20160610 -1st Khutba - Imam Mokhtar Maghroui

Opening: The Khutbah Begins

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, be Allah-conscious — have awe and reverence in your hearts for Allah in a way that is worthy of who He is, worthy of His names and attributes, the most beautiful and majestic and perfect, worthy of His kindness, worthy of His favours and bounties incessant upon us, worthy of His essence — and make sure we do not die except in a state of Islam, where our souls and spirits, our hearts and minds, our words and deeds are all in loving, loving, loving, voluntary surrender to Allah.

Ameen.

The Blessing of Ramadan

Alhamdulillah for the ni'mah of being alive again and the opportunity to be in ibadah of Allah during this gift — this month of Ramadan. Alhamdulillah for the ni'mah of Ramadan again, for the opportunity given to us by Allah to make up — hopefully a lot of that which we missed — to re-energize and to recharge and to reorient our hearts and minds, more reoriented towards Him.

As I have reminded myself and you, as Rasulullah Mawlana صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ teaches us from the letter and the spirit of the Quran: the essence and the spirit of fasting the month of Ramadan is not only to refrain from food and drink, but to be in a state of spiritual fast — with our minds, with our hearts. That is, we do not harbor inside of us that which He does not love. That we do not allow inside of us traits and characteristics and feelings and emotions and drives and sympathies or antipathies that are not liked or loved or sanctioned by Allah.

The Spiritual Fast: Heart, Senses, and Tongue

That we watch what we feel, we watch what we harbor inside of us in our relationship with Allah through our relationship with the creatures of Allah. Our hearts must fast. Consequently, our senses must fast — our eyes, the way we use our eyes; the way we use our ears; the way we use our tongues; the way we use our hands and legs; the way we use our stomachs; the way we use all of our drives inside of us externally — all of that must fast. Otherwise, the essence of fasting is gone.

We must not begin our iftar by eating meat — and that is backbiting. We must not begin our iftar and begin Ramadan by eating meat of our own brothers and sisters, dead by backbiting, by not still refraining in our hearts and in our tongues from that which He does not love.

You were reminded and I was reminded: our fast is essentially, in the spiritual sense, useless if we do not control our emotions, our drives, our tongues, our senses — they must fast as well. And with that we must guard our tongues. The sense that is most used by us is our tongue. If we don't control the tongue, our fast might be useless. And that which leads most human beings to the fire of Hell, even as Muslims, are the harvests of the tongues.

And therefore, during this beautiful blessed month, my beloved brothers and sisters, I admonish you and myself: in addition to these, watch your hearts, watch your senses — they must be in their own kind of spiritual fast.

The First Admonishment: Dhikr of Allah

I admonish you and myself, in the context of this, to be — especially during this month, more frequently than otherwise — in the remembrance of Allah with your tongues and with your hearts.

This is the month where the gates of Jannah are open. Goodness and virtues and good deeds are made easy for those who want, and evil and bad deeds are made difficult for those who want. The gates of Hell are shut.

Dhikr of Allah seems to be — should be — easiest. Yet most of us don't do that, neither in Ramadan nor outside of Ramadan. And yet Rasulullah Mawlana صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ described the dhikr of Allah as the most beloved of deeds to Allah, as the most meritorious of deeds, as the most noble of deeds — as more even beneficial than spending gold and silver in charities, than even encountering the enemy hostile to the deen — unjust and oppressive — and fighting against them. Dhikr is even better than all of that.

The tongue always in dhikr, until the qalb — the heart — becomes always in dhikr of Allah. And when the qalb becomes in dhikr of Allah, then our style of life will be rectified, will be upright. If the qalb is clean, the senses are clean, the tongue is clean, our lives are clean. If the qalb is unclean, our senses will be unclean, our words will be unclean, our tongues will be unclean, our conduct will be unclean — and we will die unclean, and we will be resurrected unclean.

Frequent dhikr of Allah cleanses the heart — in addition to it being the most beloved of deeds to Allah. Please don't take it lightly. Be energetic. Make a decision to be in dhikr of Allah.

We have to make decisions in life. Decisions are not only about business. Yes, you need to make good moral, ethical, good decisions in your halal business. But we need to make decisions more so, more importantly in our lives, about doing the right things, feeling the right things in our relationship directly through ibadah with Allah.

The Second Admonishment: Du'a

The second admonishment: I admonish you and myself not to forget to implore Allah, to be in du'a, to supplicate, to beg from Allah, to ask Allah that which you know Allah loves for you to be and to become or to have.

Khayru ma tas'alu Allah, ma sa'alahu Allahu minka, ma talabahu Allahu minka. The best thing we ask from Allah is that which Allah asks from us. He wants me to be a mutawakkil — one who trusts Him. Ya Allah, make me a mutawakkil. He wants me to be a dhakir. Ya Allah, please make me a dhakir. He wants me to be patient and forbearing. Ya Allah, please make me patient and forbearing. He wants me to be kind and benevolent. Ya Allah, please make me kind, compassionate, merciful and benevolent.

Implore Allah. While striving, while making efforts — nobody makes it on account of their own efforts, only on account of divine merciful love or loving mercy. Never rely on your own resources, on your own abilities, on your own struggle and striving — even in spiritual matters. That's required, but don't rely on that. Rely on His merciful love and loving mercy. We must. We have no choice.

Akthiru min al-du'a. Al-du'a is the umbilical cord that links us — we the embryos in this world, in this life — that links us to our source of life, Allah. Implore Allah. Be in du'a of Allah. Always. Especially during this month.

In the Quran, as Allah was speaking to us about the virtues of the month of Ramadan, in the context of Ramadan, He emphasizes du'a. When He says, in the context of Ramadan:

In the context of Ramadan, in the context of fasting, Allah — for those who ponder and see and reflect, spiritually as well as rationally — we can see how Allah, in this latif, subtle way, teaches us about the virtue and the merits of du'a while we are fasting in the month of Ramadan in particular.

"If my servants ask thee about me, I am close. I answer the pleas and the supplications of those who invoke me."

The Third Admonishment: Serving and Helping Others

Having said this, and in this context, during this month of rahmah — this month of compassion and merciful love, this month of special gifts from Allah, this month of generosity — and Sayyiduna Mawlana صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was always very, very benevolent and generous in the month of Ramadan, more so — I remind you and myself during this month, in that envelope and in that context: to be helpful, to be one who serves, to be one who supports, to be one who helps alleviate pain and suffering from others' lives. To be one who helps bring joy — in the shari' sense, in the way it is pleasing to Allah and beloved to Allah — to bring joy to the life of a person, to the heart of a person.

To remember that Sayyiduna Mawlana صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said to us:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith 6518)

Whosoever contributes to removing hardship, or grief, or sadness, or sorrow from the life of a believing man or woman, Allah will remove a similar hardship from his life or her life on the Day of Resurrection. That grief, that fear, that anxiety, that pain, that need — Allah will take care of it for you, for us, on the Day of Judgment — when there is nothing that can support us, that can help us, except Allah. No creation is of any use anymore except as it pleases Allah.

Covering the Faults of Others

(Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith 6518)

The person who helps cover up a fault of a person — not a crime, a fault — a person makes a mistake, sins in ways that perhaps a mu'min doesn't want, but is weak and commits that, and you're the only one who could see it. Don't expose. Allah — if you do that out of love for Allah — we are filled with عَوْرَات. We are filled with deficiencies and mistakes and faults — and your عَوْرَات which you don't see. If you cover the عَوْرَة of someone else out of kindness and love and compassion and mercy, Allah on the Day of Judgment will cover your عَوْرَة — will not expose you. If you expose, He will expose you.

And there are those who love to expose people and not give them a chance to repent, and they delight in seeing people punished and hurt and in pain. If you are like that, don't expect Him on the Day of Judgment to be otherwise than that to you — especially during the month of Ramadan.

Bringing Joy and Comfort to Others

A person who contributes to introducing in the life of a person, in the heart of a person, joy — as we said earlier — and ease and comfort. Such as a person hungry, and you feed a needy, hungry person. A person homeless, and you provide shelter and housing for them. A person in need, suffering, an orphan, ill, sick, in want, in destitution — and you do that. You walk with them, you help them, you carry them, you give them. You walk with them in order to make sure that what they need is finally acquired, as much as you can. If you do that, in the context of what we said earlier in that envelope, you are very special with Allah. You are very special with Allah.

The Warning: Do Not Turn Away Those in Need

To the extent that he صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ tells us: if a person is bestowed upon by Allah a favor — a ni'mah of any kind, of any kind: wealth or power or resources or knowledge, or social abilities, certain special faculties — whatever favor Allah has bestowed upon you. And then somebody comes and seeks help from that ni'mah that Allah has bestowed upon you. Of course, most of us don't see it that way — but as the text teaches, Allah sends somebody to you to seek help from that ni'mah. And you feel uncomfortable with that. You feel apprehensive about that. Then what will happen is: you have made that favor, already bestowed upon you by Allah, ready to leave you. You have made it ready to be lifted from you.

During this month of Ramadan, there are needs, there are hurts, there is pain everywhere in the world. In our communities at different levels — psychological, emotional, I start even with that. Spiritual, moral, ethical — I start with that. And then yes, material, physical, financial, economic. There are needs. We must not forget. We must not forget the spirit of this month, my beloved brothers and sisters.

Even Small Acts of Goodness Matter

Even — don't forget — that removing trash from the streets, let alone from around the masjid and from inside the masjid, is a sadaqah. That is an act that Allah loves. Removing garbage and trash and not throwing trash anywhere you are — let alone in the precincts of the masjid or inside the masjid. Removing that which hurts anybody in any way from their way is a beautiful sadaqah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2989; Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 1009)

As it is related that Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: "Remove hurdles in general from the path of people — that is to you charity. It will be an act of charity."

As he also said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: "Look for anything that would hurt people in their way or on their ways, and remove it from their ways."

Remove it from their ways — physically from their ways. Emotionally from their way to You, ya Allah. Spiritually from their way to You, ya Allah. Socially from their way to You, ya Allah. Help remove those obstacles and those hurdles.

He even told us in a hadith صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that a person who was really someone who did not do much good — but this one thing happened. He was on the way and there was a thorny bush in the way of people. He removed it out of kindness and awareness of Allah — an act of compassion, an act of goodness. He removed it from the path of people. This text says Allah entered him into Jannah because of that.

The Story of the Woman and the Dog

You all know the other famous story in the hadith — the woman, the الْمَرْأَةُ الْمُومِسَةُ — the woman who had gone astray. She was on her way in those early days. Even those used to wear khimar. Pay attention — even those used to wear khimar in the old days; khimar maybe didn't cover properly, but they wore khimar in those days.

So she arrives and she sees at the edge of a well a dog — so thirsty that he was going to die. She, compassionately, filled with mercy — Allah put that in her heart — she stops. She takes her khuf, her leather sock. She removes it. She removes her khimar. She attaches it as a rope to the leather, and she scoops with this leather sock, and she scoops water from the well and gives the dog to drink.

Rasulullah Mawlana صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says: because of that act, Allah forgave her.

This is the spirit of the month of Ramadan. The envelope I started with — put all of these in that envelope, close it, and send it to Allah.

Closing: Seeking Forgiveness

Seek the forgiveness of Allah. What an excellent abode awaits those who sincerely seek forgiveness from Allah.

Second Part of the Khutbah

Qumu ila salatikum, yarhamkumullah. — Rise to your prayer, may Allah have mercy on you.