20161007- 2nd Khutba - Imam Arsalan

Opening Praise and Testimony

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, we ask His help, we ask His forgiveness and we ask His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, no one is misguided, and whom He misguides, no one is guided.

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that our master Muhammad, peace be upon him, was His servant and His messenger, and His chosen one and His companion. He conveyed the message, and fulfilled the trust, and advised the Ummah, and he strived in the cause of Allah for the truth of his Jihad, until the certainty came to him.

As for the rest, the best speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of our master Muhammad, peace be upon him. And the worst of all things are its innovations, and every innovation is an invention, and every invention is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

The Day of Ashura

According to some reports in the United States of America, the month of Muharram began on last Monday, which would mean that today is the fifth day of Muharram, and which would mean that Wednesday would be the tenth day of Muharram — the day of Ashura.

It is reported from Abdullah ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, came to Medina, and found the Jews fasting on the day of Ashura. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to them, "What is this day that you are fasting on?" They said, "This is a great day, in which Allah has saved Moses and his people, and drowned Pharaoh and his people."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2004)

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, when he arrived in Medina — after he migrated from Mecca to Medina — he saw that the Jews were fasting on the day of Ashura, on the tenth day of Muharram. So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to them, "What is this day that you are fasting? Why are you fasting today?" So they said to him, "This is a great day. This is the day on which Allah saved Moses and his people, and drowned Pharaoh and his people. And therefore, Moses, peace be upon him, used to fast on this day to express his gratitude to Allah, and therefore we also fast on this day." So the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to them, "We have more right over Moses than you do. We are closer to Moses than you are." And therefore, the Prophet, peace be upon him, fasted on that day, and he instructed the companions to fast the day as well.

The Spirit Behind the Fast: Shukr (Gratitude)

Brothers and sisters, we learn from this hadith, of course, the virtue of fasting on the day of Ashura. But what we also learn from this hadith is the reason why we fast on that day — because Moses, peace be upon him, fasted on this day, and we learn why he fasted, because he wanted to show thanks to Allah for the blessing of being saved from Pharaoh and his people. So what we learn from this hadith, brothers and sisters, is that when Allah gives us blessings, we need to thank Him for those blessings. And fasting is one way of showing thanks to Allah.

Indeed, brothers and sisters, as we try to fast during this month, and especially on the day of Ashura, let us remember the spirit behind this fast, which is to show thanks to Allah for His blessings. Showing thanks to Allah — being thankful and grateful — the quality of shukr is a beautiful quality.

Allah Describes Himself as Al-Shakir

In fact, brothers and sisters, remember that Allah describes Himself with this quality. Allah says in the Quran that indeed Allah is Shakir — Allah is thankful. Allah attributes to Himself the quality of shukr. He appreciates when His ibad obey Him, He appreciates that and He thanks them for that by rewarding them.

Indeed, Allah is Shakir and Allah is full of knowledge. Allah also says in the Quran that indeed your Lord is Oft-Forgiving and Oft-Grateful.

So if this is a divine quality — being thankful — then that shows us how much we need to strive to acquire this quality inside of us.

The Prophets and the Quality of Shukr

Not only is this a quality of Allah, but it is also a quality of the Prophets, peace be upon them. As Allah mentions in the Quran about Nuh, peace be upon him:

Nuh was a thankful servant — a grateful servant. This is how Allah praises Nuh, peace be upon him. And He also says about Ibrahim, peace be upon him, that Ibrahim was grateful for the blessings that Allah gave him.

Allah also talks about Musa, peace be upon him, and reminds us of this quality of shukr. When Musa, peace be upon him, said to his people:

Musa, peace be upon him, said to his people: "Remember the favors of Allah upon you. Remember when He saved you from the people of Fir'aun, who used to inflict painful punishments upon you, who used to slaughter your sons and let your women live. And in that there was a tremendous trial for you from your Lord. And your Lord has proclaimed that if you are thankful, I will increase My favors upon you. But if you are ungrateful, then My punishment is severe."

So here we see Musa, peace be upon him, reminding Bani Israel about the favors of Allah, and then telling them: if you are thankful, if you are grateful for these blessings, then Allah will increase His blessings for you. But if you are ungrateful — if all you do is complain about the difficulties and trials that everyone has to face in their lives, if you only focus on the difficulties and hardships and forget about the blessings of Allah Azza wa Jal and don't show thanks to Him for those blessings — then My punishment is severe.

The Du'a the Prophet Taught Mu'adh ibn Jabal

One time the Prophet, peace be upon him, was with the companion Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him. And he turned to Mu'adh and he said, "Ya Mu'adh, إِنِّي أُحِبُّكَ — I love you, Ya Mu'adh." And then the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "I will teach you a few words. Say:"

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1522; authenticated by al-Albani)

"O Allah, please help me to remember You, and to be grateful to You, and to worship You in the best of ways." Ya Allah, we implore You to help us remember You, to help us be thankful to You, and to help us worship You in the best of ways.

Few Are Truly Grateful

But unfortunately, the reality is, brothers and sisters, as Allah Azza wa Jal says:

Few are those among My servants who are truly thankful. قَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ — Few are those. Most people just want to complain. Most people are ungrateful to Allah. Despite the blessings that Allah showers us with, we take those blessings and we turn around and we disobey Allah with those very blessings. قَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ — Few are those who are truly thankful to Me for My blessings.

May Allah make us among those who are grateful to Him. May He not make us among those who are ungrateful to Him. Ameen, Ya Rabbil Alameen.

What Is There to Be Grateful For?

Some of you might be thinking: what is there to be grateful for? There is so much hardship in life. After all, this is Darul Bala — this is the abode of tests and trials and tribulations. Every time you turn on the news, you see tragedy after tragedy. Muslims are living nowadays everywhere in the world in anxiety and fear and poverty. What is there to be thankful for?

Well, brothers and sisters, it's true — this is Darul Bala, the abode of tests and trials. No doubt that Muslims are facing hardships and difficulties. But despite all of that and with all of that:

With every difficulty there is ease.

If you were to try to count the blessings of Allah, you will never be able to count them all. We just need to look deeper. There are a lot of things — despite a lot of hardships — there are a lot of blessings that we need to be thankful for.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2346; classed as hasan by al-Tirmidhi)

He ﷺ said: "Whoever among you wakes up in the morning and you are healthy in your body and you are safe in your home — you don't have to worry about a bomb falling on your home in the middle of the night — and you have enough food to take you through the entire day, then it is as if you have the whole world." Because what is it really that human beings need in this life — the essentials of life: food, shelter, and safety. And if you have those three things, which many people in this world do not have, then you have a lot to be thankful for.

We Will Be Questioned About Our Blessings

We do have a lot to be thankful for, brothers and sisters. Allah says in Surah At-Takathur:

On that day — the Day of Judgment — you will be asked about the blessings that Allah gave you. Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, were eating some dates and drinking well water — not like the spring water that we have; it looks dark and brown and black. They were drinking this black water and eating these black dates. And the Prophet ﷺ looked at them and he said, "You will have to answer for this na'im." This is na'im — this is a blessing that you will have to answer to Allah for. Did you show thanks for this or not?

If we are to be questioned about black dates and black water, then what about all the other blessings that we have here in the United States of America, right here in Plano, Texas — the blessings that we enjoy? But, like I said, قَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ — oftentimes we get so caught up in the difficulties of life that we lose sight of the great favors of Allah.

The Story of the Imprisoned Man

Once, as Imam al-Ghazali, may Allah have mercy on him, and others relate in their books, there was a man who was imprisoned by the ruler. He was innocent, but you know how rulers are — he was an oppressive, unjust ruler and he imprisoned him for no crime. But this man had a friend who was a scholar. So the scholar would write him letters and send them to prison to his friend, to boost his morale and to keep up with how he was doing.

So the scholar sent his friend a letter, and the prisoner opened it, and in the letter the scholar was encouraging the prisoner to be thankful to Allah. So he said, الحمد لله على كل حال.

But then, the next day or the next week, he was beaten by the prison guard. They started to beat him. So now he was in the prison and he was being beaten. He received another letter from the scholar saying to be thankful to Allah. So he said, الحمد لله على كل حال.

Then they brought another prisoner who was a Majusi — a Zoroastrian fire worshipper — and they chained him to him. They put a big chain around their two legs and chained them together. So wherever he went, he had to go with him. He received another letter from the scholar saying to be thankful to Allah. He said, الحمد لله على كل حال.

And then this Zoroastrian developed diarrhea. So every time he had to relieve himself, he had to drag this prisoner with him, and he had to stand over his head as he relieved himself — and this happened multiple times a day. And he received another letter from the scholar saying to be thankful to Allah. And he said, "What can be a greater calamity than this? You're still asking me to be thankful — thankful for what?"

So he wrote his reply to the scholar explaining his situation — that he was chained to this Zoroastrian and this is what was happening. And the scholar sent him a letter back and he said, "Would you like the belt of the Zoroastrian to be on your waist?" In those days, non-Muslims wore a special belt — like an identity card — that identified them as non-Muslims. So the scholar was saying to him: "Would you like for Allah to have made him a Muslim and you a Zoroastrian?" He was trying to tell him: you still have something that you need to be thankful for, and you have a reminder with you every day to remind you of that — that Allah made you a believer, He made you a Muslim and this man is not a Muslim. So be thankful to Allah for iman, for the fact that you are a Muslim, that you believe in Allah, that you were guided by Allah to be among the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Indeed, brothers and sisters:

If you were to count the blessings of Allah, you would never be able to do so. And we have many blessings right here in the United States. But like I said, sometimes we focus on the difficulties and we forget the favors.

Ibn Ata'illah, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

(Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari, Al-Hikam al-Ata'iyyah)

"It may be that He has given you something, but He has deprived you of something by giving that thing to you. And it may be that He has deprived you of something, but He has given you something by depriving you of that thing." We may have a lot, but if we are not thankful for what we have, then Allah has deprived us of being among the shakireen — among the beloveds of Allah. And we may not have that much of worldly possessions, but if Allah inspires us to be thankful to Him for the little that He gave us, then has He really deprived us — or has He given us?

May Allah make us among the grateful ones. Ameen.

How to Express Gratitude to Allah

Brothers and sisters, as we prepare to fast on the day of Ashura, and we remember why we fast that day — which is to commemorate the Sunnah of Musa alayhi salam, who fasted on that day to express gratitude to Allah Azza wa Jal for His favors upon him and Bani Israel — we should think about the blessings Allah has given us and thank Allah. How do we thank Allah? How can we be grateful? What is the way to express gratitude to Allah? Three ways, brothers and sisters.

1. Gratitude of the Heart

Firstly, expressing it from the heart — in the heart. Appreciating what Allah has given us. Simply, the feeling of appreciation is an act of gratitude. It is an act of the heart, not of the limbs, but of the heart. We have to appreciate the things that Allah has given us that we take for granted. We have to stop taking them for granted.

2. Gratitude of the Tongue

Number two: thanking Allah with the tongue by saying الحمد لله. As the Prophet ﷺ said, this phrase — الحمد لله — when said from the heart, fills the scales on the Day of Judgment. All praise belongs to Allah, no matter what our situation is. Instead of complaining all the time with our tongues about this difficulty, that illness, losing a job, what's going on overseas — just complaining all the time — use that tongue to praise Allah. Talk about the blessings that He has given you.

Proclaim the blessings of Allah upon you. That is not being proud — that is attributing to Allah what He has given you. Talk about His blessings; don't talk about His trials. Ask Allah to relieve you from your trials, but focus on the favors and the blessings.

3. Gratitude of the Limbs

And lastly, how to show thanks to Allah? Through the limbs — through our actions — by using the blessings that Allah has given us to worship Him, to obey Him, to serve Him. Not using our eyes to disobey Him, not using our ears to disobey Him, not using the wealth that He gave us to disobey Him — but using it in ways that please Him, in ways that He loves.

Live for Allah

And brothers and sisters, and I'll close with this insha'Allah. The way to be grateful to Allah is to live for Allah. Live for Allah. Everybody lives on this earth for themselves — even animals live for themselves. But those who are true ibad of Allah say:

"My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are for Allah." Live for Allah, brothers and sisters. Share the blessings that Allah has given you with others. Don't hoard them — share them with others. Volunteer in the masjid. Get involved in the masjid and outside of the masjid. Serve the community. Serve the creation of Allah. Find ways to serve the refugees that are here in Plano and outside of Plano. Serve even the non-Muslim community. They are all ayaalullah, khalqullah — they are the creation of Allah. Any person who is in need, serve them. This is our way of showing thanks to Allah for blessing us with time, with energy, with health, with money, with intellect and intelligence and resources, and yes, wealth.

Give for the sake of Allah. That's how we show thanks to Allah for the blessing of wealth — give for the sake of Allah. Today we have an opportunity to give for the sake of Allah. We have brothers here visiting from Tyler, Texas. They are building an Islamic center in Tyler, Texas. Please share your wealth with your brothers and sisters in Tyler so that they can have a beautiful masjid like we have a beautiful masjid here. And brother Mundir will talk to you more about that after the salah, insha'Allah ta'ala.

Closing Du'a

May Allah make us among the grateful ones. May Allah relieve us from our difficulties. May Allah help us be patient in the face of our difficulties, and may Allah help us show proper gratitude for all of His favors. Ameen. Ameen. Ya Rabbil Alameen.