Ya ʿIbādī: The Hadith That Brings You to Your Knees | Jumu'ah Khutbah | Dr. AbdulRazzak Junaid

Opening Praises and Salutations

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and there is no partner for Him. Exalted is He who is similar, like, equal, and equal to. I bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and His messenger, and His companion and His friend, and the best of His creation, and the most trustworthy in His revelation.

His Lord has sent him as a mercy to the worlds, and as a proof for all people.

All praises due to Allah, our creator, the originator and designer of the heavens and the earth. And upon the best of creation, Muhammad, صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ.

We send our salutations upon him, his family, his companions, and all those that follow them in goodness till the end of times.

May Allah make us from them, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

Introduction: The Hadith That Brings You to Your Knees

My dear brothers and sisters, today's khutbah is a khutbah that should make us fall to our knees before our creator. In fact, it's a hadith that is reported by the Prophet, صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, in Sahih Muslim. That is a hadith qudsi — or ilahi or rabbani — a hadith where the Prophet, صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, tells us of a statement of Allah that he is inspired to give.

The narrators of this hadith were all reporters from Sham. That is why Imam Ahmad would say: this is the most noble hadith that the narrators and the people of Sham have narrated, because it tells us of Allah and our relationship with Him. It is a hadith qudsi, meaning the Prophet, صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, tells us things that Allah inspires him to say of Him.

The Full Hadith Qudsi

On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, said that Allah said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

"Yā ʿIbādī" — Oh My Servants

Allah says in this hadith qudsi: "Oh my servants." And this is constantly repeated throughout this hadith. Imagine Allah is addressing you, my dear brothers and sisters. Allah is addressing you as my servants. As Imam Mulla Ali al-Qari mentions, He is addressing over here mankind and jinn-kind. يَا عِبَادِي is not just for the believers attending Jumu'ah, but for all of the servants of Allah — all of them, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Allah is the Lord of all. Whether they choose to obey Him and be عِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰن or not, they are still عِبَاد of Allah.

Allah Has Prohibited Oppression

يَا عِبَادِي — Oh my servants. I have made zulm and oppression haram, prohibited, upon Myself. And I have made it prohibited amongst you all. So do not oppress one another.

Allah — it is not possible for Him to do zulm. As He repeats throughout the Qur'an:

Allah will never oppress anyone. Why? Because oppression is وَضْعُ الشَّيْءِ فِي غَيْرِ مَوْضِعِهِ — to put something in a place that it doesn't belong, to transgress and cross the boundaries. But Allah, He owns all. He is the owner. He owns everything. He is مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ. And so He can never transgress boundaries. And so He does not commit zulm — not even to the disbelievers, not even to those that are His enemies, not even to those non-Muslims.

Even when they commit zulm — but what if they do some philanthropy, what if they do some good work? Allah will let them enjoy the dunya, and then He will punish them in the akhirah. And even when they enter into Jahannam, they will not do so arguing with Allah. But they will acknowledge that they are deserving of that punishment:

They will acknowledge their sin, and then they will be put into Jahannam. May Allah protect us, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

The Types of Oppression

And Allah says in this hadith qudsi that I have made zulm and oppression haram between you all, so do not oppress one another. Oppression is of types. A person may oppress themselves. How can you oppress yourself?

Well, number one, of course, the worst oppression that a person can commit against themselves is shirk — associating partners with Allah. How can someone worship a creation of Allah that eats and drinks and does everything else that another human being does, and not worship the Creator? That is the worst zulm a person can do to themselves — that they bow down their heads to another creation and not to the one who created everything. That is the worst zulm.

But also zulm can be done physically and spiritually in many different ways. How many people — you look at all the fast food restaurants — they know that food is bad for them. They know McDonald's is bad for them. They know all of these fast food joints are terrible for their health, and yet you see the lines of these places so long. You see people knowing that their addictions are bad for them and yet they still fall and relapse every single time. Is this not ظُلْمُ النَّفْسِ? Is this not oppression against oneself?

And then the worst zulm of course is not just zulm to yourself but even zulm to others. And this is what this hadith mentions. Zulm to others is not just done by the hand — and may Allah forgive us, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ — but zulm to others can also be in our context the words that we speak to one another. How many times do we insult people, expose them, harm them with our words and we don't even think about it? How heavy is the scale of the deeds of the tongue on the Day of Judgment! And I ask Allah that He make us people that speak only حُسْنًا, that we speak only with إِحْسَان and beautiful words, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. And may Allah forgive us of our shortcomings of this tongue, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

Do not oppress one another.

"All of You Are Misguided Except Whom I Have Guided"

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

Allah says: "O my servants, you are all misguided." How? As Allah says:

We all came out of the stomachs and the wombs of our mothers not knowing anything. And look at where we are now. Look at how much Allah has blessed us and guided us. We all came just from a clot that was then born, and now look at all of us. And this is something that we should not credit to ourselves. Our hidayah as Muslims is not something we credit to our intelligence or our righteousness — but it is Allah who guides. And so we say:

We ask Allah to keep us firm on this hidayah. And in every salah, every rak'ah, we say:

Hidayah, as Ibn Rajab mentions, there is مُجْمَلَة and مُفَصَّلَة — hidayah is not just to be Muslims, but how to be Muslims, with the proper أَخْلَاق and the proper عِبَادَة. And I ask Allah to make us from عِبَادِ الرَّحْمَٰن.

Ask Allah for Everything — Even the Strap of Your Sandal

Oh my servants, Allah says: you are all hungry except those that I fed, so ask me for food and I will give you food. All of you are unclothed except those that I have clothed, so ask me to clothe you and I will clothe you.

Every single small thing that we have, my dear brothers — it's from Him. Everything small that you might think to be insignificant — the clothes on your back, the food that you eat — remember that it is Allah who gave it to you. It is Allah who sends down the rain. It is Allah that allows the seeds of the plants to then grow. Allah is the one who gave us everything. And so for even the smallest things, raise your hand and ask Him, because that's what He wants. That is true Tawheed — that you don't rely on people, you rely on Him.

And you ask Him as the Prophet, صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, said — even:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3604)

Even the strap of your sandal if it were to break apart — ask Him.

But a person might ask: but that's Allah, I should ask Him for bigger things — how can I occupy my Creator for small things? This actually shows your humility before Allah. Just as a child cries for their parents for every small thing, be someone who cries to Allah for every small thing. Ya Allah, feed me. Ya Allah, clothe me. Ya Allah, honor me. Ya Allah, elevate me. Ya Allah, make me happy today. Ya Allah, remove my stress from my job. Ya Allah, make my family united. Ask Allah for everything. Do not rely on people. Ask Him, because He loves when you ask.

"You Sin by Night and by Day, and I Forgive All Sins"

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

Oh my servants, you commit sin by night and by day. And the ulema mention: why is night mentioned first? Because sins usually occur in the night, because the shame is towards people and not before Allah — and may Allah forgive us.

Imagine if your boss or your teacher in any circumstance were to mention your mistakes: you failed this assignment, you were absent for this, you failed this, you didn't meet this project date, you didn't do this — what do you expect? Expulsion, being suspended, being fired, different things. But Allah — He mentions that we sin against Him, and yet He says:

And I forgive all sins. My dear brothers and sisters, so long as it's not shirk — there is no sin greater than the mercy of Allah. There is no sin greater than the forgiveness of Allah. There is no sin that Allah cannot forgive.

So ya Allah, I ask You to forgive all of us, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. Ya Allah, we've fallen short after Ramadan. Ya Allah, forgive us, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. Ya Allah, forgive us for the salawat we've missed. Ya Allah, forgive us for the Qur'an that we did not recite. Ya Allah, forgive us for our shortcomings with our family members and our friends, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. There is no sin that He cannot forgive. And I ask Allah to forgive all of us.

Second Part of the Khutbah

This very beautiful hadith, as I mentioned — this hadith qudsi, حَدِيثٌ إِلَهِيٌّ رَبَّانِيٌّ — is one that brought Abu Idrees al-Khawlani, as he narrated this hadith, to his knees. Because it is Allah speaking to you and me. It is Allah speaking to us. So we'll continue this hadith.

"You Cannot Harm Me or Benefit Me"

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

O my servants, you will never reach harming me, nor will you reach benefiting me. My worship and your worship is only for our sake. Allah does not benefit from it.

"If All of Creation Were the Most Pious or the Most Corrupt..."

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

Allah addressing us: Oh my servants, if the first of you, the last of you, the mankind of you, the jinn-kind of you were on the heart of the most pious person — like the piety of Rasulullah, صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — everyone, imagine all of the servants of Allah on this piety, it would not increase the kingdom of Allah anything. And if all of the creation, all of the servants of Allah, were on the worst heart, the most corrupt heart — like the Epsteins, the corrupt politicians, the dictators, and the Fira'uns of the past and present — if the world was like that, it would not take away from the kingdom of Allah anything. It would not remove from the kingdom of Allah anything.

"If All of You Asked Me and I Gave You Everything..."

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

Oh my servants, if all of you were to stand on one plane and were to ask your heart's desires and dreams — Ya Allah, grant me Firdos. Ya Allah, make me a billionaire. Ya Allah, make me a polymath scholar. Ya Allah, whatever is in your deepest heart and desires — everyone, all of creation, were to ask, and Allah were to give every single one of us what they really desire, what they really want, it would not decrease from the kingdom of Allah except like a needle that is put into the ocean and then removed. What remains in the ocean? Everything. It removes nothing from Allah.

So when you make du'a, my dear brothers and sisters, ask Allah for the best. Don't ask Allah and be hesitant. Don't ask Allah while doubting whether He will answer. Ask Allah for al-Firdos. Ask Allah for خَيْرَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَة. Ask Allah for whatever your heart desires, because He — when He answers your du'a — it is nothing for Him. It is nothing for Him. This is the kingdom of Allah. And this is what He wants us to have in our hearts as believers — that we worship Him and we turn towards Him.

"It Is But Your Deeds That I Count and Recompense"

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

Oh my servants, it is but your deeds that I count for you and then I recompense for you. If someone finds good, then let them say Alhamdulillah. Say Alhamdulillah — thank you, Ya Allah, for everything You've done for us. And I ask Allah to give us more and more, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ. And whoever finds other than that — meaning other than good — then let them blame none but themselves. And I ask Allah to forgive us for our shortcomings, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

Closing Supplications

I ask Allah, as He said — إِنَّكُمْ تُخْطِئُونَ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَأَنَا أَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا فَاسْتَغْفِرُونِي أَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ — I ask Allah to forgive us, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ, as He promised that He would forgive us. Ya Allah, I ask You that we leave this masjid and all of us are forgiven. And ya Allah, that You grant all of us our hearts' desires, so long as it is good for us, يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.