2014-10-31 - Friday Prayer - Wasif Ali Khan (1st prayer)

Lessons from Sūrah Al-Kahf: The Story of Mūsā and Khiḍr

Dear brothers and sisters, in this short khutbah, I'd like to share with you a passage that occurs from Sūrah Al-Kahf. And as many of you know, Sūrah Al-Kahf is a very blessed sūrah that comes in the Qur'an. And we know that the Prophet has told us of countless blessings that lie in Sūrah Al-Kahf.

That we should read it every Friday. And the one who reads it every Friday is as though his face will be illuminating until the next Friday. The one who memorizes the first ten or the last ten of these āyāt will be saved from the biggest of trials and tribulations — and that is the trial and tribulation of Dajjāl — and countless other blessings.

And many of us, since we were small, we have this regimen of reading Sūrah Al-Kahf every single Friday. And we know that in Sūrah Al-Kahf there are many stories that are mentioned. It starts with the story of the Cave — the young and courageous youth that sought refuge in this cave. And then we read through this sūrah and we find the story of the two gardeners. There are two gardeners, and one of them Allah had given two gardens, and this led to very delusional thinking for this person — he became arrogant because of this. And then we read through yet more of Sūrah Al-Kahf and we come to the third story. And this is the story of Mūsā and Khiḍr.

And in this whole khutbah, I'd like to share with you the story and some benefits and wisdoms that Allah has embedded in this story — that we should, every Friday that we read it, be looking for these wisdoms and benefits that are really inside of the Qur'an. It's packed with these beautiful benefits. So in this khutbah, that's my objective.

Who Is Mūsā?

We know Mūsā. He was one of the Ulul Azm — he was one of the mightiest prophets and messengers that was sent by Allah. And one day, Mūsā was giving a sermon, he was giving a khutbah to his people, to his nation. And one person got up and asked Mūsā: who is the most knowledgeable person?

Now Mūsā responds to him. He gives him his honest assumption. He says: I am the most knowledgeable person. And again, this is not an arrogant response — you have to understand. This is an honest assumption. Mūsā is receiving waḥy directly from Allah. Mūsā is on top of a mountain speaking to Allah:

Directly. Mubāsharan. SubḥānAllāh. This is who Mūsā is. So he gives an honest assumption: I don't know anyone else who has these connections, so I am the most knowledgeable person.

And right then, Allah sends down Jibrīl to reprimand Mūsā: How could you say something that you have no knowledge of? Yā Mūsā, how can you say something like this? And SubḥānAllāh, this is a lesson for you and me in being humble. This is the peak of humility. And Mūsā, when he finds that he made a mistake, what does he say? He says: can you please indicate to me who this person is? I'd like to go meet him and I'd like to study from him. I'd like to learn from this person who has more knowledge. A person who has some knowledge that I don't have — I want to go learn from him.

Who Is Khiḍr?

We know that the Qur'an gives us this story — it records it in Sūrah Al-Kahf. And in the Qur'an, Allah does not mention Khiḍr by name. We get the name Khiḍr from the ḥadīth. But Allah relates to Khiḍr in the Qur'an as:

That Allah taught him a vast amount of knowledge. And there is a lot of talk around who Khiḍr is. And contrary to popular belief, Khiḍr is not like a mystical figure that flies around. Rather, he is another prophet, a messenger from Allah. And as we go on in the story, we'll see the proofs that are inside of the sūrah, as many of the scholars have said. So Mūsā was sent to a people and Khiḍr was also sent to a people at the same time, but different nations.

And from this, just as a side note — we know that the first person in recorded history to travel for the sake of seeking knowledge was Mūsā. So when any of us travel for the sake of seeking knowledge, we are following the footsteps of Mūsā.

The First Event: The Ship

So Mūsā goes to Khiḍr and says:

"Can I follow you and learn from you that which Allah has taught you?" So right away Khiḍr says that's going to be a hard task. Why? Because he says you won't be able to endure patience — you're going to witness a lot of things and you're not going to have enough patience. And how could he have patience over something that he has no experience of? But Mūsā says: no, I'm dedicated. He says inshā'Allāh I'm going to try to have as much patience as possible.

So they go on. They come to a shore and they want to get to the other side of the water, but they have no money with them. They see some fishermen and they ask them: would you give us a lift? But we have no way of compensating you — can you get us to the other side? So these fishermen, as the Qur'an reports, these are poor fishermen, but they say: yes, we'll give you a free ride. So they embark on their journey on this ship. And as the fishermen are casting their nets, working and trying to get some fish, Khiḍr goes to the lower deck — to the hull of the ship — and he cracks a hole into the ship. He cracks a small enough hole that they are able to get to the shore, but at the same time the water starts gushing.

Now Mūsā says — he goes to Khiḍr and says: how could he do such a thing? These masākīn, these fishermen, they were helping us. They did a favor to us. How can you cause damage to them in return? Now Khiḍr responds: but when I told you, you would not have ṣabr with me. So Mūsā says: please forgive me, I forgot. This was an honest mistake. I know I made this condition, but I forgot. Please give me another chance.

The Second Event: The Boy

So they go on. Now I want you to understand that this just happened — they just got out. This event just took place. They got to the shore. There were some kids playing around on the seashore. And Khiḍr goes to one of the kids, he grabs one of the kids, and he kills him.

Now Mūsā remembers — he just told him, I will have patience, I won't ask anything. But you know who Mūsā is. Mūsā has a very strong character. He cannot see injustice. So he asks him: how could he take:

How could he take this pure innocent soul away? And on top of that, it's a kid playing on the shore. How could he do such a thing? Now again Khiḍr replies — and this time with more emphasis: didn't I tell you for sure you will not have ṣabr? Now Mūsā replies to him and says: give me one more chance. And basically what he tells him is: three strikes and I'm out.

And just a side comment — the Prophet said: may Allah have mercy on the soul of Mūsā. If he was a bit more patient, he would have seen some amazing things, some wondrous things that go on in this world.

The Third Event: The Wall

And now you have to understand their situation. They've been out since the morning. They're tired, they have no money, they're hungry. And the sunnah of that time — and this is the sunnah of the Muslim until this day — is that when you're going through a town, the travelers have the right of being fed, at least some water.

So they're going through this town. They ask some townspeople: would you give us some food? And they say no, we will not give you any food. Not only do they not give them any food, but they're ridiculing them, pelting them away.

Now they're walking out. It's late at night. They're walking outside of the city. And every city had a wall — a fort. One part of the wall was falling off. So Khiḍr goes and he repairs this wall. Now Mūsā is tired, so he just makes a comment: if you wanted to, by the way I'm just saying, you could have gotten some compensation for this handyman work that you're doing. So Khiḍr replies: that's enough. You had three chances and you're out. And I'm going to give you the interpretation of the things that you saw which you could not have ṣabr over.

And this is the attitude that you and I should approach the Qur'an with. Everything that is related in the Qur'an is preserved for us until the Day of Judgment. There are wisdoms and benefits that go beyond time — they are infinite — and they relate to us as well.

The Wisdom Behind the Three Events

The Ship: Generosity and Protection

We don't know much about the fishermen. But what Allah does tell us about them is that they were masākīn — they were poor people. And SubḥānAllāh, Allah tells us that even through being poor, they were generous. You and me, we can be generous by many ways because Allah has given us a lot — we can be generous with our time, our wealth, whatever it may be. But all they had was this ship. And they decided to be generous with the very thing that Allah had blessed them with. SubḥānAllāh.

And he says to him: I decided to poke a hole in the ship because on the other side of the water where they arrived, there was an evil tyrannical king that was confiscating ships to build his navy. SubḥānAllāh. And because of this small damage that occurred on the ship, that evil king saw the damage and said: I don't want this ship for my navy. Maybe there was a war going on and he was confiscating ships. And because of this damage, he didn't want it.

But my brothers and sisters, I want you to put yourself in the shoes of those fishermen. You are helping someone out and some calamity befalls you. You are giving someone a ride and you get into a car accident. How do you feel? SubḥānAllāh. And it tells us the short-sightedness of these fishermen. Perhaps they were saying: man, we were being generous, we were being nice, and something like this happens to us? Maybe they were questioning. SubḥānAllāh. But as soon as they saw all of their friends and neighbors — their ship has been confiscated by the army of this evil king — that frustration turns into what? Alḥamdulillāh. Alḥamdulillāh this happened to us. By a small little harm, Allah saved their entire ship — that was their livelihood.

But why did Allah save it for them? Because they were generous. So you and me — the lesson for us: do you want Allah to fill our lives, our wealth, our family, our health with barakah? Do you want Allah to take care of us? Then be generous with that same vehicle that Allah has blessed you with. Maybe Allah gave you money? Be generous with it. Maybe Allah gave you a skill? Be generous and help people with it. And when you do that, you will see that Allah will save you through that. SubḥānAllāh.

The Boy: Divine Knowledge of the Future

The boy that he killed — he says: as for this boy, his two parents were righteous people, they were good people. And he says:

We felt that this little beautiful boy would turn out to be a rebellious youngster. He would rebel when he got older. He would become kāfir — he would disbelieve.

And let me tell you something — parents here know this more than anyone else. You will be willing to go through anything, you will be willing to sacrifice anything at the expense of your child feeling even a pinch of discomfort. And the worst thing that any parent can imagine is their child being hurt or their child being killed. SubḥānAllāh. So can you imagine the state of the parents? What they are feeling? My kid is just playing on the beach, playing on the seashore, and some person comes and kills him. SubḥānAllāh. How frustrated and how sad they would have felt.

But what does Khiḍr respond? He says that Allah knew that the two parents were righteous:

That Allah wanted to replace this child with a child that would grow up to be righteous and a good Muslim. Because they were mu'minīn, because the two parents were believers, He wanted to give them a child that would also be a mu'min, that would also be a believer.

So again, it seems like — oh my God, a child being killed. But you don't know. We're so short-sighted. We can only see one step ahead of us where Allah sees the infinite future ahead of us. We sometimes need to just sit down and trust Allah that whatever is happening, there is some greater good, some better thing will come out of this.

And for those parents specifically — it's easier to accept a painless death of a child and then have another child to replace that child who will be righteous, who will work in the way of Allah, than to have a child that grows up and rebels and disbelieves. Because the parents, when they are believers and knowing that the child has disbelieved and will be eternally punished — this is harder for them. SubḥānAllāh.

The Wall: Delayed Blessings for Orphans

SubḥānAllāh — he said that this wall, it belonged to orphans. Their father had passed away. And their father had buried treasure underneath this wall. And do you think that these same townspeople who were so stingy they would not give us some water — that these same people would actually give this treasure to the two kids? No, they would not. These are terrible people. They would not do that for them.

So Allah, what did He do? He wanted the wall to stay there until:

Until they become old and strong — when the kids become strong, then they get this treasure. Now again, I want you to put yourself in the shoes of the mother. The mother is probably making du'ā', searching frantically for this treasure. You know, where did the father keep all the money? He passed away — I need to take care of these kids. SubḥānAllāh. Making du'ā', making du'ā', making du'ā', but her du'ā' is not being answered — as she thinks. It actually has been answered. Allah answered her du'ā', but He delayed the response. Because He knows that if the du'ā' was answered right there, that treasure would be snatched away from them, it would be seized by the people.

Allah answered her du'ā', but He delayed the response. He said: let the kids get older and stronger so that once they find the treasure, they are able to secure it — they are able to use it for themselves. And SubḥānAllāh, the response to the du'ā' comes at a time where it's most needed. Are the children not in greater need of wealth when they are growing up, going to school? SubḥānAllāh. That's when they need it more. So Allah delayed the response and gave it to them then.

The Take-Home Point: Calamity as Blessing in Disguise

So we ask Allah to make us among those who take the benefits out of these āyāt from the Qur'an and who employ them in our daily lives.

From these stories we see this one take-home point for us today: in any calamity that befalls us, we need to have faith and trust in Allah that this is actually a blessing in disguise. I probably don't see it right now, but there is definitely something good that will come from this. Or — thank Allah that He saved you from a greater calamity, like the fishermen SubḥānAllāh — a small damage kept them away from the greater calamity.

Now a question can be asked: isn't it true that every calamity that you and I face is because of the sins that we do? The answer to this is — and this is not coming from me, this is coming from the ḥadīth of the Prophet. He says:

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Book 55, Hadith 2999)

He says: it's very strange — the affair of the mu'min. Anything happens to him, it's good for him. It's a strange situation for the mu'min — anything happens to him, it's good for him. If something good happens to him, he's thankful, and this is better for him. And if a calamity befalls him — something hard happens, or he feels a pinch, whether it be materialistic or his health is withering, or a family member has passed, or whatever it may be — then he endures patience, and this is also good for him.

So we see that everything that happens to the believer is for his good. But for us, you are meant to find that good in the situation that is occurring. It's to find that faith and tawakkul in that situation, so that we can endure patience during those hard times.

And so the question is — one may ask — isn't it true that every calamity that befalls us is because of what we've done ourselves? And many people quote the āyah:

That whatever calamity befalls you is because of what you've earned yourself. But the answer is — you have to finish the āyah. Allah ends it by saying: وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ — and He forgives by this means many, many things. He forgives. SubḥānAllāh.

So we find from this that whether the calamity is a punishment or it's a reward or it's a blessing in disguise depends on the way we respond to the calamity. If you and me — if our response is: why is this happening to me? Why this? Why that? — if we start to question the qadr of Allah, then know that whatever is happening is a punishment for you. And if we find ourselves in this state, then we need to rectify our state. We need to rectify our understanding of Allah. We need to rectify our understanding of this religion. We need to have a positive outlook before a time comes where we're not able to return back to Allah.

This is the first response — and this is the response that imitates Iblīs, because this is what Iblīs did.

And the second response is: when anything happens to you, you are patient. You know that there is some blessing in there. That Allah averted away a bigger punishment from you. That Allah will give you a blessing in disguise. And then you will find it somewhere. You start making more du'ā'. You start coming to the masjid more often. Your sujūd get a little bit longer because you're making du'ā' in them. You start praying on time. Your du'ās get longer as well. If you see that you're in this situation, then know that this is actually a blessing in disguise.

Closing: The Blessing of Īmān

Because I'll end with this. The most important thing, my brothers and sisters, is the blessing of Īmān. And if we have this blessing of Īmān, things will come and go and they are irrelevant. But if we let go of this blessing of Īmān, then no matter if we have the entire world and everything in it, it is irrelevant — because it will not last long.

So we need to be a people of positive attitude. We need to be a people that are always thankful to Allah. We need to be a people that find these things when they occur to us. There will be small calamities and we turn back to Allah. And I promise you — when you look back in your life, you'll find ways, you'll find this blessing in disguise even in your own situations and in your own area of life.

So we ask Allah to make us amongst those who, when good happens to us, are thankful to Allah. We ask Allah to make us amongst those that when calamity afflicts us, we endure with a lot of patience and we turn back to Allah. We turn back to the Qur'an. We turn back to the life of the Prophet. And we find hope and mercy in these examples and we make more du'ā' and we come closer to Allah through this.

And we ask Allah to make us amongst those who understand the Qur'an, and who read Sūrah Al-Kahf every single Friday and take these benefits from it and live our lives by the way that the Prophet taught us.

O Allah, do not leave for us on this day a sin unless You forgive it, nor a worry unless You relieve it, nor a debt unless You pay it, nor a prisoner unless You ease his burden, nor a sick person unless You heal him. O Allah, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us with faith, and do not put in our hearts any resentment toward those who believe. Our Lord, You are indeed Most Kind, Most Merciful.

Allah says in Al-Qur'ān Al-Majīd:

Verily, Allah commands justice, goodness, and giving to relatives, and forbids immorality, evil, and transgression. He warns you that you may remember. And establish prayer — verily, prayer is upon the believers a written commandment.

Announcement: Arabic Language Program — Bayyinah Institute

My name is Wasif Khan. I'm here on behalf of Bayyinah Institute. I just wanted to let you all know that inshā'Allāh we're starting an Arabic class. It's geared towards people just like you who are working during the mornings and have a tight schedule. So this six-month program is built for people like you that have time in the evenings — 7 to 9pm, a couple of days a week.

We've had almost 150 graduates from this program. This program really works because usually there are two paths — either there's a path where you completely immerse yourself in Arabic because you want to understand the Qur'an, or there's a once-a-week path that gets you nowhere. But this six-month program really gets you somewhere and we have a special curriculum that's built for this program.

Tonight after Maghrib ṣalāh, inshā'Allāh, we have an open house here at the masjid. The classes will also take place here at the masjid. I'll be in the rotunda area outside. Sisters are welcome as well. I have some flyers, but I really urge everyone to check out this program. It's a way of really learning all the tools you need to understand the Book of Allah. JazākumAllāhu khayran.