Sikander Hashmi – [EMOTIONAL] Are you spiritually prepared for reopening KMA Friday Message
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Respected elders, dear brothers and sisters,
my young friends,
We begin
by praising and thanking Allah
the life of, the the, the sustainer,
the creator of the universe. We ask Allah
to bless
us all.
We praise Allah
the one who has kept us alive up
to this point. We thank Allah
who is
the creator, the nourisher of the entire universe,
and who is sustaining
all of us.
We send peace and salutations upon his beloved
messenger, Mohammed,
the son of Abdullah
and upon his family, his companions, all of
those who have followed him in goodness.
I hope that you're all well on this
beautiful Friday.
As you can see,
I am outside of the house now, and,
coming to you live from our future Masjid
site. May Allah
bless you all. May Allah
reward you for all of your support,
and your,
Brethren, it's a historic day for Muslims in
Ontario and indeed for people of all faiths.
Because
as of today,
after 13 weeks of no Friday prayers, we
are once again
allowed
permitted to gather for prayer, but with some
important guidelines.
This is probably if you think about it,
this is probably the first time in 100
of years that something like this has happened,
and Allah has made
us
an audit.
We are taking a phased and cautious approach
with a limited Friday prayer restarting today and
daily prayers starting at a later time.
Since day prayer, of course, take priority over
the daily prayers.
Now, of course, the foremost priority
is to reopen safely
so that we never have to stop prayers
again.
We have had to require registration
for Friday prayer, something that we have never
done before,
and we do not like to do. But
we need to do it for two main
reasons. Number 1, to know how many people
will be coming.
Due to the size restrictions,
we don't want you to be lining up
outside and then having to turn you away.
But also,
God forbid, if someone attends
who turns out to be positive for COVID
19
to make it possible for contact tracing by
public health
and so unlimited data regarding who was attending
may be
Otherwise,
have that information
and not the As we get
ready to reorder, there are other things that
are reopening
as well.
For each person, there will be different activities
and establishments
that they're looking forward to reopening.
This is a moment, my brothers and sisters,
to ask our that what am I looking
forward to reopening most
and why? The prophet
said that
that the most beloved
after Allah are the mosques, are the masajid,
and
the most
like the are the markets.
Now, of course, it is permissible to go
to the markets or malls for our permissible
needs. So this is referring
to the permissible place
the mosque of Allah
are the,
the places
which are the places of the remembrance of
Allah,
the replaces of attaining
peace
and increased reward in praying in congregation,
and in fact, a reward for each step
that we take towards the masjid.
Whereas the markets and the malls
are often places where one is distracted from
Allah
where a person is attracted
towards the distractions of the world, where haram
can be present, and where desires are often
followed, where time and money are also often
wasted.
So let us ask ourselves, my brothers and
sis
are in sync with the likes and the
dislikes of
Allah
or dislike something.
Is it in sync with the likes and
dislikes of Allah and his messenger
And perhaps
it is not. If it is,
but perhaps the question is
why not? And what do we want to
make our desires
sync with the likes and dislikes of Allah
and his messenger
there are many brothers and sisters who have
deeply missed
gathering
to
salah for prayer. You may even be feeling
bad.
And to those brothers and sisters, I say
rest assured
and have good hopes.
Inshallah, Allah will grant you the same reward,
perhaps even more even though you have not
been praying in the Masjid, in jama'ah, and
you have been praying at home instead. The
prophet
said,
When a servant, meaning of Allah, when a
slave of Allah,
falls ill
that or she will get a reward similar
to that they get for good deeds practiced
at home when in good health.
Meaning,
when a a person accustomed to doing something
regularly, something good, which is pleasing
to Allah,
but that person is no longer able to
do so because of illness or because of
travel,
then they will get a similar reward
to those good deeds
even though they would are not are not
doing it in the same way as they
used to.
Inshallah, my brothers and sisters, our situation will
be treated in the same way by Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we will be rewarded
for our patience,
for our good desires,
for,
our our good wishes and and and and
hopes that we would have been in jama'ah.
That we will have been worshiping Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala in the masjid or worshiping Allah
together.
So we will be rewarded for our good
desires, our good hopes,
and for the good that we would have
done otherwise
if we were able to do so. So
we know that if we
the ability, we would have come to the
masjid. If we had the ability, we would
have come for salah, especially during Ramadan. If
we had the ability, we would have come
for salah al jumah.
So inshallah, Allah
will reward you according to your intentions and
your desires.
Now as the world opens up once again,
there are physical preparations.
We see signs for social, for physical distancing
everywhere we go. We find limits on the
number of people allowed in at once. This
is happening at stores. This is happening in
other locations and even in the Masjid today.
You see that people are wearing masks,
and in fact, it is mandatory in some
situations. For example, going on public transit, a
mask will be required very soon. In many,
cities and, and jurisdictions
across,
North America and even in Europe, it is
mandatory
to wear a mask when going out. And
so how the irony is just,
absolutely amazing because some of these places,
some of these people who are now wearing
masks and are ordering others to wear masks
were the people who were firmly against the
wearing of niqab, who were against our sisters
who chose to cover their faces
as their,
as their obligation or as as as devotion
to Allah
And now it is those same people and
those same jurisdictions
that's those same places
that are not saying that you are your
faces.
Those who are not able to see will
not see and will not understand.
But for those who have been given insight
by Allah
for those who have wisdom
will see the irony in this and will
see the message in this. May
Allah forgive us. So
mask is something which has become mandatory.
I,
today, I have worn for the first time
my own mask as well, which I will
be wearing
later today after I stop speaking. And the
wearing of gloves,
hand sanitizers,
and wipe
the physical preparations
and precautions, which are very important because remember
that we discussed at great length before that
we are people who take reasonable precautions
and then place our trust
a part of
Taking precautions
is a command and instruction from the messenger
So a person does not become less of
a Muslim if they take precautions.
A person becomes more of a Muslim
if they take questions and place their trust
in Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Therefore, my brothers
and sisters, we should continue to be responsible.
Most people, many, of our members of our
community,
indeed, our city, our country has done a
great job
in following the guidelines from the expert.
At this point, it is important that we
do not become careless.
Perhaps it is not gonna affect you, but
your carelessness could impact someone else. So continue
to to take reasonable precautions.
And, this is a small price
that we pay for the well-being of our
community, our society. May Allah reward you for
your sacrifices and your efforts. There are many
people, including our brothers and sisters in faith,
who have been impacted, whose families have been
impacted, loved ones who have been lost. The
of Allah
absolutely. In Toronto,
the UK, many Muslim countries as well.
Some even here in Ottawa, return to him.
May Allah
ease the suffering of those who
are ill.
It must not be incentive
those who are going through this trial or
who have faced the loss of loved ones
and who are dealing with that grief.
Only maybe not follow the instructions, but their
concerns,
and put down the steps that people are
taking, reasonable steps, following the experts, and placing
their trust in Allah
So please be careful about how we approach
this situation at this point.
It is a decree of Allah
and it cannot be stopped. It cannot be
changed
except with the permission of Allah. But our
job is to do our reasonable best, especially
when the vast majority of experts are telling
us to do so.
So that is the physical preparation.
But what about the spiritual preparation,
my brothers and sisters?
Remember that we are people
of body,
mind, and soul. And our soul
is like, if you had to choose, there
are all 3 are important, and it is
critical that we have a balance between the
3 because this balance, that is when the
problem starts. So we aim for a balance,
and it may not always be possible. So
we ask Allah
to help us in maintaining that balance. But
the most important is the soul,
is
our is our spiritual heart. So what about
the physical prepare the
preparations,
my brothers and sisters? Past 12, 13 weeks,
many aspects of temptations of this world were
closed upon us,
those that are found in the malls as
we discussed earlier,
the impermissible or disliked activities
in bars and restaurant cafes,
the haram glances and words and behaviors in
workplaces
and in
schools. They may have continued online, but perhaps
not to the same extent.
But now it'll all be back.
Us
protect us all.
But we could still be by the virus
even though we think that we are safe.
Some experts have told us
that a second wave is actually worse than
the first because people are fed up of
the restrictions,
and they go back to the so the
question is, are you spiritually prepared
if you or your family to be impacted?
May Allah
protect you all. My brothers and sisters,
when we know that there is a snowstorm
coming,
we prepare our car. We buy salt and
shovels. We make boots and coats.
And we have a test an exam we
prepare.
So this test is about to ramp up.
So be spiritually prepared
in 2 main ways. Number 1,
reaffirming our belief.
Reaffirming our belief, reminding ourselves
about our responsibility
to do our part, but then to accept
the decree of Allah
if
something happens.
This is not an excuse for carelessness.
As we said,
we follow all the guidelines,
even more if you like. But remember
that Allah
is that Allah's decree is set, and nothing
can change the decree except du'a and perhaps
maintaining your family ties and closeness to
Allah
So we try our best. We place in
Allah
But then if something comes our way despite
that, we accept it as the of Allah
We don't go back and look and say,
oh, how could this have happened? I took
all these precautions.
How was it possible? Oh, maybe it was
because of this person.
Oh, maybe it was because of that person.
It was maybe because I went there or
did this or that. But we and if
I had known, I would not have done
it. So this is not the way that
a believer thinks and accepts the decree of
Allah
Yes. You try your absolute reasonable best.
When you're going through the station, you try
your best. You place your
You make
you do whatever you can that is good
physically and spiritually.
But after that, if Allah decides something, then
we accept it as the decree of Allah
So that is the first thing. The second
thing, the reopening will almost certainly make it
harder for us to remember Allah
and make it easier to be distracted. And
by this, I mean the reopening of
the things in the world.
The services, the stores, the markets.
Right?
The activity.
Will make us bring us closer to Allah
But otherwise, it will likely become harder for
us to remember Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And it will become easier for us to
become distracted.
So my brothers and sisters, plan it now.
Plan it now and fortify.
Fortify the importance of your salah on time.
Fortify the importance of daily Quran.
Fortify the importance of daily dua and and
afkar,
trying to stick closer to that which Allah
likes and avoiding what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
dislikes.
Remind yourself
of all the good messages
and lessons about spirituality
you have heard and learned especially over the
past 13 weeks.
It's actually amazing that it's actually been 13
weeks.
13 Fridays that we were not able to
gather.
Once again, in a limited way, we are
able to gather.
13 weeks is a long time.
But over this time, we have been
trying whatever Allah has us to do, to
listen and to learn.
So let us not forget all of those
messages.
Let us not forget everything that we have
heard and that we tried to practice upon.
Let us not forget the feeling in our
hearts that we had in Ramadan.
The feeling
when we're not able to come for the
first Friday. The feelings that we have hard
in our heart when we were not able
to meet our fellow brothers and sisters and
remember Allah
together in the nights of Ramadan
and not able to offer qayam together. Let
us not forget those feelings, my brothers and
sisters. Let us keep those feelings alive because
this
opportunity that we have once again is indeed
a great blessing from Allah
But the fear is, my brothers and sisters,
that
the dunya will open up on us once
again.
And those feelings,
The dunya will open us upon us once
again,
and those feelings that we had,
the dua that we were making,
the the tears that we were shedding,
they will all be gone,
and they'll be washed.
Going back to how we were before in
a state of
in a state of distraction from
Allah May Allah
protect me and all of us.
So my brothers and sisters,
let us take this experience that we have
gone through
as a lesson that we remember for the
rest of our lives,
as an opportunity
to get closer to Allah
and then tie ourselves to the closest of
Allah
to tie ourselves to Allah
even as the storm of the duniya opens
up upon us once again
so that we move forward,
so that this Ramadan that we have gone
through brings us forward, so that this experience
that we have forward meaning closer to Allah
because indeed there is no other form of
going forward except or other than getting closer
to Allah
So my brothers and sisters, make dua for
me, make dua for our community, make dua
for yourself, for your family, for the entire,
for all of humanity
that we learn from this lesson,
and that it brings us closer to Allah
so that it serves
for us a great reminder that we don't
go back to how we were before so
that we continue to impress, to, improve
ourselves
and continue to try to impress Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive
us for our shortcomings. May Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala continue to guide us.
As I often like to end, Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala says,
Whoever is mindful of Allah, he will make
a way out for them.
And provide for them from sources that they
could never imagine.
Whoever places their trust and whoever places their
trust in Allah, then he alone is sufficient
for them.
Certainly, Allah achieves his will.
Allah has already set a destiny for everything.
So we make
Oh, Allah, we thank you. Oh, Allah, we
pray you.
Oh, Allah, we thank for this life to
have you you have still sent to us.
Oh, Allah, we thank you for this patience
that you have given us. Oh, Allah, we
thank you for allowing us to see this
day when we are together and pray. Oh,
Allah, please forgive us for our shortcomings.
Oh, Allah, please forgive us for our sins.
Oh, Allah, please forgive us for our anger
and our frustration that we experience during this
trial, you Allah. Oh, Allah, please continue to
bless us and protect us.
Oh, Allah, please protect us all in this
reopening. Oh, Allah, please protect us physically and
mentally and
spiritually and
Oh, Allah, God, you most
Oh, Allah, make our hearts attached with the
message. Oh, Allah, make our hearts attached with
salah and your remembrance. Oh, Allah, please remove
the love
from our hearts for the things dislike.
Oh, Allah, protect us all human
beings.
Please protect us and our family members. Oh,
Allah, please protect all of our relatives.
Oh, Allah, please protect all of
Oh, Allah,
first responders.
Oh, Allah, everyone run on minds.
Oh, Allah. Please cure all of our brothers
and sisters who are suffering from COVID 19
or any other.
Oh, Allah. They are in the hospitals
right now as we speak. We are able
to
gather
hospitals.
Oh, Allah.
Quarantine. Oh, Allah. Please protect
them. Oh, Allah. Please grant relief to all
of those who are in pain. Oh, Allah.
Please grant relief to all of
those
who
are
in
pain.
All
of who are
ill.
Our, brothers and sisters who have asked, for
their loved ones.
Please grant them a speed recovery.
My young friend Ibrahim
who is going through a great illness.
Family members.
Oh, Allah. Oh, Allah. All of those who
are suffering from long term pain and injuries.
Oh, Allah. Please protect them.
Oh, Allah, please those who are in pain.
Oh, Allah, all of those who are in
grief and stress and anxiety.
Oh, Allah, please replace all of those feelings
with happiness, peace, and joy.
Oh, Allah, please forgive all of them to
you, especially the father of our brother, Shahbaz,
Mahbul, the father of brother Ahmad, the brother
of brother Amanat, and all of our loved
ones who have returned to you.