Jumu`ah Khutbah at As-Siddiq Institute &Mosque (ASIM)
In the Name of Allah, The Merciful, The Beneficent. Praise be to Allah, Who has guided us to this and we would not have found guidance had Allah not guided us. (Surat al-A`raaf, 7:43) I have no success without Him and I rely on none other than Him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone and without any partner, without anyone similar to Him, and without anyone who may be compared to Him, an attestation reaching out until the Day of Permanence.
And I bear witness that our leader, our support and our master Muhammad is His Servant, His Beloved and His Emissary, Allah Most High having sent him as a Mercy for the Worlds. May Allah Most High bless him, his Family, Children, Wives, Companions and followers, and his Rightly-Guided and guiding Khalifahs after him, and his Deputies perfected in his obedience, especially on the imams, truly the Khalifahs of the Emissary of Allah, the Commanders of the Faithful, their Excellencies Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman and `Ali, of glorious standing, and on the rest of the Companions and their successors, may Allah Most High be pleased with them all.
O Believers who are present here! Fear Allah and obey Him! Allah is with those who fear Him and with those who perform good deeds. Allah, The Sublime and Most High, said in His Book which He sent down to His Chosen Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), "And We have only created Jinns and Mankind in order for them to worship us. I do not wish to have nourishment from them, nor do I wish for them to feed Me. Allah is The Provider of Nourishment, The Possessor of Firm Strength. Allah The Sublime has spoken truly.” (Surat adh-Dhaariyaat, 51:56-58)
Alhamdulillah for The One who guided us to Islam as we would not have been guided if not for His Guidance! Alhamdulillah, Allah has guided us to Islam and guided your parents and guided whom He likes to the religion of Islam, where He said:
إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُُ
The religion in Allah’s view is Islam (submission to His Will). (Surat Aali-`Imraan, 3:19)
And He sent His Prophet, who said:
انما بعثت لاتمم مكارم الاخلاق
I have been sent to perfect the best of conduct (your behavior and character). (Bazzaar)
So, it means the deen, the religion, is based on good manners towards anyone and everyone. We
have many stories on that, even the hadith of the Prophet (s) where there was a funeral and the people were carrying the deceased person to the cemetery and the Prophet (s) gave them a way to go. The Sahaabah (r) said, “Yaa Rasooullah, he was not a Muslim.” The Prophet (s) said, “I stood up and saw Malik al-Mawt (Angel of Death) with him, so I had to give respect.” Respect is to everyone around us. Rudeness is not the way of our Prophet (s); he was never rude to anyone. People today are somewhat un-respectful to each other. Everyone wants to follow what their mind says to them. They are not caring what others are feeling.
So, we are in a month that is important for us, which is Sha`ban. That month Allah gave to the Prophet (s) where He said:
رجب شهر الله وشعبان شهري ورمضان شهر أمتي
Rajab is the month of Allah, Sha`ban is my month and Ramadan is the month of the Ummah.
(Daylami in his Musnad)
Rajab is the month of Tawheed, preparing us to enter Sha’ban, the month of the Prophet (s). To complete Tawheed, we must mention the name of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) as the servant of Allah and you are entering the ocean of mercy.
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
(O Muhammad!) We have sent you not except as a Mercy for all the Worlds. (Surat al-Anbiyaa, 21:107)
You are entering the ocean of mercy in preparation for the Ummah. And when we come to Ramadan, it is the month in which Allah (swt) rewards those of His servants who are fasting, with Paradise. He said, in the hadith:
رمضان يرمض الذنوب
Ramadan burns the sins. (Tafseer of Imam Qurtubi)
Ramadan yarmud adh-dhunoob, takes away the sins.Shaytan is chained in Ramadan. Take that opportunity that you prepared yourself for from Rajab to Sha’ban to Ramadan, as Shaytan is chained in Ramadan. Do as much`ibadah as you can, it is accepted from Allah (swt). If not, you’ll be punished. Those who fast in Ramadan and make their children to fast -because they are responsible- and make their family to fast, the doors of Jannah (Paradise) are open for them. There is a door of Jannah called “Rayyaan” from where Allah calls those who were fasting to enter Jannah without questioning. Jannah can speak and an-Naar, Hellfire can also speak. So they were discussing and talking to each other.
Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree reported that the Prophet (s) said:
احْتَجَّتِ الْجَنَّةُ وَالنَّارُ ، فَقَالَتِ النَّارُ : يَدْخُلُنِي الْجَبَّارُونَ وَالْمُتَكَبِّرُونَ ، وَقَالَتِ الْجَنَّةُ : يَدْخُلُنِي الْفُقَرَاءُ وَالْمَسَاكِينُ ، فَأَوْحَى اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ : أَنْتَ رَحْمَتِي ، أُسْكِنُكِ مَنْ شِئْتُ ، وَقَالَ لِلنَّارِ : أَنْتَ عَذَابِي ، أَنْتَقِمُ بِكِ مِمَّنْ شِئْتُ ، وَلِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْكُمَا مِلْؤُهَا .
Paradise and Hell were arguing and Hellfire said, “The tyrants and the arrogant ones enter me.” Then Paradise said, “The poor and lowly ones enter me.” Then Allah (swt) revealed to Paradise, “You are My Rahmah, I will enter in you whoever I want,” and He said to Hellfire, “You are My punishment, I take revenge from whomever I want through you, and each of you will be full.” (Tabari. Bukhari and Muslim)
They both begin to argue and Allah is listening to what they are saying. An-Naar said, “My Lord! I want you to give me everyone who is mutakkabir (arrogant) and jabbaar (tyrannical). Those are mine.” Is it not that what an-Naar is asking for is a character within us? It is in us. So, an-Naar wants those who are arrogant. On the other hand, Jannah says, “I want the humble ones. The ones who feel themselves to be weak. Not that they cannot work but they feel their prayers are not up to the level that Allah likes. Give me those who are weak. Who did their best but are humble.” Allah gave them both what they said. Look at the hadith. He mentioned Hellfire first and Paradise second. He mentioned that Hellfire wants the arrogant tyrants and Paradise wants humble and weak ones. It means move from arrogance and tyranny to humbleness; you will enter Paradise and your sins will be erased. Allah says, “This Paradise is for the ones whom I want to give Mercy and you, Hellfire, are the place where I punish whoever I like through you, O Fire.”
So, if we want to save ourselves, let us be humble, especially in this month. Don't be arrogant or you will be punished! Don't be stubborn. Listen, accept and tolerate, Allah will give you Paradise. Or else we are falling into a well of Fire. What can save you other than that? Four words, that the Prophet (s) mentioned:
أحب الكلام الى الله أربع سبحان الله والحمد لله ولا اله الا الله والله اكبرلا يضرك ليهن بدأت
The most beloved words to Allah are four: subhaan-Allah and alhamdulillah and laa ilaaha illa-Llah and Allahu Akbar. It makes no difference with which one you begin. (Muslim)
Recite them and you will enter Paradise with no account! I think all of you know them and say them: "SubhaanAllah, alhamdulillah, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah, Allahu Akbar." Allah (swt) chose these four words for Ummat an-Nabi (s), for you to enter Paradise with no account and what are we giving in return? To perfect our behaviors!
افضل الكلام ما اصطفى الله للملائكة سبحان الله وبحمده
The best words with which Allah purified the angels are: subhaan-Allahi wa bi-hamdihi. (Bayhaqi)
Some people also add “subhaanAllah al-`azheem astaghfirullah”
لان اقول سبحان الله والحمد لله ولا اله الا الله والله اكبراحب الي مما طلعت عليه الشمس
To say “subhaan-Allah” and “alhamdulillah” and “laa ilaaha illa-Llah” and “Allahu Akbar” is more beloved to Me than that from which the Sun rises. (Muslim)
To say these words is more valuable than all this dunya and this universe. It is said that this dunya does not weigh more in Allah's eyes than a wing of a mosquito:
لو كانت الدنيا تعدل عند الله جناح بعوضة ما سقى كافراً منها شربة ماء
If the value of this dunya weighed the wing of a mosquito, Allah would never give a cup of water for the unbelievers to drink. (Tirmidhi)
The Prophet (s) used to fast so much in the month of Sha`ban, the Muslims thought he would not break his fast. Other times, he would break and they thought he would not fast.
O Muslims! Keep these four words: subhaanAllah, alhamdulillah, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah and Allahu Akbar in your mind and you will be happy in dunya and Akhirah. Allah does not want to punish us, He wants to send us His Mercy! He created us and knows we are weak. He created Sayyidina Adam (a) and when he committed the sin, what did Allah do, did He throw him in Hellfire? Sayyidina Adam (a) went into sajda and cried, some scholars say for 40 years.
If you don't forgive, you are a tyrant. Approach the one who cut you off. Step on your ego; it is difficult but this is what Allah likes from us and if He wants that from us, what about for Him?
وأوصى النبي صلى اللّه عليه وسلم أبا هريرة بوصية عظيمة فقال: يا أبا هريرة! عليك بحسن الخلق. قال أبو هريرة رضي اللّه عنه: وما حسن الخلق يا رسول اللّه؟ قال: تصل مَنْ قطعك، وتعفو عمن ظلمك، وتُعطي من حرمك
(رواه البيهقي).
The Prophet (s) said to Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r), “You must keep good character,” and he asked, “What is the good character?” And the Prophet (s) said, “To connect with the one who disconnected with you and to forgive the one who oppressed you, to give to the one who blocked you from getting what you like.” (Bayhaqi)
O Muslims! Dive in that Ocean of Forgiveness. That is what we need to reach, that Ocean of Forgiveness is what the whole Ummah wants! That Ocean of Forgiveness is what Allah will give to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) on the Day of Judgment to bestow on them His Forgiveness, by giving him the Intercession.
May Allah keep us with the Prophet (s) and with those mentioned in the verse:
مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـٰئِكَ رَفِيقًا
With those upon whom You bestowed blessing, among the Prophets, the Truthful Ones, the Martyrs and the Righteous Ones, how great a companion they are! (Surat al-Nisa, 4:69)
[Du`a.]
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