20170616- 1st Khutba- Imam Mokhtar Maghraoui

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ. وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا وَمَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْكَلَامِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهُدَى هُدَى سَيِّدِنَا وَمَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

O you who have attained faith, have taqwa in Allah — be Allah-conscious and reverent of Allah, as is worthy of who he is, of his glory and majesty and beauty and infinite perfection, and of his unlimited favors and bounties and gifts upon us. And make sure we do not die except in a state of Islam, except in a state of loving surrender — of our souls and spirits, of our hearts, of our minds, of our words, of our deeds — all in loving surrender to Allah.

Alhamdulillah. All praise is due to Allah, who willed to make himself known to his creation, and so he sent his most beloved — his most beloved — to help us know him. Alhamdulillah. And all praise is to Allah, who in doing that also taught us how to do that, and showed us ways that he knows — for he created us — to draw nearer to him; to liberate us from the yokes and the chains of our ego, and of our selfishness, of our base and low drives; to exalt us and to raise us above the gravitational pull of our hewa and shahawat — of our whims and base desires.

He gave us salah. He gave us zakah. He gave us siyam and hajj. And before all of that — Tawheed: the word of affirmation, the active affirmation of the oneness of Allah. He taught us all of that to help liberate us from ourselves, so that we can find the ultimate freedom — him. What keeps us from being truly, truly free are our own selves, our own ego, our own personal and base drives.

The Ibadah of Liberation

Hayya 'alal salah, hayya 'alal falah — come to the spiritual encounter with Allah, and give up your addiction to anything else, even lawful things. Come, be liberated. Don't be addicted to that. Zakah — don't be addicted to possessing, to having, to wealth, to power. And yes, fasting — don't be addicted to food and drink and enjoyment, night or day. Liberate your mind, your heart, your feelings, your drives from that, so that you can learn to discover the beauty of Allah's names in your heart and in your life.

The Final Days of Ramadan

Only about eight or nine days are left of this beautiful month of Ramadan. And as we feel it — if we do — some may already have heartbeats that are quick now, heartbeats of almost pain, some light anxiety, because they know it has begun to leave. And by Allah, 21 days have passed so swiftly, so quickly.

Woe on me. Woe on me, who have not taken the opportunity during these 21 days to learn to be free. Woe on me. Only eight or nine days are left. May Allah during these last remaining days give me and you even more desire and more energy to reconnect with him.

As Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — even in the last, the last, the last 10 days and nights of Ramadan — showed us that we should do even more. During those 10 last nights, and in his last year of life even 20 nights, he spent in even more intense focus on his spirit, on his heart, on his soul, in what we call i'tikaf. He did not relax. On the contrary. He would not even lie down to sleep at night. And he — who he was, with the soul that he had, and the heart that he had, and the closeness to Allah that he already enjoyed — he accelerated and intensified his ibadah, his worship of Allah, during those last 10 nights. And in this case, even in seclusion, he complied and made himself conform to only ibadah of Allah.

He would pitch a tent inside the musalla of his noble masjid, close the tent, and be in ibadah — not in anything else. In dhikr, in contemplation. He would come out only for salatul faridah, the obligatory salah. On top of that, fasting — the way he fasts. At the first level: holding from food and drink in a very noble, very beautiful way. The second level: his tongue and all his senses in siyam, that is, in obedience of Allah. And the third level: his heart being in siyam — meaning constantly aware of Allah, and constantly allowing only that which is beautiful in his heart.

Moderation: The Lesson of Ramadan

This month helps us develop the notion of moderation in everything in our lives. Allah says: eat and drink, but do not be excessive — be moderate.

Eat and drink and do not be excessive. This month should have taught me by now to be moderate in the way I eat. I don't eat all day from dawn to dusk. And hopefully when dusk arrives, my iftar is very moderate — because I do not fast to celebrate food and drink, to celebrate dessert and so on. I fast because I am meant to learn to find freedom and joy in other than eating and drinking, in other than sleeping and copulating, in other than playing and jesting. I am meant to discover joy outside of that. So when I have to — and I do — have iftar, then I should do that without israf. And that should teach me not to be in a mode of israf, of excess, in anything I do in my life.

As it is said that Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: we are a nation, we are a community of people — when it comes to eating, we eat and drink only when we are hungry. And when we eat, we do not eat to satiation, we do not eat until shiba, until we are full. No israf.

The Wisdom of Moderation from the Salihun

One of the salihun was asked — confirming the teaching of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ — "How much should I eat?" He answered: eat above hunger and less than satiation. Eat enough to remove hunger, but don't eat until you're full. And this is the recipe for health in so many ways. May Allah forgive us and help us.

And he was asked — the student asking the teacher — "How much should I laugh? May I laugh?" Some of us, laughing has to be regular. "How much should I laugh?" He answered: laugh to the extent you remove frowning from your face. Don't be a frowner — smile. Do that to the extent you remove frowning from your face.

"How much may I weep, and shed tears, and cry?" Now this is a student of ilm, of ibadah, of ta'a, of irada, asking the teacher. He answered: the one who affirms the oneness of Allah and the faithful person shall never have enough of shedding tears out of reverence and fear from Allah — that should always be.

Shaitan and the Pathways of the Blood

Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was once walking at night after his i'tikaf. One of his wives — one of our mothers of the believers — had visited him in the masjid, and so he escorted her out for a little while at night. In those days there was no light outside. Two companions were walking and they saw his silhouette and the silhouette of a woman next to him.

He said — and he knew the hearts of all men — he mentioned her name and said: "This is my wife." They said, "Ya Rasulullah, we would have never thought." He said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2035; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2175)

"Verily, shaitan runs in the human being along the pathways of the blood." He said: "I feared that your hearts would be injected with something evil by shaitan."

The point here — some ulama and awliya, some saintly scholars, said: therefore, block the pathway of shaitan inside of you by siyam and by hunger. When we eat moderately, when we fast, when we are hungry voluntarily — especially when we are hungry voluntarily — that helps us in the spiritual realm, restraining and constricting the freedom of shaitan inside of us.

The whispers of shaitan are treated with fasting — proper fasting, and doing that to the best of our ability. Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ used to do that. And therefore it is said — as Sayyiduna Yahya ibn Mu'adh, a very great saintly scholar, rahimahullah ta'ala, is related to have mentioned:

The whispers of shaitan — and we are all subject to that — if they find a landing ground in the heart of hunger, they will fade away, they will disappear, they will not land, they cannot. But if they find the heart in shiba, in satiation, in fullness, then they will land and be firm and grow. SubhanAllah.

That is why it is said: the first step to losing ourselves in dunya is shiba — to eat excessively, to eat to satiation regularly. The wasawis of shaitan, the whispers of shaitan, increase the more we eat and the more we drink — in quantity and in quality. And if we eat moderately, and we watch that and perform siyam — and many of you know, may Allah bless you, that Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ not only fasted the month of Ramadan — he fasted most of Sha'ban, Mondays and Thursdays, three days of every month, and on and on. With the spiritual state in which he was, you can see that there is something very special being taught to us — something very, very beneficial for us.

Treating the Hardness of the Heart

Qasawatul quloob — harshness and hardness of the heart — is also treated by siyam and by kindness. One of the righteous, scholarly early predecessors, Dhunnun al-Misri, rahma Allah ta'ala, said:

Fa adil al-siyam — if you desire that the hardness and harshness and rudeness of your heart would go away, then be consistent in fasting. Fast very frequently. Be constant in fasting — extra siyam besides the month of Ramadan — fast, if you want to treat harshness and hardness of the heart. And then he says: if there is still more qasawa left in your heart —

Fa adil al-qiyam — the treatment in this case is: stand long in salah at night. Wallahi, hadha mujarrab — stand long in salah at night. And this is the month of siyam and qiyam. This is the month that treats the qasawa of our qulub — the hardness of our hearts — through consistent, proper fasting and through salah and dhikr and du'a and qiyam and taraweeh at night.

And he said: if there is still qasawa — hardness — left, it is a sign. It means: look in your life, and you will find perhaps that you are committing haram somehow — eating something haram, or using your tongue in haram ways, or listening to sounds and voices that are haram, or indulging the heart in that which is haram. He says: there is haram. If there is still qasawa after the treatment of long siyam and long qiyam, there is still qasawa — watch it. There is a sign that there is haram in your life. Keep haram away from your life.

And then — if there is still some qasawa — watch: sili arham. Connect the ties of kinship. Be kind to your relatives. Be gentle. Do that even if it is difficult — it is difficult because maybe the heart is hard. My heart is hard. But if I strive, Allah will find a way for me.

Be Kind to the Orphan and Feed the Needy

And then finally he said: if there is still qasawa left, be kind to the orphan. Be kind to the orphan. As Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ instructed a man who came to him and complained sincerely: "Ya Rasulullah, I have a harsh heart." He did not hide it — like many of us act kind when around others and are so rude otherwise. He said: "Ya Rasulullah, I have a heart that is hard. Help me."

SubhanAllah. This is the treatment he gave that man — probably, by the will of Allah and at his leave, seeing into his soul, into his heart. He said to him: feed the needy, and caress the head of the orphan. Be kind to the orphan. Feed the needy — as a treatment also of our harshness of heart.

Standing at the Door of Akramul Akrameen

Seek the forgiveness of Allah — what an excellent abode awaits those who sincerely seek forgiveness from Allah. A saintly predecessor of our beautiful ummah said:

He said, rahimahullah ta'ala: if a man — a needy man — would incessantly, for an entire month, stand at the door of a well-known, righteous, generous, noble man, and waits and waits and pleads for help — that man, on account of the generosity and nobility of the one he is pleading to, would ultimately come out and يَقْضِي لَهُ حَاجَتَهُ — would grant his need. At the very least, يَنْظُرُ فِي حَاجَتِهِ — he would look into the matter that he came for and his need.

He says: what about one who comes not only one month — five times every day, for one month — nay, for one year — nay, for forty years — standing at the door of the most noble of all those who are noble, of the most generous of those who are generous, أَكْرَمُ الْأَكْرَمِينَ — the most generous of those who are generous — and does that constantly? Would you not say that he definitely would grant his need, and thus would not burn him in the fire?

Do you understand? May your hearts and my heart — may our hearts — be of those who are standing, standing with our hearts, at the door of Allah, every day, five times a day, for this entire beautiful month, and for the rest of our lives, standing and pleading and asking. He is very, very, very, very, very generous — if we are there, how could he not grant us our wish, our ultimate wish: not to enter hell?

Allahu Karim, Allahu Karim, Allahu Karim. So do not give up. Do not give up, my brother. Do not give up, my sister. Pray for me that I don't give up — that we continue to stand at the door, at the gate of Akramul Akrameen. And we do develop, bi-idhnillah, the certitude that he will give, and that he will forgive. For what he gives us of hasanat — of doing good — he loves. So we ask him for what he loves. Our sins and our shortcomings and our wrongdoings do not harm him, do not hurt him. So we ask him to forgo that which does not harm him, and to give us that which he loves.

Closing Reminder and Du'a

Ibadallah — ud'u Allaha min samimi qulubikum wa bi ikhlas — seek Allah's help with the very bottom of our hearts, and with honesty and sincerity and purity of intention.

Ibadallah, qumu ila salatikum yarhamkumullah.