20170519 -1st Khutba- Imam Mokhtar Maghraoui

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

Praise be to Allah, we praise Him, we ask for His help, we ask for His forgiveness and we ask for His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whom He misguides, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that our master Muhammad is His servant and His 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 the worst of all things are their inventions. And every invention is an innovation. And every innovation is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

Taqwa — Dying in a State of Islam

O you who have attained faith, be Allah-conscious. Have reverent awe in your hearts for Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And do that in a way that is worthy of who He is — worthy of His essence, ultimately and most importantly; and worthy of His names and attributes; and thus worthy of the beauty and majesty, infinitely, in those names and those attributes; and worthy of the innumerable, uncountable favors and bounties that He incessantly keeps bestowing upon us. And thus make sure that we do not die except in a state of Islam.

I and you have a choice about how we live and how we die. We may not and we do not have a choice about when to die, or where to die. But we do have a choice about how to die. And we do have a choice about how to live in order to die. And thus Allah says: make sure you do not die except in a state of loving surrender — of our hearts, of our souls, of our spirits, of our minds, of our words, of our deeds — all in loving surrender to Him سبحانه وتعالى, to His will. This is the beginning and the end of human life and human reality.

The True Identity of the Human Being

That loving surrender is most importantly the loving surrender of what constitutes the identity of the human being. And what constitutes the identity of the human being is not his or her physical makeup. It is not his or her appearance. It is not his or her tribal affiliation. It is not because of his or her complexion. It is not because of his or her material possessions. But on account of what the human being inherently is — in the reality of the human being.

And the reality of the human being is not material — not what follows from it, not what separates from it. But the origin of the human being and the reality of the human being is the soul that Allah سبحانه وتعالى breathed into the human being. That is the reality of the human being. The very spirit or soul that Allah سبحانه وتعالى breathed into the human being — that identifies the reality of the human being.

Says Allah عز وجل — what it means: when He spoke to the angels سبحانه وتعالى and said: I am going to create a human being from salsal, from hama' masnūn — from clay made out of stinking black mud, mud that has remained for a long while, with methane and all things mixed in. It will generate a swampy feeling and swampy taste and smell that is very, very uncomfortable — masnūn, sour, uncomfortable. I am going to make a human being from clay — that is the material part of our human reality, the physical part of our human identity.

But He said — only after He said فَإِذَا سَوَّيْتُهُ — and when I have fashioned him and proportioned him — وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي — and then breathed into him of My spirit, of the soul — then lay yourselves prostrate to him.

It is in this beautiful, subtle way that we learn that the angels عليهم صلوات الله وسلامه were not made to lay themselves prostrate in this sign of reverence, respect, and first obedience to Allah سبحانه وتعالى — they were not made to do so until after the breathing of the rūḫ into that clay of swampy, stinking mud. Then only is the human's worth made special.

And what is of worth in us as a human being is not our physical appearance, is not our material constitution. And therefore the pursuits in our lives are not to be pursuits about obsessively and largely fulfilling the needs or extravagant conveniences of the body — the material one — while ignoring the nourishment and provisions necessary for the preservation and promotion of our spirit, our rūḫ. And many of us have it upside down. Our lives are all about the pursuit of the physical, of the sensual, of the material. And the world is all about that — politically, economically — because the philosophy about the human being is that what is of worth is what is material.

But Allah عز وجل made us know that what makes us worthy — even the angels, the most elect and beautiful divine spiritual creation, are made to show respect to us as human beings — not on account of our physical bodies and therefore the physical pursuits of this life, but on account of our spirit and therefore spirituality. On account of our souls and therefore our rabbāniyyah. On account of our 'aql and therefore our spiritual intelligence and morality. That is what makes us worthy. We have to keep that in mind always.

That is why it is said:

O human being, your worry and your focus should always be about mending and caring and adorning and beautifying your spirit, your soul, your mind. For you are human not on account of your body, but on account of your soul, of your spirit, of your mind. That is what makes you a true human being.

And thus our pursuits in this life are to be in accordance with this reality of the human being.

Three Types of Corrupted Selves

Some of us human beings, as Allah عز وجل indicates in the Qur'an and as Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم indicates in his teachings in the Sunnah — and therefore our expert scholars and our saintly scholars رحمهم الله تعالى derive conclusions about our different types of personalities, our different types of egos, our different types of selves — whether they are consistent with fulfilling the balance that is due between the soul and the body, or whether they violate that balance and lean away from the absolute importance of the spiritual, the intellectual, the rūḫānī.

The First Type: The Animal-Like Self

Some of us, as the Qur'an also indicates, have selves and egos and personalities with inner energies and choices that are very animal-like, very cattle-like.

Some human beings are like — He said سبحانه وتعالى — in their reality, what they are inside, like cattle, livestock. The character and the drives and the personality of a cow, or of a goat, or of a pig. When our hard work and our thoughts and our drives and our arguments and our likes and dislikes are centered around eating and drinking and having fun and copulating and sleeping. That personality is strangulating the soul, suffocating the rūḫ, by feeding and nurturing and promoting excessively these livestock, animal-like, cattle-like aspects of life.

The Second Type: The Predatory, Wolf-Like Self

And there are those of us who are even worse than that. Those of us whose inclinations, whose drives, whose personalities are about fierce competition — whether you are a politician, an economist, a financial institution, a business person, or whatever you are. One would sometimes have a personality of a predator, of a killer, of a wolf. In other words: to hurt, to take over, to usurp, to destroy, to be selfishly angry at all levels — at home, at work, institutionally, or individually. "Kill the competition" — that predatory attitude in social life, economic life, political life, or personal lives.

Says Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, as narrated by Sayyiduna Abū Hurayrah رضي الله تعالى عنه:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, narrated by Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah, raḍiyallāhu ta'ālā 'anh)

There shall be human beings who shall obtain and seek and buy dunya — this world — by giving up faith, dīn. They buy this dunya, and the price is dīn — your faith, your values, your spiritual constants, your tawḥīdī constants — in exchange for that. And they will wear skins of lamb for people — that is a metaphor: lamb is innocent, nice, gentle. It is only an appearance, an external manifestation. And their tongues — the words they speak — are sweeter than honey. May Allah protect us. And their hearts are hearts of wolves — قُلُوبُهُمْ قُلُوبُ الذِّئَابِ — predatory instincts in family life, social life, work life, political life, and economic life.

The Third Type: The Shaytanī, Devil-Like Self

And some of us are even worse than that. Some human beings, says Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, as indicated also in the Qur'an in subtle ways — some of us have inclinations inside, a personality, that is devilish, shayṭānī. Those who conspire; those who like to see others in pain; those who like to always be the chiefs, the leaders, and would compete for that in predatory ways; those who are arrogant, deluded, evaluating themselves beyond what they are; those who sow seeds of animosity. Like Shayṭān, who was مَغْرُور — deluded — and مُتَكَبِّر — arrogant — and who loves to sow seeds of animosity and is abusive.

We all understand that the shayṭānī personality is antithetical to kindness, to gentleness, to politeness, to morality, to balance, to peace, and quietude and tranquility. Shayṭān is fire. Whatever makes Shayṭān satisfied would make some human beings satisfied. And when we are like that, we have a shayṭānī personality. والعياذ بالله.

Therefore Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم says, in a long hadith on the authority of Sayyiduna Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān رضي الله تعالى عنه وأرضاه — the bearer of the secrets of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم — when he asked several questions about prophecies of things to come, and towards the end he said: "O Messenger of Allah, will there be good after this evil?" He said:

Yes, there will be good — but it is smoky, it is not clear, it is murky, it is stained.

He said: "What is the source of that dakhān, O Messenger of Allah?" He said:

(Sḥaḥīḫ Muslim)

People who in their overall lives navigate not by my way, not by my Sunnah — they do on their own account what they want to do and try to argue and legitimize it. And then: And there shall rise from amongst them people — men — whose hearts are hearts of devils in the bodies of humans. Human appearance, but hearts of devils. Not only of wolves, but of devils. والعياذ بالله.

The World Shrinks the Spirit — The Sacred Expands It

And this is all about the rūḫ — mending the rūḫ, rectifying the rūḫ, promoting the rūḫ, caring for the rūḫ — the spirit, the soul, the heart, the mind — versus giving all that up and focusing on the senses and the material and the now and the immediate and the worldly.

Attachment to this lower world — of all its manifestations — shrinks the spirit. It makes it smaller, restricted, confined, not as free. Because the realm of the material is after all limited. The realm of the worldly, of the created is after all limited. So when we are world-oriented, we become — spirit-wise — shrunk, limited. Whereas the sacred expands and enlarges it to no limit. When we care for our rūḫ, and we promote our rūḫ, and we feed our rūḫ, our spirit expands. It is freer. It can experience and realize dimensions beyond the constrictions of the immediate and the worldly.

Try that. When we are in our lives occupied with matters of this world — even legitimately — see how you are in your minds, in your intellect, let alone in your emotions and feelings. You will see how often you are shrunk. And therefore, anxious. And when there is that anxiety, the only way to explode is in shayṭānī ways, predatory ways — whatever your occupation or style of life.

But if you and I, in the challenges we face or the opportunities we have, do not miss to always be — intellectually, mentally, and spiritually — outside of the realm of the immediate and the worldly, through the sacred: how you feel emotionally — security and ease and respite — and also, you feel intellectually wider. Things become more spacious in your mind, in your ability to rationalize, and in your ability to see and conceive intellectually in the right way.

When we allow the sacred to be inside of us, my dear brothers and sisters: the worldly shrinks our spirit, and the heavenly or the sacred expands it to no limits.

O Allah, please help us be of those who listen to the words of admonition and follow the best of them.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ لِي وَلَكُمْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ — Please seek the forgiveness of Allah. What an excellent abode awaits those who sincerely seek forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى.

Second Khutbah — Preparing for Ramadan

الحمد لله وكفى وصلى الله على عباده الذين اصطفى

And therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, الحمد لله, we are almost entering the month of Ramadan. And this is towards the end of Sha'bān, a month that prepares us for Ramadan.

And Ramadan's essential objective is to nourish our soul, our rūḫ, our qalb, our heart, our mind — and to put aside, in a balanced way, our physical, sensual, material drives and inclinations — in order to learn and discover the true balance between the needs of the worldly body and the needs of the heavenly spiritual heart. That's why we are not supposed to eat from dawn to sunset, or drink, or copulate, or be excessive in the way we usually are. That is all about holding back the nourishment and the promotion — especially excessively — of the immediate and the worldly and the sensual and the physical and the material part of us.

And with that attitude — if done properly, keeping the stomach clean, the body in check, and the nafsānī low and egotistic personality traits in check — we are elevated.

In order that you attain taqwa — and Allah-consciousness is something high and special and heavenly, not worldly and immediate and material.

And with that, my dear brothers and sisters — كَثْرَةُ تِلَاوَةِ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ — prolific, frequent, abundant dhikr of Allah عز وجل, especially through the reading of the Book of Allah عز وجل and the study of it — because it is heavenly, from the Most High, so it elevates you. It lifts you. Because it is from the Most High, it calls you to the Most High. Whereas eating and drinking and copulating and so forth brings me and you down to stay on earth — because it is material, and matter has a gravitational pull, so you are pulled to this dunya.

And Allah wants us to be helped to be liberated — in our qulūb, in our souls, in our spirits, and therefore in our drives and therefore in our words and deeds.

My dear brothers and sisters, let us fervently and lovingly await the arrival soon of the month of Ramadan. Let us prepare for it. Let us prepare to receive this divine guest the way it ought to be received — because that is a guest from the Divine, from the Most High. Be spiritually high — do not be low. And that special guest from the Most High will, at the end, when he leaves, report to the Divine in which state he left you and me. May Allah protect us from our sins, may He revive us and take us with the righteous.

May Allah grant us to be pious — You are the best of those who are pious, You are its Guardian and its Master. May Allah not leave us to ourselves nor to anything of Your creation, O Allah — please do not entrust us to our own selves and our own personalities or to any of Your creatures, not even for a moment as short as a blink of an eye. And we seek refuge in You from their evil. And make us pious — a mercy to the worlds — O Lord of the worlds.

O Allah, heal our sick. O Allah, make our days good and make them happy — the day we meet You.

O servants of Allah —

Allah commands justice, kindness, and giving to relatives, and forbids immorality, evil, and transgression — so that you may remember. Remember Allah and He will remember you. Stand up for your prayer — may Allah have mercy on you.