20170505-1st Khutba - Imam Mokhtar Maghraoui

Khutbah: Tawheed, Beautiful Character, and Orienting the Heart Toward the Hereafter

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help, we seek His forgiveness, and we seek His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. As for what follows, O people, the most truthful speech is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of our Master Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family and his companions.

And the worst of things are their inventions, and every invention is an invention, and every invention is a misguidance, and every misguidance is a fire.

Just in case some of you don't know — you cannot speak in Jumu'ah, you cannot look at your computers, you cannot text. Please do know that, just in case you did not know. If you knew and you don't like to be here, get out and leave.

Do Not Die Except in a State of Islam

O you who have attained faith, says Allah Azza wa Jal — O you who have attained faith, be Allah-conscious. Have awe and reverence in your minds, in your hearts, in your souls, for Allah Azza wa Jal, and for that which reminds us of Allah Azza wa Jal. Let us not be of those who live this life as though they were alone in this life, and that they have no responsibilities towards one another, and vertically through that towards God, towards Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

So He says Subhanahu wa Ta'ala: فَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ — And make sure you do not die except in a state of Islam. In a state of Islam. We do not have a choice about when to die or where to die, but we have a choice about how to die.

And so He says Azza wa Jal: make sure you do not die except in a state of Islam. In a state of loving surrender of our minds, spirits, souls, hearts, words, and deeds. In loving surrender to Allah Azza wa Jal.

Islam Begins in the Heart

(Musnad Imam Ahmad, Hadith 22251; reported on the authority of al-Hasan al-Basri)

Islam, said he ﷺ, is that your heart lovingly surrenders to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. First your heart — your feelings, your emotions, your thoughts, your drives, your appetites, your likes, your dislikes, your قَلْب. First lovingly surrenders to Allah Azza wa Jal.

الْإِسْلَامُ أَنْ يُسْلِمَ قَلْبُكَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى — And when that occurs, إِذَا أَسْلَمَ الْقَلْبُ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى سَلِمَ الْقَلْبُ — then the heart would be healed, would be sound, would be clean, would be beautiful. Because a heart that lovingly surrenders to Allah Azza wa Jal must have somehow in the spiritual realm felt or experienced the beauty and the majesty of the Divine Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. That's why we call that Tawheed of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

When a person is in true experiential Tawheed of Allah Azza wa Jal, that person's heart is witnessing Divine beauty and majesty. And when the heart — when the person is like that — then the heart is going to be سَلِيم. يَسْلَمُ الْقَلْبُ — the heart will be sound and beautiful.

And therefore the character of the person is essentially what a person is inside — his or her mind, his or her spirit, his or her heart, his or her thoughts, his or her likes and dislikes. The character of the person is that. And then it is shown externally through behavior and through words — either ugly behavior and ugly words, or beautiful behavior and beautiful words.

And thus he says ﷺ, in continuation of that — when he said الْإِسْلَامُ أَنْ يُسْلِمَ قَلْبُكَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى — he then said وَأَنْ يَسْلَمَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ لِسَانِكَ وَيَدِكَ — and that consequently people, and in particular the Muslims, would feel safe from you. From your tongue and from your hands. From the way you use your tongue — and therefore nowadays you use it not only in speaking but in writing, in recording, in talking, and so on and so forth.

Human beings are given this treasure of speech, and that treasure can be used in a predatory and base, low way, or it can be used in a noble, honorable, beautiful, beneficial way in this world. If we don't feel safe from one another's speech and words, then we are not that Muslim. And then from our hands — our resources, our power.

What other resources and power do we have? Physical, mental, intellectual, political, economic, financial, social, psychological, military. If the world and the Muslims in particular don't feel safe and secure from that, then one is not that Muslim.

الْإِسْلَامُ أَنْ يُسْلِمَ قَلْبُكَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى وَأَنْ يَسْلَمَ النَّاسُ أَوِ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ لِسَانِكَ وَيَدِكَ — And as you may notice, may Allah bless you, in this hadith there is a direct connection between your heart and that Islam being in your heart — not at the tip of my tongue, not superficially. When it is in my قَلْب, that Tawheed is in my قَلْب, it necessitates — the natural consequence is — a beautiful heart, and therefore beautiful deeds, beautiful character, and beautiful comportment. Or in Arabic, as many of you know, that is the word for أَخْلَاق — beautiful أَخْلَاق, the plural of خُلُق.

The Mirror of the Heart

As some of us look externally at that external image — that is our خَلْق — and want to be beautiful in the eye of the beholder, and that is very relative, many of us don't look at our internal image and internal beauty. Whether we are beautiful or ugly.

Every time we look into a mirror — look into a mirror as we see our faces — that should remind us of seeing our hearts. I need a mirror to see my heart. What type of mirror would help me see my heart? That's why Rasulullah ﷺ teaches us: every time we stand in front of a mirror to look at our physique, to look at our faces, to look at our body, we should make a prayer and solicit from Allah to make beautiful our hearts.

As he taught us ﷺ:

(Musnad Imam Ahmad, Hadith 8952; al-Adab al-Mufrad of Imam al-Bukhari, Hadith 273)

I have been sent for the ultimate purpose, and no other purpose, than to complete the most beautiful of أَخْلَاق. That we as human beings need to be developing and evolving and maturing constantly, and at least incrementally, in our أَخْلَاق, in our character. And the most first important of that character, of that image of the قَلْب, is the Tawheed of Allah.

يُسْلِمَ قَلْبُكَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى — Your heart, my heart, is in Tawheed of Allah Azza wa Jal in a way that is experiential. Not only my tongue, or my academic understanding of Tawheed, or my philosophical or ideological or intellectual understanding of Tawheed — but my emotional commitment to that Tawheed, my experiential commitment to that Tawheed.

أَنْ أَتَذَوَّقَ مَعْنَى تَوْحِيدِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، أَنْ أَتَذَوَّقَ مَعْنَى مَحَبَّةِ اللَّهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى، أَنْ أَتَذَوَّقَ مَعْنَى الِاسْتِسْلَامِ لِلَّهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى — and that I do develop an experiential taste, emotionally, about that Tawheed, about that مَحَبَّة, حُبّ, love for Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, and not only in the dry or rational-only ways.

That needs to be translated and expressed in my character, in my behavior, in my responses to action — in other words, in my actions and in my reactions. Because sometimes we might begin to act — fine. But when we are challenged, we react in ugly ways.

We need to learn through Tawheed to begin to act proactively in beautiful, moral, Tawheed-oriented ways, and to react reactively to the challenges and opportunities of life in ways that are also consistent with that Tawheed and the beautiful أَخْلَاق.

The Nearest to the Prophet on the Day of Judgment

As he said ﷺ:

(Musnad Imam Ahmad, Hadith 8952; al-Adab al-Mufrad of Imam al-Bukhari, Hadith 273)

And he also said ﷺ:

(Musnad Imam Ahmad, Hadith 6735; also reported by al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2018)

And the beautiful, amazing fruit of that — in this Dunya and most importantly in Akhira — when he said ﷺ: those who would be nearest to me in presence, in my circle, on the Day of Judgment, in Akhira — those who would be my true companions, who would have the honor to be in the مَجْلِس of Rasulullah ﷺ in Jannah — who? Not only those who say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ — but those who are most beautiful in their character, in their أَخْلَاق. In what they harbor in their minds and in their hearts and in their spirits.

Of qualities, of traits, of characteristics — that is not consistent with being a cheater, that is not consistent with being a liar, that is not consistent with being a backbiting person, that is not consistent with being a thief, that is not consistent with being arrogant, that is not consistent with being conceited and self-admiring, that is not consistent with being deluded — مَغْرُور — a person who thinks of himself or herself more than what they really are in the Divine balance. An ugly person who thinks of herself or himself, character-wise, as beautiful.

May Allah protect us and forgive us. That cannot be consistent with that. Those are not of those who would be having the honor of being in the company of the most noble creature of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, especially on the Day of Judgment. And in this Dunya, those of us who are like that would not be representing him well ﷺ. We would not be of those who truly represent him ﷺ. Because his utmost, utmost trait in this life — within Tawheed — is the beautiful أَخْلَاق.

As Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala describes him in the Quran, describing Sayyidina Mawlana ﷺ, saying: And verily you are upon great khuluq.

Allah the Great calls the خُلُق of Rasulullah ﷺ great. And he is like sitting upon the throne of beautiful خُلُق ﷺ. Because this عَلَى in the Arabic language signifies عُلُوّ. وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ — it is a metaphor to indicate this beautiful meaning, that Rasulullah ﷺ is sitting on the throne of beautiful أَخْلَاق.

This Dunya: A Short Journey

My dear brothers and sisters, in this Dunya we have opportunities and challenges. In this Dunya we have hopes and we have fears. In this Dunya, which is very short-lived for each one of us — what is the average of a human's life in the world? 50? 60? In some countries it is 60, 70; in some, 40. It is a very short-lived life.

Very short-lived, during which we are on a journey. On a journey to return back home. We are not meant to be here forever. Everyone shall taste the ultimate truth that every human being recognizes — whether a believing faithful person, or an atheist, an agnostic, or a non-believing person at all. Death is a fact. And we have to leave this Dunya one day or the other.

Some leave this Dunya when they are just born. Some leave a week later, a month later, a year later. Two, three. You have all the span of ages. People die at every age — not only at 80, 90, and 100, but even younger: 15 and 2 and 3 and 7 and 20 and 30. And the أَجَل is known to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala only.

And yet we are in this world. And we are meant to experience this world; we are meant to live in this world as well. But with either one of two attitudes.

Two Orientations: Dunya or Akhira

One about which Allah says Subhanahu wa Ta'ala: مِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ الدُّنْيَا — that is one attitude. There are those of you whose will, whose inclination, whose aim, whose إِرَادَة is this world — الدُّنْيَا — this lower world. And he said the second: وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ الْآخِرَةَ — and of you are those whose will, whose orientation, whose aim, whose ultimate purpose is Akhira — as they live in this Dunya.

As they eat and drink, marry, and have opportunities and challenges, and work, and fall sick or healthy — they live in this Dunya, but their hearts and their aims are Akhira. And we are free to make two choices — either this or that.

And Allah Azza wa Jal first says: مَّن كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعَاجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَاءُ لِمَن نُّرِيدُ — as to those who desire the expedient rewards of this life. Summarizing two things: wealth and power. This is Dunya — the elements of Dunya: wealth and power.

مَّن كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعَاجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَاءُ لِمَن نُّرِيدُ — We would expedite, as Allah wills, in the way He wills, to whom He wills. He would do that — any human being: good or bad, evil or virtuous. It has nothing to do with being a special, devout, faithful person or not. Allah would give this one and that one.

He said later: both. كُلًّا نُّمِدُّ هَٰؤُلَاءِ وَهَٰؤُلَاءِ مِنْ عَطَاءِ رَبِّكَ — We give to both, the righteous and the wicked, the wretched and the spiritually successful. We give to both.

مَّن كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْعَاجِلَةَ عَجَّلْنَا لَهُ فِيهَا مَا نَشَاءُ لِمَن نُّرِيدُ ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا لَهُ جَهَنَّمَ يَصْلَاهَا مَذْمُومًا مَّدْحُورًا — but the abode of that person whose aim is this, in the Hereafter, is — wa al-'iyadhu billah — utter, ultimate wretchedness and misery. Wa al-'iyadhu billah — Jahannam.

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الْآخِرَةَ وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَٰئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُم مَّشْكُورًا — and the one whose heart is inclined — because what is the seat of will, of volition? It's in your heart. That's why we started with the heart. If my heart is sound and sane it will have the right إِرَادَة.

The right action of the heart — the emotions, the feelings, the drives — like the action of a tongue is speech, the action of a hand is motion and strike and carry, the action of the hands and of the skin is touch — the action of the heart is الْإِرَادَة, the drive inside of us. So those whose hearts are sound and sane — their drive is for Akhira.

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الْآخِرَةَ — but it is not only willing it and wanting it and desiring it and having a strong volition for it. He says Subhanahu wa Ta'ala: وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا — which means she or he or they work diligently to achieve that.

I cannot claim to have حُبّ, love for Allah Azza wa Jal, and behave in ways that are antithetical to that love for Allah Azza wa Jal. I cannot claim to desire this ultimate connection with the Divine and yet again I cheat, I backbite, I lie, I do not fast. I am arrogant, deluded, ostentatious, conceited, greedy — they cannot be together. I am lazy in my salah. I am unfocused in my dhikr and in my du'a. I am careless in my fasting. I am merciless and lack compassion towards the weak and the destitute and the homeless and the needy and the poor and the afflicted and the suffering. It cannot be. If I delight in the pain of others — whether close relatives or distant ones or strangers — that cannot be consistent with being مِمَّن يُرِيدُ الْآخِرَةَ.

مَنْ أَرَادَ الْآخِرَةَ سَعَى لَهَا سَعْيَهَا — those of us who desire Akhira, and truly desire Akhira, that needs evidence. And evidence in this case is to work diligently and seriously and honestly and sincerely towards that.

وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ — while that person is a mu'min. لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ. And believes in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and in الْقَضَاء — its good and its evil — from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. His heart is flourishing with that. Claims that his heart is like that and shows that through actions.

Those who do that — says Allah — their striving will be thanked graciously: كَانَ سَعْيُهُم مَّشْكُورًا. Allah would thank that person — meaning what? In other words, He would reward that person plentifully, richly, generously, magnanimously, divinely Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.

The Hadith of the Two Orientations

And thus — that is true. We implore Allah Azza wa Jal to help us in this life, as we strive in this life in whatever we do, that our hearts are oriented towards Allah. So that whatever I do in seeking an honest, genuine, respectable livelihood in this world, I do that with always my heart aware of Allah Azza wa Jal.

In addition to that, listen to this beautiful, powerful principle taught by Rasulullah ﷺ about having the attitude either of مِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ الدُّنْيَا or the attitude of مِنكُم مَّن يُرِيدُ الْآخِرَةَ. There are those of you whose orientation is this world, and there are those of you whose orientation is the home of the year after. Listen to what he says about that ﷺ:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2465; Ibn Majah, Hadith 4105)

He says in this well-established hadith: the one who is in this life whose هَمّ, whose worry, whose striving, whose focus, is the home of the year after — is Ākhirah. Now that's the condition. The consequence of that: جَعَلَ اللَّهُ غِنَاهُ فِي قَلْبِهِ — Allah will instill richness in that person's heart.

The promise of Allah through Rasulullah ﷺ: you live this life to live honorably, your heart is in Ākhirah, and most of us live this life wanting to be rich materially, thinking that's the way to be safe and secure and independent and successful and at peace. He says: if you are that person whose قَلْب is in Ākhirah, Allah will make your heart rich — coming back to the heart again. And if your heart is rich, you feel rich, no matter how much more or less of wealth or power we have. And if our قَلْب is not rich, we will always feel poor and destitute and weak and afraid and insecure and agitated.

جَعَلَ اللَّهُ غِنَاهُ فِي قَلْبِهِ وَجَمَعَ لَهُ شَمْلَهُ — Second: Allah Azza wa Jal will make all matters for him or her collected together. He or she inside does not feel dispersed and shattered. When we have problems, when we have worries that we are unable to solve, unresolved conflicts — how painful it is, because we feel inside shattered and nothing is resolved and we feel empty inside, we are going to collapse inside — versus when we are collected inside. Allah gives a gift to a person like that, that he or she will be collected inside.

And thirdly: وَأَتَتْهُ الدُّنْيَا وَهِيَ رَاغِمَةٌ — and on top of all of that, the good of this Dunya, the material good of this world — of wealth or power — the good ones will come to that person, despite the conditions or the odds or the energies spent or not spent.

But if we are the opposite, he says: وَمَنْ كَانَتِ الدُّنْيَا هَمَّهُ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ فَقْرَهُ بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ — and the person who lives in this world, however, whose orientation is Dunya — Allah will make poverty and weakness — in other words, always present in front of his eyes. That person will never cease to be insecure, unhappy, afraid — afraid not to have, afraid to lose — always, always afraid, cannot stand a moment without having or without being in control. The punishment is in that itself.

جَعَلَ اللَّهُ فَقْرَهُ بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ — he or she or they will always feel insecure and destitute and poor and endangered and threatened inside. Wonder why the world is filled with diseases like anxieties and depressions and so on and so forth. The more the world becomes materialistic, and the more we psychologically incline to those goals, the more there will be of psychiatrists to deal with our falls and with our depressions and psychotic behavior.

جَعَلَ اللَّهُ فَقْرَهُ بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ وَفَرَّقَ عَلَيْهِ شَمْلَهُ — and inside the person will feel dispersed and scattered — and that is exactly the source of depressions. فَرَّقَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ شَمْلَهُ — his or her inner wholeness is not collected, it is shattered. And that is the source of insecurities.

وَلَمْ يَأْتِهِ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَا قُدِّرَ لَهُ — and on top of all of that, despite his or her striving and over-expenditure of energy to have more of Dunya, he or she or they will not get of this Dunya except that which Allah has already destined for them. Whether you are a billionaire or a trillionaire — because some of us, out of this insecurity and Dunya-orientation, can achieve something in Dunya of wealth — for example, in Allah's decree, the Creator of laws of cause and effect, He would Subhanahu wa Ta'ala allow that if we spent n amount of energy — but because of that we spend one thousand times n of energy to get something we could have gotten with n amount of energy only.

May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala help us be of those who listen to the words of admonition and follow the best of them.

Du'a and Closing

I say these words of mine and I seek the forgiveness of Allah the Magnificent for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness, for He is the Most Forgiving. Glad tidings to those who seek forgiveness.

O servants of Allah: indeed Allah commands justice and excellence and giving to those of near kin, and He forbids indecency and evil and transgression. He admonishes you so that perhaps you will take heed.

وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ — And remember Allah, He will remember you. Rise to your prayer, may Allah have mercy upon you.