Yusha Evans – Jummah Masjid Salahadeen 30-08-2024
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My dear respected brothers and sisters,
a few weeks ago we were going through
during the Jumu Khutba and some of the
Khatr as I were doing. We were talking
about the blessings of gratitude, having shukr for
Allah
What kind of blessings and benefits that brings
to your life. Having an attitude of gratitude.
How much higher can come to your life
for having gratitude for Allah
And we mentioned the very famous verse where
Allah
told, Musa
to
tell that if you're grateful to Me, I
will give you more. But now we have
to talk about the flip side of gratitude
because this verse does not end there.
This verse does not end with Allah just
telling them that if you're grateful to Me,
I will give you more. This verse, the
second part of it talks about the opposite
of gratitude
and what happens. And this is our discussion
today
where at the end of the verse Allah
says
But if you are ungrateful
Allah says, if you're grateful to me, I'll
give you more. But if you are ungrateful,
then know that my punishment is severe. My
punishment is severe.
Ingratitude
towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is one of
the major
of major sins that we can have.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala decided to make
it a very similar word to a word
that you know very well.
Disbelief.
Someone who is a disbeliever.
Kafir and kafur, they're very similar to each
other. Ingratitude
and disbelief.
Why? Because the scholars say they are on
the boundary of one another. They're on the
boundary of one another. Someone who is ungrateful
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is in danger
of disbelief
and the disbeliever
is always in a state of ingratitude.
The disbeliever,
they go Both come from the same word
kafara which means to cover up or to
conceal.
The disbeliever covers up or conceals the truth
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The truth that
they know, the truth that is within their
hearts, their fitra that they know, they deny
it, they cover it up.
In gratitude
To have in gratitude for Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is the same thing. That you are
covering up what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
blessed you with. You are concealing
what Allah has really given you, and you're
being ungrateful towards Him. And Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says about that,
That indeed most of mankind
are ungrateful.
Most of mankind are ungrateful.
Yes. There are so many things,
so many things that we
could complain about, we could complain about. There
is every one of you, I guarantee you,
if I were to ask you to give
me a list of things
that you could complain about on your life,
then you could count them. You could count
them. But
to be ungrateful to Allah
is to deny that with all of these
things I have to complain about,
I have so much more that Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala has given me, so much more
that He's doing for me, so much more
that is happening to me. And this is
why Allah says over and over and over
and over again,
Which the face of your Lord can you
deny? To deny them is in gratitude
To say that I do not have life
because Allah gave it to me. And to
to waste it away is ingratitude.
To say that Allah
has given me food, and I am wasteful
with it is ingratitude.
Just to waste anything that Allah has given
us is being ungrateful towards Allah
But the biggest
ingratitude
that we can have as Muslims, the biggest
state of kufura that could be have as
Muslims is to be ungrateful for this beautiful
guidance that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given
us. Brothers
and sisters, I am not even
I don't have the words to express it
enough
except take it from someone.
Take it from someone who was once on
the other side of the fence.
I was once on the other side of
iman. I was once
happier.
For many years out throughout my life, denied
the truth from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I
even was of the opinion that Muslims would
be the antichrist, that the Mahdi of the
Muslims
was going to be the antichrist. That was
my conception and that Muslims were evil into
the pure evil to the core because I
knew no better.
Take it from someone who had once had
that mind frame, and now
without Islam, I would be lost. I would
have nothing.
I would be nothing.
There is nothing that
that I would trade for this beautiful light
of of of of Islam that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala gave me. That is the biggest
gratitude to be able to show to Allah,
is the favor that Allah has guided me.
Everything after that is a bonus.
Everything after that is a bonus.
If Allah gives me anything after faith,
it is a bonus.
If Allah gives me food after faith, it's
a bonus. If He allows me to breathe
after faith, it's a bonus. Because everything that
comes to the believer we have talked about
is akhir for them. It is akhir for
them. So to be ungrateful
to Allah while he has given you faith,
while he has given you guidance
to then show him ingratitude
is of the deepest of sins. And this
is what Allah told Bani Israel
that if you're grateful, yes, I will give
you more. I will make your life amazing.
I will increase you. But if you are
ungrateful,
indeed my punishment is severe.
It's severe because we anything that we have.
Anything.
Yes. We have a lot to complain about,
but don't tell me that you don't have
things.
Anything you have is from Allah. If you
have life, it's from Allah. If you have
food to eat in your house, it's because
Allah gave it to you. If you have
clothes on your back today, it's because Allah
clothed you. You didn't you might think I
I earned a paycheck. I went to the
store. I bought it. I put it on.
No. You all of this is possible by
Allah
This is what we learn when we learn
When we learn the of Allah
That anything that is,
is because Allah
It is because of Allah. There is nothing
that is possible without Him subhanahu wa ta'ala.
This is why we say,
There is no power, there's no capability,
there's no movement, there's no might, there's no
strength, there's nothing without Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So everything that is is because of him.
So if I have a home to go
to today, it's because he gave it to
me. If I have anything in my life,
it's because he has blessed me with it.
This should be enough to push in gratitude
out of our minds. That no matter what,
yes, I might
get upset, I might feel like I don't
wanna continue to go through these struggles. And
yes, sometimes you might complain to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. That's fine. That's fine. Even some
of the anbia would complain to Allah
It's fine to complain.
But ingratitude is when you take those things
that Allah has put in front of you
that you don't like, and you have harshness
towards Allah
in your thought process. You have ill feelings
towards Allah. You think that Allah is treating
you unfairly.
And this is why I hear a lot
of times from Allah, especially a lot from
my counseling clients is that Allah is unfair
to me. I feel like Allah is being
unjust to me, and I tried to remind
them,
was Allah unjust to Ibrahim when he was
thrown into the fire?
Was Allah unjust
to Nuh alaihis salam when he destroyed all
his people and stuck him in the boat?
Was Allah unjust
to our Prophet salam alaihis salam
when he was plotted on by his own
people and they tried to put him on
a cross and crucify him? Was Allah unjust
to our Prophet Muhammad salam alaihis salam when
his own family members turns against him? Was
Allah unjust when he was boycotted by his
own people, kith and kin out of his
city? Was Allah unjust when he was
banished from it basically? He had made hijrah
to Medina. Was Allah unjust to him? No,
he was not. Allah was putting our prophets
through things that they knew they would need.
Look at the story of Ayub alaihis salam.
Ayub alaihis salam is the beaut the beautiful
example
of the difference between gratitude
and ingratitude.
Allah tested Ayu piece by piece, taking one
thing away from him after another, taking one
after another, first taking his property, taking his
family, taking his wealth, taking his health, all
throughout it. What did he do? Thank the
Allah
Because whatever Allah gives belongs to him. So
if he takes it back, it belongs to
him in the 1st place. How can I
complain about Allah taking something from me, which
he gave to me in the 1st place?
It all belongs to him. Even myself, I
belong to Allah
If he decides today to take me back,
I'm owned by him. It is what it
is. And even when Ayub's wife came to
him and said, When are you gonna give
up this idea
of being grateful? Look at what Allah has
done for you been done to you. He
was still grateful. And what happened? Allah gave
him more.
Allah gave him more, returned to him so
many times over. But there were so many
occasions where he could have just given up
and he said, You know what? It's unjust.
I'm going through too much. And it would
have turned off the keys to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala's mercy and opened the doors to
his wrath. That is how easily this can
switch. You can go from being a state
of being in beautiful blessing with Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala through gratitude, to quickly switching the
door to punishment through ingratitude.
We have to remind ourselves that anything that
Allah puts in front of us, it's because
it's exactly how he wants it to be.
This is how I
want you to think that whatever
Allah is putting in front of me, whatever
is happening in my life, whatever is happening
in the world, it's because it's exactly the
way Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has willed it to be. And He is
Al Hakim. He is the most wise.
There's a lot of evil going on in
the world today.
A lot of evil. Because there's a lot
of evil people.
But
we have to
constantly
remind ourselves
that the way the world is right now
is the way Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has
decreed it to be for a reason.
That reason we do not need to know.
That reason we do not need to know.
The why doesn't need to be answered.
The point is what is the lesson that
we are going to take from the condition
of the world today. Are we gonna look
at the world around us today
and become better people because of it? Because
the world needs it. The world needs better
people. Are we going to be helpful? Are
we going to stand up for justice? Are
we going to fight against evil? Are we
going to do Amr bin Maruf?
Are we going to do the things that
we were supposed to do or are we
going to complain?
Because we have become a society of complainers.
And I'm not just talking about the Muslim
community, I'm talking about in general. The society
of complainers. We love to complain. Complaining has
become like a pastime. It's become a hobby.
And within the Muslim community, we would be
very very close in the runnings of of
winning these races when it comes to complaining.
We love to complain about everything
without realizing that everything is the way it
is because of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And
do not think that Allah is unjust to
anyone. Allah is
Allah is That means anything that is happening
on this earth
is just.
And you might not think that it's just
today. Maybe you'll think that there are tyrants
who have done so much wrong,
so much tragedy, so much killing, so much
horror, and they got away with it. They
got away with it. There are people who
have done millions of of of of of
of wrongs and they get away with it.
Never get held accountable for it. Tyrants, they
get away with it. You see this state
now that is putting our brothers and sisters
through Gaza through horrible, and they're just getting
away with it.
I want to just simply remind
you, simply remind you this will help you
with this ingratitude
that is seeping into our hearts.
No one escapes Allah
There's a saying here in the south, and
if you've lived here long enough you'll know.
They say, Every dog has its day.
Every dog has its day.
And some people are so evil,
so corrupt,
so
to the core,
rotten
that there is no punishment
on this earth
that would suffice
the evil that they have done. There is
no punishment that Allah could send to them
in this world that would recompense them correctly
for what they have done. So he waits.
He waits. He lets them think. Gives them
the false hope that they've gotten away with
it. Maybe they'll even die on their deathbed
surrounded by their family.
Everyone around them, praising them that they were
so amazing. But the moment let me promise
you brothers and sisters,
the moment the angel of death arise, they
will know
and understand
the reality of what awaits them.
They will know,
and it will begin at that moment, and
it will not be lightened for them at
all.
It will continue in the grave
day in day out and on the day
of judgment, they will meet Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. The one whom they thought they could
escape, the compeller.
They will meet him and they will find
out what real justice is.
And on that day, no one will be
wronged.
No harm will be unrecompensed.
No evil deed unpunished.
On that day, they will stand in front
of Allah
and they will have ransomed their whole family
to avoid the punishment that awaits them. No
one escapes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So when
you look around the world,
yes, it's depressing, it's hard, it hurts us
sometimes,
But I know that we serve a Rab
who is just. We serve a Rab who
is merciful.
We serve a Rab who is Al Aleem.
He is the all knowing.
He is Al Hakim. He is the most
wise.
And everything is in its particular order in
place because He has willed it to be
so. And I do not doubt without
a single
bit of my soul that it will all
come to sense on the great day.
So I leave the affairs that I have
no control over
in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
who is most capable. He is He
is above all things powerful and capable.
So remember,
gratitude will get you amazing things.
It will bring blessings to your life like
you cannot imagine.
But ingratitude
towards Allah
brings about tremendous punishment.
And it is one step away from this
belief, and it is carrying many of the
characteristics
of those who do not believe. So may
Allah protect us from ingratitude.