Zia Sheikh – ICI Jumuah Revival
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Inna alhamdulillahi wa nastaghfiruhu wa nu'minu bihi wa
natawakkanu alayhi wa na'udhu billahi min shururi
anfusina wa min sayyi'a bi'a'malina mayyabdillahi
fala mudhilla la wa mayyubdillahi fala ahalya la
wa nashahadu an la ilaha illallah wahdahu la
sharika la wa nashahadu anna sayyidana wa mawlana
muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu amma ba'd Qala Allahumma
tabaraka wa ta'ala fi kitabil aziz wa
asta'idhu billahi min ash-shaytani rajeem inna
Allah la yugayyiru ma bi qawmin hadda yugayyiru
ma bi anfusihim wa idha aradha Allah bi
qawmin su'an fala maradda la wa maa
lahum min doonihi min waad sadaqallahul azeem My
dear respected elders, brothers, and sisters The ayah
that I've just recited inna Allah la yugayyiru
ma bi qawmin hadda yugayyiru ma bi anfusihim
Indeed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He doesn't
change the situation of a people until they
change what is within themselves You've probably heard
this ayah many many times before and probably
most of us have a rough idea as
to what the verse means Today I'm going
to explain this verse in the light of
the opinions of different scholars and then come
to a conclusion based upon the events that
we are seeing particularly in the Middle East
as to what the Muslim ummah should be
focused on So this verse, like I said,
it means inna Allah la yugayyiru ma bi
qawmin Indeed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He
doesn't change the situation of the people until
they change what is within them the situation
of themselves So Ibn Khayr, rahimahullah He says
minal aafakil khafiyatil a'amah From the problems
that we see that are very common an
yakoon al'afu fee ni'matin an'amallahu fee
ma'alayh waftara halakum That sometimes the slave
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he is
in some kind of blessing that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has given him and chosen
for him meaning Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
gives him a certain situation gives him a
blessing fa yamulluha wa yathubu itikhala minha ila
ma yaza'umu li jahlihi anahu khayrun lahu
minha But he gets tired of that blessing
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given
him He gets frustrated with that blessing that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given him
and he wants to get out of that
blessing He wants something else We have a
saying in English The grass is greener always
on the other side Okay So everything on
the other side it seems greener more rosy
So a person is always looking for something
better at all times not realizing that maybe
the situation that he is in is better
for him and he doesn't even realize it
wa rabbuhu bi rahmatihi la yurrikuhu min tilkal
ni'ma Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala He doesn't
take him out of that situation that he
is in knowing full well that that situation
is actually good for him wa yurrikuhu bi
jahlihi wa soo'u bi ihtiyarihi bi nasi
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes an
excuse for him realizing that he is jahil
he is ignorant he doesn't know what is
good for him what is bad for him
so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keeps him
in that situation that he is in hatta
idha ta'qa ra'an bi tilkal ni'ma
wa safataha wa tatarraba biha wa stahkama mina
lakoolaha salalahu allahu iyaha and then when that
person becomes really frustrated and he just speaks
with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and complains
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and he
makes dua for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that he wants to be taken out of
the situation and to be put into another
situation of salalahu allahu iyaha Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala takes that blessing that he is
in and obviously gives him what he wanted
now what happens to that human being who
is ever ungrateful now
he comes into the new situation the human
being comes into the new situation that he
was asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for
and he realizes he looks back he compares
the two he compares the situation where he
was he compares the situation where he is
in and he realizes that really the situation
that he was in was much better for
him and he wants to go back again
to that old situation that what is
in it is a blessing from Allah and
Allah is pleased with it and He is
thankful for it when Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala wants khair with a person he wants
good with a person he puts into his
heart that the situation that he is in
is good for him and he realizes that
it's good for him and Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala gives him the tawfiq to be
grateful for that situation Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala gives him the understanding and the realization
that the situation that he is in is
actually good for him.
فَإِذَا حَدَّفَتْ قُنَصُهُ بِالإِنْتِقَالِ عَنهُ When his nafs
on the odd occasion, when his heart on
the odd occasion thinks about moving from that
situation اِسْتَخَارَ رَبَّهُ اِسْتِخَارَةَ جَاهِلٍ بِمَصْرِحَتِهِ عَاجِزٌ
عَقْزَ When that person then makes istighfar to
Allah SWT He asks Allah SWT, what does
istighfar mean?
Istighfar means, the literal translation is, to seek
goodness, to seek khayr So a person is
making istighfar to Allah SWT, basically asking Allah,
guide me to what is good for me
And whatever you give me, whatever you guide
me towards, I will be pleased with that,
that's what basically istighfar means So when a
person gets into his heart that I need
to move from this situation that I'm in
I need to move from my job that
I'm in, I need to move from the
town that I'm in Allah SWT puts into
his heart that he should make istighfar So
he asks Allah SWT for guidance مُفَوِّضٌ إِلَى
اللَّهِ He turns the situation to Allah, he
puts everything in the hands of Allah SWT
مُفَوِّضٌ إِلَى اللَّهِ قَالِكُمْ مِنْهُ حَسْنَ إِكْيَارِهِ لَهُ
And he seeks the good choice of Allah
SWT for him He understands that what Allah
SWT has written for him, is better for
him And he appreciates that So this is
the difference between two kinds of people The
person who is not grateful for the blessing
that is in And he wants Allah SWT
to take him out of it And then
there's a person who is pleased with whatever
Allah SWT has written for him And if
he chooses or wants to get out from
the situation He only asks Allah SWT for
qayy and goodness And then he goes with
the goodness that Allah SWT has written for
him Ibn Qayyim goes on to say وَلَيْشَ
عَبْدِي أَطَرَّ مِن مِلَلِهِ لِنِعْمِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى The
worst thing that a person can have is
malak The frustration for the blessings that Allah
SWT has given This is the worst thing
that a person can have That a person
becomes frustrated with the blessing that Allah has
given him فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَرَاهَا نِعْمَةً وَلَا يَشْكُرُهُ
عَلَيْهَا He doesn't realize that what he has
is a blessing from Allah SWT And he
doesn't, therefore, thank Allah SWT for it And
he doesn't be happy with it So, we
have always situations like this In our marital
life, in our job, in the place where
we're staying, in the house that we're living
So many situations that we can think of
that maybe we're frustrated with the situation that
we're in But maybe, as Allah SWT says,
عَسَىٰ أَن تَكْرَبُوا شَيْئًا وَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ Maybe
you dislike something and it's actually a better
thing بَلْ يَسْقُطُهَا وَيَشْكُوهَا وَيَعُطُهَا مُصِيْوَةً But the
situation that he's in makes him angry And
he basically, he complains about it And he
thinks that the situation that he's in, instead
of a ni'mah, he thinks it's a musibah,
he thinks that it's a problem for him
هَذَا وَهِيَ مِنْ أَعْظَمِينِ نِعَمِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ The
reality is that it is one of the
greatest blessings that Allah SWT has given him
And yet he doesn't even realize it فَأَكْثَرُ
النَّاسِ أَعْدَاءُ النِّعَمِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا يَشْعُرُونَ بِفَتْحِ
اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِمْ نِعْمَةً Most people are the enemies
of the blessings that Allah SWT has given
them And they don't even realize the blessings
that Allah has given them وَهُمْ مُجْتَهِدُونَ فِي
ذَبْعِهَا وَرَدِّهَا جَهْلًا وَظُلْمًا And they strive to
get rid of this blessing and push this
blessing away from them And they are actually
doing dhulm and they are doing wrong and
they don't even realize it فَكَمْ سَعَدْ إِلَىٰ
أَحَدِهِمْ مِنْ نِعْمَةٍ وَهُوَ سَاعِنْ فِي رَدِّهَا بِجُهْدٍ
How many times a situation occurs that a
blessing rushes to a person and he is
pushing And he is trying to get rid
of that blessing that Allah SWT has given
him وَكَمْ وَصَلَتْ إِلَيْهِ وَهُوَ سَاعِنْ فِي ذَبْعِهَا
وَزَوَّالِهَا بِظُلْمِهِ وَجَهْلِهِ And how many times does
a blessing reach him and he is striving
to push it away from him Because of
his dhulm, because of his wrongdoing, because of
his jahal, because of his ignorance And this
is what Allah SWT says, Ibn Al-Qayyim
quotes a verse of Surah Al-Anfal ذَلِكَ
بِإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَكُنْ مُغَيَّمًا نِعْمَةً تَنْعَمَا عَلَى
الْقَوْمِ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنفُسِهِ And that is
that when Allah SWT, He doesn't change the
blessings that Allah SWT has given to people
Until they change what is within them So
this is one verse and another verse in
Surah Al-Ra'd إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا
بِقَومٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِ And then Ibn
Al-Qayyim goes on to say فَلَيْسَ لِلْنِعْمِ
أَعْدَى مِنْ نَفْسِ الْعَدْرِ The biggest enemy of
the blessings is the nafs of the human
being فَهُوَ مَا عَدْرِهِ
لَهِيرٌ عَلَى نَفْسِهِ فَعَدْرُهُ يَطْرَحُ النَّارَ فِي نِعْمَةٍ
وَهُ يَنْفُحُ فِيهَا Ibn Al-Qayyim, he gives
an example of this That a person, he
lights the fire and he basically blows into
that fire فَهُوَ الَّذِي مَكَّنَهُ مِنْ طَرَحِ النَّارِ
He is the one who actually lit the
fire ثُمَّ أَعَانَهُ مِنْ نَفْسِ And then he
helps the fire get big by blowing it
And then فَإِذَا اشْتَدَّى طَرَامُهَا اِشْتَرَاتَ مِنَ الْقَرِيرِ
And when this fire gets big He seeks
refuge from the heat of the fire Amazing
This is what human beings are They are
ungrateful for the blessings that Allah SWT has
given them And they don't realize the situation
that they're in is maybe better for them
And they are always looking for something else
The other more commonly held understanding of this
verse is Is mentioned by many Mufassirin And
I'm going to quote Tafseer Al Saadi That
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغِيِّرُ مَا بِحُومٍ مِنَ النِّعْمَةِ
وَالإِحْسَانِ وَرَبِّ الْعَيْشِ حَتَّى يُغِيِّرُ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ بِحِيَن
يَنْتَقِلُ مِنَ الْإِيمَانِ لَلْكُفْرِ When Allah SWT gives
a person blessings And that person, despite the
blessings that he has been given He turns
from Iman to Kufr From obedience to disobedience
Or from being grateful for the blessings to
being ungrateful for the blessings Allah SWT takes
those blessings away from him وَكَذَلِكَ إِذَا غُيِّرَ
الْعِبَادُ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمْ مِنَ الْمَعْصِيَةِ فَانْتَقَلُوا إِلَى طَوْعَةِ
اللَّهِ And the opposite, if a person was
disobedient to Allah SWT And he becomes obedient
to Allah SWT غَيِّرَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ Allah SWT
changes the situation also And then Allah SWT
opens up the blessings for that person for
his obedience مَا كَانُتِهِمْ مِنَ الشِّقَاءِ لَلْحَيْرِ وَالسُّرُورِ
وَالضِّقَةِ وَالرَّحْمَةِ Then a person, he was in
misfortune, he was in difficulty And Allah SWT
then opens up the situation towards ease and
happiness for that person This is what this
verse means So this is the more commonly
held understanding of this verse, the meaning Now
we take this verse and understand it from
both perspectives Both interpretations that I've given And
now look at the situation in the Middle
East, in many countries, what's happening You had
first Hiraf and you had a situation where
you had a ruler, dictator, zalim, jabir, whatever
Then the situation changes, the dictator is removed
And then you realize that the situation becomes
even worse than it was We see the
situation in Egypt that we saw that one
dictator is removed A government becomes democratic, particularly
elected And then the people still are unhappy
with the situation And they cause all kinds
of havoc and problems to try to change
the situation again So in both situations we
see, and in other countries in the world
We are seeing that the majority of the
cases, the people being ungrateful for the blessings
that Allah has blessed them with Change, wanting
change, and then when the change occurs, being
ungrateful again and wanting change again And this
is what it's all about So what is
a person supposed to do?
We have to really go back and think
about our own needs From both perspectives First
of all, from being grateful for the blessings
that Allah has given us And from the
second perspective, fixing our own deeds So that
Allah through the barakah of our deeds, through
the barakah of our a'mal, through the barakah
of being a deen for Allah Allah opens
up khair and goodness for us The problem
is that we don't look at our deeds,
and we don't look at our a'mal Whereas
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has promised very
very clearly in the Quran Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says that whoever did good deeds,
whether that person is male or female Then
we will give them a very good life
Many people have this opinion that if we
install a khilafah That is one kingdom and
an Islamic ruler, everything is going to be
fine Everything is going to go straight All
the Muslims are going to become pirates And
then the Islamic law and rule can be
imposed upon people And they're going to accept
it We've seen that even on a smaller
level Nobody accepts it, why?
Because we are initially not obedient to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala We are not inclined
towards the obedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala We are not inclined towards the strictness
of Islam Not realizing that that strictness is
good for us We need that strictness, we
need the law of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala We need that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala guides us We need the guidance of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for our lives
Whoever does not judge according to how Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala judges Then those people
are disbelievers So this is very very important
for us to understand That we ourselves need
to change And when we change, when we
adopt iman When we adopt good deeds Then
the promise of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is very clear From the bottom up, from
the common man, from the ground up Is
where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants us
to work We want to work from the
top down This is not what Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala wants Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala has promised those people that have iman
And they did good deeds That most certainly
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is going to
give them the khilafah Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala will give them the rule of the
earth But it has to work from me
and you And the individual person How am
I as an individual being obedient to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala?
How am I showing my obedience?
How am I staying away from ma'asiyah
and haram?
This is the question that each one of
us needs to ask ourselves And then there
are situations that we need to think about
that are going on That how as Muslims
we need to react to them We look
at the state of the Muslims in Islam
Why is it that in Islamic countries That
people seem to reject Islam?
Not the majority, but there is a very
big portion of people Who want to reject
Islam nowadays They don't want to accept Islam
They don't want anybody to talk to them
about Islam Just the fact that they are
saying la ilaha illallah seems to be enough
It seems that saying la ilaha illallah is
a ticket for them to go to Jannah
And that's all they need The deeds, the
amal, living an Islamic lifestyle Staying away from
ma'asiyah and disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala That is not something that people
are prepared to adopt Why is this?
What is the situation?
I have a few theories about that And
one of them is that The reason is
that people are taking Islam for granted People
are taking Islam for granted People are realizing
and hearing the adhan five times a day
Thinking that we are in a Muslim country
We are living Islam Living Islam We are
all Muslims alhamdulillah And that seems to be
enough Whereas here in this country We don't
take Islam for granted And the reason for
that is That if we become relaxed about
our attitude to Islam Then there are so
many dangers lurking outside That can take away
our Islam Those dangers can take away our
deen Those dangers can take away our children
From Islam to even atheism May Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala protect our children and ourselves
And because of this conflict that we have
in front of us We are forced to
take measures To protect our deen and our
Islam And because of that we have more
of an appreciation for Islam And its values
And the fact that in many Muslim countries
There is no kind of conflict Everybody feels
comfortable with the Islam that they have And
there doesn't seem to be any danger of
losing the children Or losing that Islam Then
people have a very relaxed attitude of Islam
And then they have a very relaxed understanding
of Islam also So this is one of
the reasons That people have a different attitude
towards Islam And the thing is That as
Muslims we should appreciate All Muslims should appreciate
the blessings that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has given them Especially the blessings of Islam
as I mentioned in the Eid khutbah Alhamdulillah
all praise is due to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala Who guided us to this And
this is why I have another theory That
maybe some people may disagree with And that
is that I have a very strong feeling
That the revival of Islam Is going to
come from the West this time From the
events we see in the Middle East And
the fact that people seem to be rejecting
Islam At a very grand level And then
we see that in the un-Islamic or
non-Muslim countries We are seeing that the
masajids are growing The communities are growing The
Islamic schools are flourishing People are coming to
the masajids alhamdulillah Not enough But we still
see a growth If we maintain this Then
there is a very high chance That the
revival of Islam can start again from the
West And that's where me, you, your children,
your grandchildren Have a part to play We
have to understand that community building And making
things, laying down infrastructure For the future of
Islam and Muslims in this country For Muslims
is very very important So at a community
level we have to try our best To
do what we can, keeping our future generations
in mind That how Islam can be protected
in this country How Islam can be protected
in our children How Islam can be protected
in our communities All of these things, they
should be weighing on our mind And from
the bottom up, when we are working Allah
SWT will change the situation at the top
also These are the things that we should
be focusing on I pray that Allah SWT
gives us tawfiq on Islam And practice what
we said in here I say this, and
I ask Allah to forgive me and you
and the message of the Muslims So forgive,
indeed it is a great sin Praise
be to Allah, we seek Him and we
seek Him And we believe in Him and
we put our trust in Him And we
seek refuge in Allah from the evil of
ourselves And from the evil of our actions
Whosoever He guides, He will lead him astray
And whosoever He leads astray, He will guide
him