they find some
kind of serenity.
They find some kind of peace.
How often do you go and you find
a very beautiful place, greenery, mountains, and you
sit there and you forget about the entire
dunya and you just absorb the beauty of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Likewise, the saying is that good company is
like a garden for the soul.
That it will protect you, it will nurture
you, and it will purify you.
Brothers and sisters, this is what you and
I we need to focus on.
And this is not a topic that is
related only to our children.
Yes, as parents, we need to be very
careful, we need to be very mindful of
who our kids are socializing with.
But this also goes for us as mothers
and fathers, and even the youth in this
congregation.
First of all is that there are four
things today insha'Allah I wanna share in
my khutbah, that there are four benefits of
keeping the righteous company.
The first benefit that we find in the
Qur'an is that when you are around
the right people, it will strengthen your iman.
And this is found in Surah Al-Kahf.
Surah Al-Kahf has four main stories.
The very first story that we find is
about young men.
And this story tells us that just like
the young men at that time, they had
to go through certain measures, drastic measures, in
order to protect their iman and their faith.
And just like their iman and their faith
was put to test, likewise even the young
people today.
You are of no exception my young brothers
and sisters.
Your iman will also be put to test.
But the beauty about Surah Al-Kahf is,
that when Allah talks about each fitna that
does occur, Allah talks about that how can
we protect ourselves from that fitna.
The first story is about those young men
who sought refuge in a cave to protect
their faith.
And what did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
say at the end of that story?
He says, and he gives his advice to
the Prophet ﷺ.
He says, وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ
بِالْغَدَاتِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجَهَا وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ
تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّمْيَا وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا
قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهْ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us, if
you want to protect your faith, then you
be around those kind of people, who remember
Allah, بِالْغَدَاتِ وَالْعَشِيِّ They remember Allah in the
morning and the evening.
And all that they want from Allah is
what?
يُرِيدُونَ وَجَهَا They always are seeking the pleasure
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even
tells the Prophet ﷺ, that who you should
not be around, وَلَا تُطِعُ Do not follow
those people.
Which people?
مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا Those people whose
hearts are heedless from the remembrance of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And who else should you not follow?
وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهْ These are the kind of people
who follow their desires.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling
us in this ayah, in this story, that
if you want to protect your faith and
your iman, then make sure you are around
those kind of people who is considered as
good company.
People who remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
People who put their spirituality at the forefront
in all their affairs, and they do not
follow their desires.
This is what the Qur'an is telling
us.
And this is the first benefit of staying
in the company of the righteous people.
There's another hadith of the Prophet ﷺ that
we find.
A very beautiful hadith that you and I
we have heard.
He ﷺ says, the example of a good
companion and a bad companion is like that
of a seller of musk and a blacksmith.
Meaning that no matter if you are in
the store of a perfume seller, then of
course when you walk out, even if you
don't even apply perfume, you're gonna walk away
and your clothes are gonna be smelling very
promising.
It's gonna be smelling very good.
Likewise, if you go into a place where
there is something that is going on, imagine,
we don't understand the concept of a blacksmith,
but to give you an example that you
can understand and we all can understand.
Imagine going into a waste management facility.
Imagine going into a waste management facility.
Even if you don't touch the garbage, you
don't touch anything over there, the fact that
you were in that environment makes an impact
on you.
Likewise Rasulullah ﷺ is saying, even if you
sit in the company of a good person,
even if you don't apply anything, just the
fact that you sat there, this will increase
your iman.
You will become a better person.
So this is the very first benefit of
being around good people and being in the
company of righteous people.
The second benefit of being in the company
of righteous people is, that it will protect
you from committing sins.
If a person is in the company of
righteous people, it will protect them from sins.
If a person is in the company of
evil people, corrupt people, then this will also
wear off on them and they will incline
them, they will pull them towards sinning and
the displeasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
There is a very beautiful ayah in the
Qur'an that we find about this same
topic.
Allah says in Surah Al-Furqan, Allah reminds
us of the Day of Judgment.
He says, وَيَوْمَ...
Remember that day, the Day of Judgment.
يَعَضُّ الظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيْهِ That the oppressor, the
zalim, he will be chewing on his hand.
And it doesn't mean just chewing on this
hand, because when the Qur'an uses the
word يَدُنْ, it means the entire hand.
Mean that they will be chewing on their
arm and their hands.
And by the way, if you see any
person chewing on their hand, it is a
sign that they are extremely worried and overwhelmed
with something.
They cannot even think that they are chewing
on their hand.
Allah is saying that this person, this zalim
on the Day of Judgment will be chewing
their hand.
And they'll be saying what?
يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا يَا
وَيْلَتَ لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا In the
Arabic language, by the way, the word لَيْتَ
means لَيْتَ إِلَّا عَلَّ means I wish something
would to happen.
But the difference between لَيْتَ إِلَّا عَلَّ in
the Arabic language is that لَيْتَ is wishing
for something that can never ever happen.
This is why there are examples in the
books of Arabic grammar when they talk about
the word لَيْتَ and they give a very
beautiful example.
They say لَيْتَ الشَّبَابَ يَعُودَ يَوْمًا I wish
young age would come back to me.
It's impossible.
It can never happen.
So these kind of people, they are wishing.
يَا لَيْتَ نِتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا يَا وَيْلَتَ
لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا I wish, I
wish I was not around these kind of
people.
I wish I would have made the Prophet
ﷺ my friend.
I wish I would have not made those
kind of people my friends because of the
fact that these people made such and such
people their friends, and they were inclined towards
them, and they fell into their words and
their traps.
Then these kind of people, they will regret
about this on the Day of Judgment.
And at that time, they will regret, and
they will wish and wish.
But once again, nothing will come into existence.
No matter how many times they wish, it
will be of no avail.
And this ayah, these ayat were actually revealed
because there was an incident in the life
of Rasulullah ﷺ.
There was a person in the community of
the Prophet ﷺ, his name was Uqba ibn
Abi Mu'id.
He had a practice, he was a very
well-off man.
He had a practice that whenever he would
go out of town for an extensive period
of time, whenever he would come back in
town, he would invite everyone in Mecca, and
he would invite the elite of Mecca.
So one time he came back from a
journey, he invited the elite of Mecca, and
one of the people he invited was Rasulullah
ﷺ.
Though Rasulullah ﷺ was a Muslim, of course
he's calling people to Allah ﷻ, these are
people who are mushrik.
But the fact that the Prophet ﷺ comes
from Banu Hashim, he comes from a very
well-respected family, Uqba ibn Mu'id, he
invited him.
Now the Prophet ﷺ when he was served
the food, when he was served, at that
time he said, he ﷺ said to Uqba
that, I will not touch your food, I
will not consume your food, till you don't
take the shahada, till you don't become a
Muslim.
So Uqba as being a host, and once
again within the Arabs, hospitality is even till
today, subhanAllah, amongst the Arabs, hospitality is second
nature to them.
So the thing is that, Uqba as being
a host, and the Prophet ﷺ being a
guest, he says, yeah no problem, أشهد أن
لا إله إلا الله, وأشهد أن محمد رسول
الله.
Later on, Ubay ibn Khalaf, another enemy of
Islam, an adversary of Islam, he found out,
and he began to taunt him.
He began to taunt Uqba ibn Mu'id,
that what led you, we heard that you
have become a Muslim, what led you to
become a Muslim?
And he says, listen it's not a big
deal, I was serving Rasulullah ﷺ, I am
the host, he is the guest, whatever the
guest wants, the host will do for them.
He wanted me to take the shahada, I
just took it, and it's not a big
deal.
Ubay ibn Khalaf said, if this is not
a big deal, then you will go right
now to the Prophet ﷺ, you will spit
on Rasulullah ﷺ, and you will denounce your
Islam immediately.
Now once again, who is encouraging him to
do this?
Ubay ibn Khalaf.
And the fact that Ubay ibn Khalaf did
this, this is no different than what happens
today also, within many people.
How often a person wants to do what
is right, but the other, the people, his
friends, her friends, who want them to do
the wrong thing, they will say, come on,
come on, aren't you part of our group?
Aren't you part of us?
This is how we roll, this is how
we do things.
Come on, you don't have to be a
really pious person.
Come on, you can make tawbah later on,
you can make istighfar later on.
You're young right now, come on right now,
we're all having fun.
Today so many of our young brothers and
sisters, they refer to haram activity as fun,
and the halal as not fun.
No, come, be part of us, let's have
fun.
Today inshaAllah we'll do this, tomorrow inshaAllah you
can make tawbah and so forth.
And not only that, but when a person
says, no, I want to do what is
right, oh, just keep him aside.
Next time, we're never gonna invite you.
Man, you are a party pooper, you are
this and you are that.
They give all these kind of titles.
So what happens is that the person, he
feels compelled.
That I don't have so many friends, let
me go and let me be with them.
And even if I do something that is
wrong, we'll talk about it later on, we'll
see this later on.
And they fall into that kind of trap.
Think about this.
When a person falls into that kind of
trap, and then you see the consequences of
that same action that we did on the
day of judgment.
Once again, this will be the same response
at that time.
I wish I had not taken that person
as my friend.
I wish I had not followed the footsteps
of my friends.
Brothers and sisters, when you have friends who
are trying to lead you to misguidance, who
are trying to lead you to sin, that
is not a friend.
That is someone who's looking after their interests.
Those people, it could be adults, it could
be young people, but anyone who's giving you
the wrong advice, then what they want is
they want to feel justified.
They want to feel good.
That it's not only me who's committing the
sin, I have other friends, I have other
people who are committing the sin with me.
And this is what they do, is that
they guilt trip you into doing these kind
of things.
So this is why we learn from the
Prophet ﷺ.
We learn from the Qur'an.
And what did this person say?
يَا وَيْلَةَ لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا This
word خليل has also been used in the
hadith of the Prophet ﷺ where he says,
المرء على دين خليله فلينظر من يخالل A
person is on the deen, the lifestyle of
their friends.
If you want to see who they are,
just simply look at their friends, and you'll
figure out exactly what kind of a person
they are.
So this is something that we learn.
Another advantage of being in the company of
the righteous people is that they will protect
you from sin and misguidance.
The third benefit of being in the company
of right people and the righteous people is
that you will be able to develop positive
habits.
Today we all want our kids to develop
positive habits.
What kind of a positive habits am I
referring to?
I'm talking about being productive in life.
We want to see our kids build up
good habits.
We want to see our kids not wasting
time, but rather be productive.
We want to see our kids and our
youth being organized in their life.
We want them to make smart decisions.
We want them to have the ability to
make, to create a balance in all aspects
of their life.
How is that going to happen?
The only way this can happen is if
we go and we are in the company
of those kind of people who have these
kind of values in their life.
If your child or you as a person,
if you are around a person who's never
organized, you're not going to be organized in
your life.
Even when you see children, subhanAllah, even children,
if their parents are organized in their life,
for the most part they are going to
be organized.
If the parents are not organized in their
life, then you will see the same thing
within the children.
If the parents know how to make calculated
decisions in their life, and they are very
thought-provoking, they think through every single decision,
you'll see the kids doing the same thing.
Why?
Because they were in the company of their
parents.
Brothers and sisters, the only way our kids,
the only way our youth, and the only
way we as adults can build good habits
is when we are in the company of
those kind of people who preach and teach
and apply those same kind of values.
We want our kids to have positive values,
but we're letting them be around other people
who don't have these values.
Where are those values going to come from?
So the third benefit of being around the
right people is that you will always build
up positive habits.
And the fourth benefit of being around righteous
people, and good people, people who have akhlaq
and character, is that these people will become
a support in the times of difficulty, and
in the times of hardship.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Qur
'an He says, وَالْعَصَرِ إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ فِي خُسَرِ
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ
وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبَرِ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
telling us that these people who have iman,
what is their sign?
What is their sign?
That they do righteous deeds, and they encourage
each other to do what is right, and
when there are difficult times, then they will
encourage each other to do sabr.
Who is a good friend in this day
and age?
The good friend is not the person who
always comes to you when they need something
from you.
The good friends are those people that when
you are in the most difficult times of
your life, and you call them, they will
come to you and your aid.
Often we see that people, they call you
so many times, and they want you to
drop everything that you're doing for their support.
But whenever you need help from them, they're
not there for you at all.
Now once again, if the situation is that
they are engaged with something that is absolutely
dire, you have to give them a free
pass.
But if there is nothing dire in their
life, and they just are not coming to
your aid when you need them the most,
that is not the sign of a sincere
friend.
That is not the sign of a good
friend.
Because the benefit of a good friend, a
righteous friend, is that they are always there
to support you when you need them.
This is what we learn from the Quran.
We also learn from the hadith of the
Prophet ﷺ, where he says, the believer to
another believer is like a building whose levels
they support each other.
The different parts they support each other.
Each layer of a building, they support one
another.
Likewise, we for each other are in a
position that we need to support each other.
Whatever we're doing, if we can't drop it,
drop it and help each other out.
This is what we learn from the Prophet
ﷺ.
There were so many instances in the life
of the Prophet ﷺ, where he ﷺ needed
help.
He needed support and aid.
And there were people who came to him
looking for his support and his aid.
And he never said anything such as, Bro,
I'm going through my own issues, you go
and find someone else who can help you.
That's never the case of the Prophet ﷺ.
No matter what was his situation, he was
always there to help other people out.
So this is what we need to learn.
And subhanallah, no better example than the muhajirun
and the ansar.
Subhanallah, when the muhajirun came to Medina, how
did the ansar come forward?
They never said that, you know what, we're
gonna mistreat you, you are people who are
foreigners in our land and so forth.
No, they were the muhajirun and the ansar.
They supported each other.
So the fourth sign of a good friend
is that, they are always gonna be there
to provide emotional support in the times of
difficulty.
So these are four things, four benefits, that
if we have righteous people, good people, good
company.
Because I could have talked about the importance
of having a good friend, but we are
always incentive driven.
We always want to know, what do I
get if I have a good friend?
What happens, what are the consequences if I
have bad friends?
So this is why today in this khutbah,
I not talk about the importance of having
good company, I wanted to talk about, what
are the benefits of being in the company
of the righteous.
I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
grant us the ability to always make the
right decisions in our life.
And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
to grant us the tawfiq to find true
friends in our life who will support us
in our difficult matters of our life.
And not only that, to be there as
a support, as a general support.
So as I said, there's four things, four
benefits of having or being in the company
of the righteous.
Number one is it strengthens our iman.
Number two, it protects us from sins and
misguidance.
Number three, it builds positive habits, good and
noble habits in our lives.
And number four is that it provides as
a spiritual and emotional support when we need
some.
Right now inshallah in this khutbah, I will
finish on a very beautiful du'a.
That if you can, you can come back
to this khutbah later on and just find
this du'a, but try to memorize this
du'a.
A du'a that the Prophet ﷺ is
seeking refuge from five things.
The Prophet ﷺ will make this du'a.
اللهم إني أعوذ بك من جار السوء.
O Allah, I seek refuge with you from
an evil neighbor, number one.
Number two, ومن زوجٍ تشييبني قبل المشيب.
And from a spouse that will cause me
to grow old before old age comes.
Number three, ومن ولدٍ يكون علي ربا.
And from a child who will become a
master over me.
Number four, ومن مالٍ يكون علي عذابا.
And from wealth that will become a source
of punishment for me in this dunya and
the akhirah.
And number five, ومن خليلٍ ماكلٍ عيناه تراياني
وقلبه ترعاني.
إِن رَأَى حَسَنَةً دَفَنَهَا وَإِن رَأَى سَيِّئَةً أَذَاعَهَا.
This is the fifth du'a that the
Prophet ﷺ is seeking refuge from.
He is seeking refuge from a deceptive and
cunning friend whose gaze is upon me, and
who appears to me as a good friend.
But their hearts are plotting and planning against
me.
This is a du'a that the Prophet
ﷺ is seeking refuge from these kind of
friends.
And such type of friends that if they
see something good in me, they will bury
it.
And if they see something bad in me,
then they will spread it amongst others.
These are five things Rasulullah ﷺ is seeking
refuge from.
My recommendation is that you memorize this du
'a, and make this du'a every single
day.
What a very beautiful du'a, a very
comprehensive du'a of Rasulullah ﷺ.
May Allah ﷻ protect us from these five
things.
Ameen.
Barakallah.
Allahumma ansur Islam wa'l-Muslimin.
Allahumma ansur Islam wa'l-Muslimin fi kulli
makan.
Allahumma ansurna ala man khalafana.
Wahfaz biladana wa'asliha uladana.
Wajfi mardana wa'afi mamutalana.
Warham mawtana.
Wa khud biaydina ila kulli khair.
Wa asimna min kulli sharr.
Wa ahfazna min kulli dhair.
Allahumma qasimna min khashatika ma ta'hulu bihi
bayna wa bayna ma'silatik.
Wa min ta'atika ma taballighuna bihi jannatak.
Wa min yaqeeni ma tuhawwinu bi'alina ma'saibat
dunya.
Wa mati'na bi'asma'ina wa absarina
wa quwatina ma ahaytana.
Wa ja'alhu lubaritha minna.
Wa ja'al tha'rana ala man dhalamana.
Wa ansurna ala man adana.
Wa la taj'al musibatana fi deelina.
Wa la taj'al al-dunya akbarahamnina.
Wa la mamragha ilmina.
Wa la ilanna limassirana.
Wa la tassallata alayna man la yirhamuna.
Allahumma inna nasaluka ilman nafi'a.
Wa amlan mutaqabbala.
Wa rizqan wasi'a.
Wa shifa'an min kullida.
Allahumma inna na'udh bika min immin la
yanfa.
Wa min qalbin la yakhsha.
Wa min nafsin la tashba.
Wa min dua'in la yustajab.
Amin.
Straighten lines, fill in the gaps.
Please make sure you come inside the main
hall.
Sisters, please make sure that all the sisters
in the multi-purpose hall area, please come
inside the main hall.
Sisters in the main hall, in the side
rooms, please make sure the rows are straight.
Brothers, please make sure the rows are straight.
Brothers in the back two rooms, please make
sure you come inside.
There's still ample amount of space inside the
main hall.
Brothers in the multi-purpose hall, please come
inside.
There's still space here.
And brothers standing in the lobby area, please
make sure the rows are straight.
Brothers in the back two rooms, please make
sure the rows are complete.
There is none worthy of worship except Allah.
There is none worthy of worship
except
Allah.
Who is it that intercedes with Him except
by His permission?
He knows what is before them and what
is behind them, and they encompass not a
thing of His knowledge except that which He
wills.
His Throne is vast in the heavens and
the earth, and His Preservation does not fail
Him.
He is the Most High, the Most Great.