Riyadh Walls – Jumuah 11 Oct 2024
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AI: Transcript ©
Alhamdulillah, today is the day of Jumu'ah.
Insha'Allah, Jumu'ah mubarak.
And in Surat al-Jumu'ah, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala brings two profound statements together.
The first one is about death, and then
the next one is about Jumu'ah.
The actual congregation, our congregation in Jumu'ah,
on the day of Jumu'ah, in the
house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
How are these two connected?
It's almost like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is saying, that I'm calling you to the
masjid, at least once a week, to think
about death.
To remind yourself, and starting with myself, that
we are all going to die.
I mean, can you imagine being a person
in Gaza, or in the West Bank, or
in Yemen, or one of our Rohingya brothers,
in Burma, or in one of the refugee
camps.
Wherever Muslims are suffering, wherever death is hovering,
because that is what it must feel like.
If you just take the numbers of Muslims
that have been martyred, or have died, because
of poverty or disease, in the last, let's
say 20 years, the number is staggering, it's
phenomenal.
So as an ummah, we should be shocked
by this.
We shouldn't just think that, okay, because we
live in a relatively, besides the high crime
rate, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us,
and guide us, and save us from all
the calamities of this life, and the punishment
of the year after.
Generally speaking, we live in a relatively safe
environment, compared to living in a war zone,
compared to living in an area where there
is famine and disease.
And from time to time, where people are
literally dying like flies, then it should be
enough, if we be true believers.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us
of the true believers.
If we be true believers, then it should
shake us to our core, just like it
shakes them to their core.
The presence of death.
The reality of death.
That which we are avoiding our entire lives.
Not so?
Let's go to the verse.
So the verse I started with was verse
number 8, of surah al-jumu'ah.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, بَعْدَ أَعُوذُ
بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ قُلْ Say, O Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
What must he say?
إِنَّ الْمُوْتِ Verily, death.
This is not something that you must take
lightly.
This is something that is affirmed, and reconfirmed,
over and over and over again in the
holy Qur'an.
قُلْ إِنَّ الْمُوْتِ أَلَّذِي تَفِرُّونَ مِنْ Say to
them, O Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, that
verily death, that which they are running away
from.
We've been literally raised to avoid death.
That's why, if there's anything I can remember
from my early years at primary school, was
the teacher teaching us, when you get to
the edge of the road, then you must
look right, and left, and right again.
But that's only if the cars are driving
on the left-hand side of the road.
Don't apply that in a country where they're
driving on the right-hand side, the wrong
side of the road.
When we get sick, and we get taken
to the doctor, when we hear a bang,
we just duck.
We're always avoiding death.
We're trying to prevent death.
The inevitable.
And that's part of our human nature.
Allah SWT has instilled within the human psyche
a level of fear, almost as a form
of protection.
But when that death comes, and Allah is
the one that decrees that time of death,
اللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّلْ أَنفُسُ حِينَ مَوتِيَا Allah is the
one that takes the souls at the time
of death.
Even Allah SWT has created asbab, He's created
causes, the likes of the minister of death,
مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ قُل Allah SWT says in the
Holy Qur'an, Say O Muhammad, يَتَوَفَّاكُم مَلَكُ
الْمَوْتِ الَّذِي وُكِّلَ بِكُم Say O Muhammad SAW,
that the angel of death is the one
that takes your souls.
He who has been assigned to you.
So he's a sabab, he's a cause.
And then working under Malik al-Mawt, are
the Rusul al-Mawt, are the Malaikat al
-Mawt, are the angels that literally are sent
to come and pull our souls from our
extremities to the point of no return, and
then to be handed over to Malik al
-Mawt, to be shown our place in Jannah
or Jahannam, and then to remain in the
barzakh until the day when the trumpet will
be sounded, and we'll all be standing up
and looking on in the grandest courtroom in
front of the highest judge, Allah SWT.
So, when the death does come, decreed by
Allah, managed and controlled by Allah, then it
cannot be delayed for one moment, nor can
it be brought forward for one moment.
But until that moment comes, we're avoiding death.
We're avoiding death.
So Allah SWT says, وَإِذَا جَاءَ أَجُلُهُمْ فَلَا
يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلَا يَسْتَقَدِمُونَ And if their appointed
time of death comes, it cannot be delayed
for a moment, nor can it be brought
forward for a moment.
When that time comes, we have to go.
وَلَيُؤَخِّرَ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهَا Allah will
never ever delay the appointed time of death
of a soul when it comes.
But until then, we're avoiding it.
We're running away from it.
قُلْ إِنَّ الْمَوْتَ الَّذِي تَفِرُّونَ مِنْ But no
matter how long we avoid it, no matter
how much we try and run away from
it, what does Allah say?
فَإِنَّهُ مُلَاقِيكُمْ It's gonna catch up with you.
It's gonna grab you.
Literally grab you.
قُلْ إِنَّ الْمَوْتَ الَّذِي تَفِرُّونَ مِنْ فَإِنَّهُ مُلَاقِيكُمْ
وَثُمَّ تُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ And then
you will be returned, then you will all
be returned to the عالم الغيبي, to the
knower of the unseen, the knower of the
unseen world, and the knower of the seen
world.
الغيب, عالم الغيب والشهادة عالم الغيب is the
unseen world and عالم الشهادة is the seen
world.
فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ And then He will
inform you as to what you were doing.
The whole time you were avoiding death, or
at least you thought you were.
You were just waiting for the bus.
You were waiting for the train.
You were waiting for the plane.
However you imagine that vehicle to be, it
takes us from this world into the next.
We're just literally waiting at the stop.
What did the Prophet ﷺ say?
He said, كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَةِ كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبُ عَابِرِ
السَّبِيلِ Be in this world as if you're
a stranger or a traveler.
قال ﷺ, مَثَلِ مُمَثِلِ الدُّنْيَةِ The likeness of
me and the likeness of this world.
كَمَثَلِ رَاحِلٍ إِسْتَضَلَّ تَحْتَى شَجَرَةٍ ثُمَّنْ صَرَفَ Is
the likeness of a person on a journey.
They stopped over to rest under the shade
of a tree, and then they moved on.
It is narrated, it is narrated in the
books of tafasir, that Nabiullah Nuh لَبِثَ فِي
قَوْمِهِ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمْسِنَ عَامًا He remained
for a thousand minus fifty amongst these people.
Nine hundred and fifty years.
They asked him, how was your life?
He said, it was like entering the one
door of a tent and exiting from the
other end.
Nine hundred and fifty years.
What is our age?
The average age.
Something which our beloved Prophet ﷺ brought our
attention to over fourteen hundred years ago.
He said, أَعْمَارُ أُمَّتِي بَيْنَ الْسِتِّينَ وَالسَّبْعِينَ The
average age of my ummah is between sixty
and seventy years.
And those of you who are sixty and
seventy, Inshallah, Allah grant you bonus in the
obedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Only in the obedience of Allah.
The ulema say, it's not correct to wish
for death.
It's not correct to wish for death.
Although there will come a time.
There will come a time.
Because of affliction.
I mean, do you blame a person living
in Gaza who has lost all of their
family, all their loved ones, lost all their
material possessions, lost everything that was near and
dear to them in this world.
Would you blame them for wishing for death?
Certainly not.
And that's exactly what the hadith says.
The hadith says, because of affliction, man will
literally wish for death.
Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ says in a hadith
narrated by Abu Hurairah.
It is recorded in Sahih Muslim.
It's an authentic hadith.
The Prophet ﷺ said, وَالَّذِي نَفْسِ بِيَدِهِ لَا
تَذْهَبُ الدُّنْيَا حَتَّى يَمُرَّ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى الْقَبْرِ فَيَتَمَرَّغُ
عَلَيْهِ وَيَقُولُ يَلَيْتَنِي كُنتُ مَكَانَ صَاحِبِ هَذَا الْقَبْرِ
يَلَيْتَنِي كُنتُ مَكَانَ صَاحِبِ هَذَا الْقَبْرِ He said,
by the one in whose hand lies my
soul.
It's a way of saying, وَالَّذِي نَفْسِ بِيَدِهِ
وَالَّذِي نَفْسِ بِيَدِهِ He makes a qasam.
He takes an oath by Allah.
He says, by the one in whose hand
lies my soul.
The dunya will not end.
The dunya will not end.
Until a man passes by a grave, and
then he sits next to that grave, and
he turns the soil of that grave.
And he says, if only I could be
in the place of the inhabitant of this
grave.
And this will happen in the end times.
The ulema have said.
And Jamaatul Muslimin, when we look at the
signs of the end times, we are in
the end times.
How long there is still left?
Allah knows.
None of us know, and none of us
can know.
But there are signs.
There are signs.
And enough signs for us to know that
there is no more time for play.
That we have to wake up.
CA8252, Polo.
He's parking in front of somebody's driveway.
Please, if you can move your car.
Jazakumullah khairan.
Is it on this side, Hajji Naeem?
On this side.
A car is blocking the driveway.
If you can please...
It's a Polo.
If you can please remove your car.
Jazakumullah khairan.
Ya laytani kuntu makana sahibi hathal qabr.
Wa laysa bihi al-deen illal bala.
And he said, and it won't be because
of a religious affliction.
The person's a mu'min, the person's a Muslim.
So it won't be because of deen that
they will ask for Allah to take them
away.
It will purely be because of physical affliction.
They won't want to be on this dunya
anymore.
Allah, we can't imagine.
Can you imagine?
Allah, I can't imagine.
What our brothers and sisters in Gaza are
going through.
But...
Aren't we gonna take note of the reality
of death?
Of the certainty of death?
La samaha Allah.
Allah forbid.
That death had to hover over our heads.
Like it hovers over the people of Gaza
today.
Then what are we gonna do?
Then we want to scramble to make our
affairs right.
To stop indulging in the riba.
To pay off our debts.
To stop defrauding and slandering and being hasad
over one another.
Yes, it's never too late.
It's never too late.
Until the soul reaches that point in the
throat.
That is the point of no return.
Before then, the doors of tawbah are open.
The doors of tawbah are wide open.
Allah accepts the repentance of a servant as
long as their souls don't reach their throats.
So as long as we're still alive, then
we still have a chance to make right
where we've done wrong.
To repent and return to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
كُلُّ بِنِ آدَمَ خَطَّاءٌ وَخَيْرَ الْخَطَّاءِينَ التَّوَّابُونَ All
of those, all of mankind make mistakes and
the best of those who make mistakes are
those who repent and return to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
But the problem is, Malik al-Mawt doesn't
make appointments.
He doesn't make appointments.
Even for somebody that has a long illness,
like cancer for example, Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala give shifa to all our sick and
make it easy for them.
But like the poet says, he says, اللهم
صلي على سيدنا محمد فإنك لا تدري إذا
جنّ الليل فهل تعيش إلى الفجر تزوّد من
التقوى فإنك لا تدري He says, gather up
the provision of Allah consciousness.
تزوّد من التقوى فإنك لا تدري إذا جنّ
الليل فهل تعيش إلى الفجر He says, gather
up the provision of Allah consciousness.
Wallahi jama'ah, brother Riyad, I start with
you.
Wallahi it's time for us to make sure
that we are of the muttaqeen.
Not a minute later, not an hour later,
not a day, not a week, not a
month.
Right now.
اللهم جعلنا من المتقين إِنَّ الْأَرْضَ لِلَّهِ يُرِثُهَا
مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ What did
Nabi Musa a.s. say to his people?
Indeed, the earth belongs to Allah.
He will allow to inherit this earth those
that are pleasing to Him.
And the final victory will be for the
muttaqeen.
For those who have been conscious and mindful
of Allah.
So the poet says, تَزَوَّدْ مِنَ التَّقْوَى Gather
up the provision of Allah consciousness.
Before I do something, before I say something,
before I even think something, is Allah going
to be pleased?
Yes?
Bismillah.
No?
استغفر الله for even thinking about it in
the first place.
فَإِنَّكَ لَا تَدْرِي Gather up the provision of
Allah consciousness for indeed you do not know.
If the night is to come, are you
going to see tomorrow?
Are we gonna see tomorrow?
Wallahi, we don't know.
وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِي By the one in whose
hand lies my and your souls.
We don't even know if we're gonna see
another day.
Again, may Allah grant us long life in
His obedience.
We go to bed tonight and what do
we say?
اللهم بسمك أموت وأحيا Oh Allah, with your
name, I die, because sleep is a small
death, and I'm given life again.
When you wake up in the morning, الحمد
لله الذي أحيانا بعدما أماتنا وإليه النشوذ All
praise and thanks is due solely to Allah,
who gave me life after He caused my
death, a small death, sleep.
He didn't withhold my soul because that's death.
He gave it back, إلى أجل مسمى till
an appointed time.
But no matter how many times He does
that, no matter how many mornings I wake
up, إليه النشوذ No matter how many more
days, weeks, months or years He grants me
on this dunya.
إليه النشوذ We say that every morning.
وإليه النشوذ To Him is my final return.
To Him is my final return.
So like every day, every day we have
to live as if it's our last day.
Every single day.
Preparing for our meeting with Allah SWT قُلْ
إِنَّ الْمَوْتَ أَلَّذِي تَفِرُّونَ مِنْ فَإِنَّهُ مَلَاقِيكُمْ ثُمَّ
تُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ عَالَمِ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ
تَعْمَلُونَ Tell them, O Muhammad SAW, death, that
which they are avoiding, running away from, it's
gonna catch up with them.
And then they'll be returned to the knower
of the unseen world and the seen world.
And then He will inform them as to
what they were doing.
وَكَمْ مِنْ صَحِيحٍ مَاتَ بِغَيْرِ عِلَّةٍ وَكَمْ مِنْ
سَقِيمٍ عَاشَحِينَ مِنَ الدَّهَدَةِ He says, gather up
the provision of Allah consciousness.
For indeed you do not know if the
night is to come, are you going to
see tomorrow?
And how many a small child is woken
up in the morning, all happy, laughing and
joyful.
And the kafan has been sewn, it's in
the market place already, yet they do not
know.
And how many brides have been beautified for
their bride grooms, yet their souls have been
taken on the night of their honeymoon.
Few years ago, a couple, they just got
married, they got into their car, they were
going on honeymoon, up country somewhere, they got
just past three sisters, both at west, massive
car accident.
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَّا يُرَجِعُونَ You think they
would have ever imagined that on the day
when he said of her, قَبِلْتُ نِكَاحَهَا لِنَفْسِ
بِذَلِكِ وَكَمْ مِنْ صِغَارٍ How many children have
we wished for them a long life, yet
their bodies have been entered into the darknesses
of the graves.
And at the end he says, and how,
وَكَمْ مِنْ صَحِيحٍ How many healthy people, listen
carefully, he says, وَكَمْ مِنْ صَحِيحٍ مَاتَ بِغَيْرِ
عِلَّةٍ How many healthy people have died without
sickness.
How many healthy people.
There was a friend of ours in the
community.
I'm sure many of you know him.
He was like a super athlete.
He was a super athlete.
He was super fit.
He collapsed while running on the road, massive
heart attack.
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَّا يُرَجِعُونَ وَكَمْ مِنْ صَحِحٍ
مَاتَ بِغَيْرِ عِلَّةٍ And how many healthy people
have died without sickness.
وَكَمْ مِنْ صَقِيمٍ عَاشَحِيْنَ مِنَ الدَّهْرِ And how
many sick people have lived a long life.
So that is why we need to prepare.
مَنْ أَحَبَّ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ Whoever
loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet
that person.
وَمَنْ كَرِيَ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ كَرِيَ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ And
whoever dislikes to meet Allah, Allah dislikes to
meet that person.
And so Jama'at al-Muslimeen, the certainty
of death.
Just think about it, we prepare for just
about everything.
Prepare for holidays, especially when you go on
hajj.
Allahu Akbar.
Some people save their whole lives to go
on hajj.
They go to madrasa for 30-40 years.
They're like muftis when they arrive in Makkah.
And you know what I mean when I
say that.
MashaAllah, they have cards printed, announcements made.
They go to people's houses.
InshaAllah.
I
love
this greeting in Afrikaans.
So sweet.
Such preparation.
Give money to the agent.
Hotels need to be booked.
Flights need to be booked.
Three days before the time, the tafel is
gedek.
Kussisters and samosas and dalchis and alas but
malas.
And mashaAllah, through the barakah of that sitting,
kloom slavats.
But with all of that preparation, wallahi, we're
not even sure if we're gonna make it
to the airport alive on the day of
our departure.
And if we prepare so much for something
that we're not even sure is gonna happen,
how can we not prepare for that which
we're 100% sure is going to happen.
In actual fact, it is the only thing
that we are 100% sure is gonna
take place in our lives after we leave
the wombs of our mothers.
And that is that we are going to
die.
That's why it's called the certainty.
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَٰئِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ Every soul shall taste
the death.
وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَا أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَا الْقِيَامَةِ And everybody will
get their wages in full.
In other words, they will get what they
deserve.
When?
On the day of judgment.
فَمَنْ زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدَ فَازْ
So whoever is saved from the fire and
entered into paradise, then they are successful.
That's the ultimate success.
وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاءَ الْغُرُورِ And the
life of this world is nothing but deceiving
enjoyment.
One minute we're enjoying it, enjoying our families
and our material possessions, and going on holiday
and having a nice time, and next minute,
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا لِلَّهِ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَٰئِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ
وَنَبْلُوكُمْ بِالشَّرِّ وَالْخَيْرِ فِتْنَةً وَإِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ He
repeats it three times.
Every soul shall taste the death.
And we shall give you a test of
adversity and prosperity.
Ah, be careful.
Be careful.
People in Gaza, they are getting the test
of adversity.
And Alhamdulillah, it has purified them and brought
them ever closer to Allah.
We are in the trial of prosperity.
Beware.
Because when somebody is in a trial of
prosperity, they can forget Allah.
نسوا الله فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمَا الْخَاسِرُونَ They
forgot Allah, so Allah caused them to forget
themselves.
Nay, they are the biggest losers.
اللهم تب علينا Allah, forgive us and guide
us, Ya Rabb.
And then the last one.
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَٰئِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا تُرْجَعُونَ Every
soul shall taste the death.
And then to us, meaning to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, وَحْدَ Because this is called
the royal we.
ضَمِيرُ الْعَظْمَةِ The pronoun of greatness.
Then to us, meaning to Allah, we shall
all be returned.
Again, time is caught up with us, but
let us just connect it for what we're
going to, inshaAllah, speak about next week, in
part 2 of our discussion.
And that is the next verse where Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says, بَعْدَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ
مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا
نُوْدِيَ لِلصَّلَاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمْعَةِ فَاسْعُوا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ
اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعِ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ إِن كُنْتُمْ
تَعْلَمُونَ So immediately after speaking about death, and
that no matter how much we try and
avoid it, death is gonna catch up with
us, and then we're gonna be returned to
Allah, and then He's gonna tell us what
we have done.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Oh those
of you who believe if the call is
made to come to Jum'ah, فَاسْعُوا then
go forward to the remembrance of Allah, وَذَرُوا
الْبَيْعِ It's like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is telling us, for this hour, and I
know sometimes I make you late for work,
please forgive me.
I ask you, wallah I ask you ma
'af.
I don't do it on purpose, you can
buy a Pratik with it.
But for the time that we are in,
it's like Allah is telling us, listen here,
death is after all of us.
So go to the masjid on a Friday,
forget about the dunya, and think about death,
and meeting Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Until next week, I leave you all in
the protection of Allah.
And we see another week insha'Allah, in
the obedience of Allah.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guide, bless
and protect us all, and grant victory to
the Ummah of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
over all its enemies.
Ameen.
Masjid al-Sunni, monthly Qiyam al-Layl program,
Saturday, 12th of October, 2024, 9.30pm insha
'Allah, guest reciter.
With the recitation of Al-Rahman Jassim.
Al-Rahman Jassim recitation.
Thank you.
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.