Having a Good Opinion of Allah | Jumu'ah Khutbah | Imam Mohammed ElFarooqui

Having a Good Opinion of Allah

فَحَاسِبُوا أَيُّهَا الْإِخْوَةُ أَنْفُسَكُمْ قَبْلَ أَنْ تُحَاسَبُوا، وَزِنُوهَا قَبْلَ أَنْ تُوزَنُوا، فَإِنَّهُ أَهْوَنُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ تُحَاسِبُوا أَنْفُسَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ، فَإِنَّ الْيَوْمَ عَمَلٌ وَلَا حِسَابٌ، وَغَدًا حِسَابٌ وَلَا عَمَلٌ. فَنَسْأَلُ اللَّهَ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى أَنْ يَجْعَلَنَا مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ وَيَهْدِيَنَا وَأَوْلَادَنَا عَلَى صِرَاطِهِ الْمُسْتَقِيمِ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. We ask Allah in His infinite wisdom and boundless mercy to send an abundance of peace and blessings upon His beloved Messenger Muhammad, his family, his companions, and all those who follow him until the Day of Judgment. And we ask Allah to alleviate the difficulties of our brothers and sisters around the world — those whose difficulties we are aware of and those whose difficulties we are not. And we ask Allah to turn the tide of oppression against those who would seek to oppress the Muslims. And we ask Allah to shake the earth from beneath the oppressors. And we ask Allah to protect the Muslims around the world wherever they may be.

The Story of Ahnaf ibn Qais

One of the great Tabi'een — and a Tabi'ee is someone who comes after the generation of the Sahaba, ridwanAllahi alayhim — is a man by the name of Ahnaf ibn Qais.

Ahnaf ibn Qais, radiAllahu anhu, was a leader amongst his people from the tribe of Banu Tamim. And he was a man of great Hilm — and Hilm means forbearance. He was a man of great forbearance. He was very wise, very gentle in his nature, patient, and intelligent in his disposition. And he was a man who had a very beautiful opinion of Allah — someone who embodied Husnul Dhann billah.

One day he was engaging in the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ of listening to the Qur'an. May Allah allow us all to listen to the Qur'an and to fulfill the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. And as he was listening to the book of Allah, the reciter recited the ayah:

"Indeed We have revealed to you a book in which there is a mention of you."

And this is Allah not only speaking to the Prophet ﷺ but also to every person who would engage with the Qur'an. There has been revealed to us a book from Allah in which Allah is mentioning you and I — in which Allah is mentioning His slaves.

So Ahnaf ibn Qais decides: let me investigate and let me find where Allah is mentioning me. So he starts to recite the book of Allah, and Allah says in the Qur'an:

Allah says: those who sleep only for a small period of time in the night, and those who are awake in the early hours of the morning seeking forgiveness from Allah, and those in whose wealth there is a clear right for those who are in need.

So Ahnaf ibn Qais thinks to himself: do I possess these three qualities? Do I sleep for a brief amount of time in the night, and spend the early hours of the day in the worship of Allah seeking His forgiveness, and in my wealth there is a right of those people who are in need? He says to himself: I don't really find myself from amongst these people.

So then he continues to read the Qur'an, and he recites:

"And they give preference over themselves even though they themselves have very little."

The story behind the revelation of this ayah is incredibly beautiful. During the time of the Prophet ﷺ, there was a companion who was travelling. He comes into Madinatul Munawwara and goes to the Prophet ﷺ and says: Ya Rasulullah, I am a traveller, I do not have any place to stay. The Prophet ﷺ ascends the minbar and says: who amongst you would host your brother who is travelling? One of the companions raised his hand and said: Ya Rasulullah, I will host him.

The condition of this companion was that he himself did not have enough food in his home for his children or his family. He goes home and tells his wife: prepare whatever we have of the food. She says: what about the kids? We only have enough for one person. What about the kids? He says: prepare the food, we'll put the kids to sleep. They put the kids to sleep, the food is prepared, and when the traveller comes to his house, they put out the lights — they blow out the candle — so he cannot see. So he says: eat. The both of them, husband and wife, pretend to eat and let this traveller companion who they have brought into their home as their guest eat the food. And he finishes the food.

They prefer — they prioritize — the comfort of others above themselves, even though they themselves have very, very little.

Ahnaf ibn Qais says: well, I don't find myself amongst these people either. So then he continues to recite the Qur'an, and he arrives at where Allah mentions the people of the hellfire. And Allah says that they will be asked on the Day of Judgment: why have they landed in the hellfire? They will say that they did not pray on time, they neglected the commands of Allah in prayer, in zakah, in sadaqah. They did not take care of the poor, and they took from the rights of the masakeen.

So he seeks refuge with Allah from being amongst those people. Then he comes to a very beautiful realization.

The Beautiful Realization — and the Days of Ramadan

As he found himself journeying through the Qur'an — and this is the reason why the story is so beautiful for us, especially as we are about to enter the days of the month of Ramadan. We've already entered the blessed days of Rajab, and then the blessed days of Sha'ban, and then the month of Ramadan — less than 60 days away.

So Ahnaf ibn Qais says to himself: I don't find myself amongst the best of those that Allah mentioned in the Qur'an, and thankfully I don't find myself amongst the worst that Allah mentioned in the Qur'an. Therefore I am grateful to Allah, that Allah has placed me in the middle — where Allah then mentions those people that some of their deeds are good and some of their deeds are bad, but when they perform good deeds, they thank Allah for them, and when they perform sins, then they seek Allah's forgiveness.

And that is why the example of the bird and its two wings of fear and hope.

Husn al-Dhann billah — Having a Good Opinion of Allah

Having a good opinion of Allah, my dear brothers and sisters, is so important. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 50, Hadith 22)

Let not one of you die except that he has a good opinion of Allah.

And Allah says in a hadith qudsi:

Allah says: I am to My servant as he perceives Me to be.

Why We Sometimes Have a Bad Opinion of Allah

The reason why I'm mentioning all of this — this entire preface of the story of Ahnaf ibn Qais — is that most of us, when we come to the blessed days of the month of Ramadan, the blessed days of Dhul Hijjah, and all of the blessed days throughout the year, we have a certain attitude. Some of us — maybe not all of us — but deep down we feel as though these days are somewhat of a burden. We cannot wait for the month of Ramadan to end to go back to our old habits. We cannot wait for the 10 days of Dhul Hijjah to end. Because we understand that as the good deeds are multiplied during these days, even the sins hold a heavier weight in these days. So we find ourselves weak — to the point where we start to have not only a bad opinion of ourselves, but a bad opinion of Allah. Why is Allah obligating me to do this even though He knows that I am too weak? Even though He knows that I am unable to do this and I am unable to do that?

The Beauty in the Struggle

The beauty, my dear brothers and sisters, is in the struggle that Allah has placed on the shoulder of the human being.

Number one:

Allah does not burden us more than what we can bear.

Number two, every struggle that we face, Allah multiplies the reward of that good deed. So the more we struggle — where do we find this? How do we know this? In the way that the Prophet ﷺ informed us about the person who recites the Qur'an. The one who is proficient will receive one reward. And the one who is struggling to recite the Qur'an receives twice the reward. What changes? What changes is the struggle.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4937; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 243)

How Allah Describes Himself

My dear brothers and sisters, there is a very practical way that we can improve our opinion of Allah, because Allah describes Himself. And I am coming to the culmination of the khutbah.

Allah says in a hadith qudsi:

My mercy overbears My wrath.

And Allah says in the Qur'an:

Give glad tidings to My servants that I am Al-Ghafoor Al-Raheem — that I am the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful.

The Hadith of the Man Lost in the Desert

And the Prophet ﷺ said in a very beautiful hadith that Allah:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 37, Hadith 2747)

Allah becomes ecstatic when the servant of Allah returns to Him. And the Prophet ﷺ gives the example of the man who is lost in the desert — and then after being lost in the desert, he loses his camel. Then after a long time of struggle, his camel returns to him. How ecstatic does a person feel? Imagine yourself lost in the desert, trying to find a way out, but then your camel runs away from you. And then after a long period of struggle, you find your camel has returned to you. How ecstatic would you be?

So in that state of ecstaticness, when you become so excited and you cannot control what you say, the servant of Allah says to Allah:

He misspeaks out of sheer excitement — he says: Oh Allah, You are my servant and I am Your Lord! What he means to say is:

Oh Allah, You are my Lord and I am Your servant. But he is so excited he cannot control what he says. And the Prophet ﷺ says: Allah is more ecstatic than that man who finds his camel when the person returns to Allah.

So how could we have a bad opinion of Allah?

Allah understands our struggles better than we can.

"And when My servants ask you concerning Me — indeed I am near."

Practical Steps to Improve Your Opinion of Allah

My dear brothers and sisters, there are a couple of practical steps that I want to share before I leave.

Number one: Speak to Allah the way you would speak to someone who you trust. Understand this — Allah knows our secrets deep down, more than we know them ourselves. He knows our feelings and our pains and our struggles and the things that we like to hide from the people. Allah knows them.

Speak to Allah. Create that relationship with Allah. Say:

Oh Allah, I am weak. Speak to Allah the way the Prophet ﷺ spoke to Allah.

Number two: Obey Allah without waiting to feel ready. We will never be ready or worthy to worship Allah. That is a blessing of Allah — that Allah has invited us to worship Him, Allah has invited us to remember Him. Obey Allah without waiting to be ready. If you have the opportunity, fulfill it. If you have the opportunity to remember Allah, fulfill that opportunity.

Lastly: Balance hope with one act of restraint every single day. One act of restraint. The Prophet ﷺ said: the one who leaves something for the sake of Allah, Allah will recompense for him something that is better. Make tawbah and have restraint with at least one action — one disobedience — during the day. Start with one and you will see the change in your opinion of Allah change.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

Second Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.

أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ