20161021- 1st Khutba - Imam Mokhtar Maghroui

Opening Salutations

As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatullāhi wa-barakātuh. As-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā ashrafi wa-akrami wa-anbalī wa-aḥabbi anbiyā'ih. Sayyidinā wa-mawlānā Muḥammadin al-ṣādiq al-amīn al-ṭayyib al-ṭāhir al-rasūli al-mubīn al-mabʿūthi raḥmatan li-l-ʿālamīn, wa-ʿalā ālihi al-ṭāhirīn al-ṭayyibīn wa-aṣḥābihi al-ṣāliḥīn al-ghurri al-mayāmīn wa-t-tābiʿīn lahum bi-iḥsānin ilā yawmi d-dīn.

Allāhumma ijʿalnā minhum. Āmīn.

As Allah azzawajal tells us and calls us always: O you who have attained faith, be reverent of Allah subḥānahu wa-taʿālā. Be reverent and have awe of Allah subḥānahu wa-taʿālā in a way that is worthy of who He is, worthy of His attributes and names, worthy indeed of His essence, worthy of His favors subḥānahu wa-taʿālā, and make sure you do not die except in a state of Islām, in a state of loving surrender of our lives, of our spirits, of our souls, of our minds, of our hearts, of our thoughts, of our priorities, of our likes, of our dislikes — all in loving surrender to Allah subḥānahu wa-taʿālā.

Allah azzawajal, my dear brothers and sisters, who created us in this world, loves for us to be free — nobly free — and to be happy, nobly happy, righteously happy in this world and most importantly in the hereafter.

And He subḥānahu wa-taʿālā, in wanting that for us, did not leave us without guidance — without guidance from within us and without guidance from within Him subḥānahu wa-taʿālā through the way He revealed, and He revealed Himself subḥānahu wa-taʿālā. He did not leave us alone without equipment to navigate in this life as we are to make decisions every day on all issues concerning our lives — on personal issues, on communal issues, on issues that are of matters of faith directly, and of issues that are of matters of our mundane, secular, worldly activities. He subḥānahu wa-taʿālā did not leave us without guidance.

And today I elected, in shā'a Llāh taʿālā, as a reminder first to myself and then to you, to share with you some of those beautiful teachings in the way of Rasūlullāh ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam, and in the way as Rasūlullāh ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam explained and expressed and lived the Qur'ān, and how our ʿulamā and the brilliant minds of the ummah of Muḥammad, Sayyidinā wa-Mawlānā ṣallá Llāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam — of the scholars and of the awliyā' amongst the scholars raḥimahullāh taʿālā — how they also expressed that in words that are very useful to us and very useful to those of us who think rationally as well.

But remember — all of this is to be put, what I'm going to say, all of this — all of this is to be put in an envelope of spirituality, in an envelope of tawḥīd of Allah, that all what we hear should be in that envelope, in that context of internal loving desire to surrender lovingly to Allah, that the intent — that inside of me I shall be detached from that which keeps me detached from Allah. I shall detach my feelings, my drives, my emotions, my intentions, my volitions — I shall keep them detached from that which detaches me from Allah.

So in our relationships at home, with our children, with our spouses, at work, with our co-workers, with those whom we know, with those whom we do not know — in doing trade and business everywhere, in making choices and decisions about our activities in life, whether they be of any sort — social or political, or familial, or of any sort — we can apply these principles.

The Fiqh Axioms for Navigating Life

First Principle: No Responsibility Without Knowledge

For example, when the fiqh axiom in Islamic teaching — the قاعدة فقهية, the qāʿida fiqhiyya — says:

(Classical Fiqh Axiom — recorded in works such as al-Suyūṭī's al-Ashbāh wa-l-Naẓā'ir)

There is no taklīf — no legal or moral responsibility — by that which I do not know, by that which I was not informed about. In other words, if we make decisions, and those decisions for the community — the community is not informed about them — then we are not to hold someone responsible legally, because we have not made public enough the information and the rules he or she must know. لَا تَكْلِيفَ إِلَّا بِمَعْلُومٍ.

We cannot impose something in our relationships and demand responsibility upon that, if that which we demand is beyond the scope of rational intelligence — it cannot bear it, and it cannot grasp it, and it is not knowable. So at home, for example, if somebody makes a mistake at home, but they did not know — they were not informed about it, you at home did not inform your children, or your spouse, or your ahl, or those who are under your responsibility — were not informed properly about that. Genuinely, they did not know. So don't hold them accountable in harsh ways. Even in sharīʿa: لَا تَكْلِيفَ إِلَّا بِمَعْلُومٍ — one did not know, one did not have that information.

Second Principle: No Responsibility Beyond One's Capacity

(Classical Fiqh Axiom — recorded in works such as al-Suyūṭī's al-Ashbāh wa-l-Naẓā'ir)

And if we impose something upon a child, for example, in the way we try to raise up our children, and we make them responsible by that which is beyond their capacity, beyond their level of maturity — sometimes, for example, we treat children as though they are adults, as though they are at my level of maturity physically, and intellectually, and emotionally. And a child — whether 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11 years of age — is not yet even mature physically, let alone mentally and intellectually and rationally, let alone emotionally, and let alone therefore morally and spiritually.

So sometimes we think we discipline our children and we teach our children in ways that are like adults — meaning I treat them as adults, and I get angry when they don't respond properly. When a child of 2 years of age, or 5 years of age, for example, does not respond properly, I get angry, and I demand that the child does this and that, and understands this and that, and remembers this and that — and I am very quick in administering disciplinary measures. In this case, my beloved brothers and sisters, the one who should be disciplined is me. A child doesn't know. A child does not have the capacity to grasp what you tell them at some level, and to remember that even if they grasp it momentarily, and then to see how they actualize that in their lives. A child is innocent.

لَا تَكْلِيفَ إِلَّا بِمَقْدُورٍ — it does not only apply to adults. Of course it applies to adults as well: a person who is an adult is not to be held accountable and responsible by something that is beyond the scope of their natural ability. That is why we do not hold accountable someone for ṣalāh who is mentally handicapped. And the way we treat each other — sometimes we treat each other in complete disregard or ignorance of such divine, beautiful rules to help us navigate in this life rationally and safely.

لَا تَكْلِيفَ إِلَّا بِمَعْلُومٍ وَلَا تَكْلِيفَ إِلَّا بِمَقْدُورٍ — and there are so many ways that can be applied in the way we interact with one another.

Third Principle: Matters Are Judged by Their Intentions and Objectives

(Classical Fiqh Axiom — recorded in works such as al-Suyūṭī's al-Ashbāh wa-l-Naẓā'ir)

The text also teaches this other fiqh axiom: الْأُمُورُ بِمَقَاصِدِهَا — that all matters are to be taken in accordance with their objectives, their purposes, and their intents. In other words, we should not do things and interact with one another in disregard of this principle. Matters are to be weighed and evaluated and assessed also — and most importantly — by their purposes and objectives.

For example, sometimes some of us hear some words communicated to us or we hear them directly. And we understand them in one way sometimes because their apparent, direct, literal meaning suggests that. And then we hold the person accountable for that. It is much more prudent and wiser and much more consistent with the spirit of the sharīʿa to be patient and to be wise and to ask the question: "What did you mean?" — not simply, "What did you say?" What did you mean? Not only what did you say.

"Oh my child, what did you mean? Oh my spouse, what did you mean? Oh my friend, with whom I'm disagreeing — I don't like what you said, I apologize, but maybe I understood wrongly, maybe you didn't mean it that way. What did you mean?"

That's why in the sharīʿa, some of the fuqahā say:

The half-scholar asks you: "What did you say?" And the faqīh — the full-fledged scholar, the scholar of the heart — will ask you: "What did you mean? What did you intend?"

Fourth Principle: The Objective of Divine Legislation

We make decisions in this life and sometimes we are faced with choices that seem to be challenging or seem to be opposites of one another and we don't know how to make decisions sometimes because we don't have enough guidance — because we have not learned properly or we just assume that we know. First, as you know and as we all must know — حفظكم الله — Allah subḥānahu wa-taʿālā, through the way He expresses Himself in the law, the intent of all of that is to promote and preserve that which is good for us in this dunyā and in the ākhira. He says what He says, He teaches what He teaches subḥānahu wa-taʿālā, with an objective, with a purpose — and the purpose, as expressed through the scholarship of our ʿulamā throughout the centuries, is:

— in order that we, in this dunyā and in the ākhira, have that which is good for us attained and acquired and preserved and promoted.

Fifth Principle: Averting Harm Takes Precedence Over Acquiring Benefit

(Classical Fiqh Axiom — recorded in works such as al-Suyūṭī's al-Ashbāh wa-l-Naẓā'ir)

With that concept in mind, sometimes a beautiful rule helps us to make so many decisions in life — at home and outside of home, at work, in political decisions, in whatever decisions we need to make, communal and personal.

Indeed, the promotion and the attainment of the well-being and that which is good for human beings in this world and in the hereafter is the purpose of the divine. But sometimes we are going to be faced with making a decision between a positive, virtuous, good, beneficial alternative or choice — depending on what it is beneficial for, for me as a person or for the community at large — and yet at the same time, making that choice will also introduce a harm, a ضَرَر or a شَرّ, at one level or another. So what do I do?

On one hand, if I make a choice, it's a good choice — something good is going to come to me, I'm going to acquire something good. But at the same time, something evil, something harmful is going to happen at the same time if I make that choice. What's the decision?

The decision is in accordance with divine guidance as expressed in scholarly words through the axioms of fiqh: دَرْءُ الْمَفَاسِدِ أَوْلَى مِنْ جَلْبِ الْمَصَالِحِ — preventing and averting harm takes precedence over drawing in benefit.

So: "Children, let's go some place — there is something fun, there is something good happening there." حَلَال وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّه — fine. But that is not enough to make a decision, and most of us fail here. That is not enough to make a decision. What else — probabilistically speaking, or actually — is there a possible harm? Maybe there isn't at all. But is there a possible harm also to occur by us going there: at the level of our emotions, at the level of our health, at the level of our reason, at the level of our property, at the level of our relations, at the level of our morality, at the level of our ethics? That's an example.

دَرْءُ الْمَفَاسِدِ أَوْلَى مِنْ جَلْبِ الْمَصَالِحِ — "Children, we're not going to go. Because there is some good in it, there is some fun in it. But inshāʾallāh, hopefully as you grow, you realize that there is some bad thing with that which comes also — and that is harmful to you or to me or to all of us" — in this way or that way, as the moral and ethical and legal and sharīʿa requirements indicate.

Another example: I have a property of my own, I own a house in an apartment building, I own that. And I have neighbors underneath me and above me. And I'm in my property — that's my own property — and I want to do an adjustment to my property within my property. I am free to do that; it has a benefit for me. But what if that change I am suggesting and proposing will somehow also produce and generate harm to my neighbor underneath me? Then دَرْءُ الْمَفَاسِدِ أَوْلَى مِنْ جَلْبِ الْمَصَالِحِ — to prevent the harm incurred unnecessarily by my neighbor takes precedence over my benefit, which is unnecessary, convenient, or for the sake of embellishment.

Sixth Principle: When Faced with Two Harms, Choose the Lesser

(Classical Fiqh Axiom — recorded in works such as al-Suyūṭī's al-Ashbāh wa-l-Naẓā'ir)

If two choices — both harmful — oppose one another and I have to make a choice, and the choice we always need to make is to avert harm and to draw in good and wellness and خَيْر — so if I am faced with making a choice between two potentially harmful choices, the text, the law, teaches: I have to make sure to observe which one of the two is less harmful, make the right judgment about which one of the two is less harmful, and then take the less harmful of the alternatives in attaining something good that I intend and have as an objective.

In other words, because I have a good objective, if I have only two ways to it and both are harmful, I must choose the lesser of the harmful alternatives. In my children's conduct, in my administration of my affairs at work, in my choices of arguments — to respond to this harmful argument and that harmful argument, even a response with another harmful argument — all of that, the text teaches: you must choose the lesser of the two harmful alternatives.

And that's not only in big matters of life — this political decision and that military decision and that managerial decision — but also at the level of simple life at home. And often times, even those of us committed at least theoretically to Islām, when it comes to these rules as they apply to our own lives at home, act as though they do not exist at all. And then we have a dichotomy between our lives at home and our lives in faith — not only a lack of integration between our internal beliefs and faith and our life externally at the grand matters of life, but we do that at the level of our own worldly, personal, family, and work decisions and lives.

These rules can be applied at any instant — inside the masjid, outside the masjid, the way you drive, the way you park, the way you buy, the way you sell, the way you discipline and raise your children, the way you convey a message to your family — at every level of our lives we have this guidance. He did not leave us without guidance to navigate in this life, my dear brothers and sisters.

And one more example of this: if I am to enjoin what is right and forbid what is evil — إِذَا أَمَرْتُ بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ نَهَيْتُ عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ — a person or a group of people, and the consequence of that is that they would go and do worse than that which they stopped from doing — somehow it opens the energy for them and the space to go do something more harmful — then I must not have even said the first thing in the beginning.

الْأَمْرُ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَالنَّهْيُ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ does not come by itself in our sharīʿa — not simply because I know something wrong or I know something good that I impose it, teach it, or enjoin it. It depends: what is the consequence of that? If the consequence of that is going to make those people, or that person, do something even worse, then the law says and requires that you don't do the first thing that you intended to do. تَتْرُكُ الْأَمْرَ عَلَى مَا عَلَيْهِ بِارْتِكَابِ أَخَفِّ الضَّرَرَيْنِ. And there are countless examples like that in the Qur'ān and in the Sunnah and in the sharīʿa and in the lives of those who know better.

Summary of the Principles

Remember these few rules that are there to help me and you in our lives — these few that I have shared with you:

First: لَا تَكْلِيفَ إِلَّا بِمَعْلُومٍ — no responsibility borne without being informed.

Second: لَا تَكْلِيفَ إِلَّا بِمَقْدُورٍ — no responsibility borne when we are made responsible for that which is beyond our natural capacities.

Third: الْأُمُورُ بِمَقَاصِدِهَا — all matters carry an intent and an objective behind them. What did you mean? Not only what did you say?

Fourth/Fifth: دَرْءُ الْمَفَاسِدِ أَوْلَى مِنْ جَلْبِ الْمَصَالِحِ — warding off and preventing harm takes precedence over drawing in benefit.

And therefore, if one is to make a choice between two harmful alternatives — and sometimes one must, for the sake of a greater benefit — then one must not commit the one that is greater in harm, but the one that is lesser in harm.

First Closing — Seeking Forgiveness

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ — please seek the forgiveness of Allah. What an excellent abode awaits those who sincerely seek forgiveness from Allah. أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ.

Second Khutbah — Closing Du'ā

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَكَفَى، وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَى.

Remember these few rules that are there to help me and you in our lives. He did not leave us without guidance to navigate in this life.

The mother of brother Salmān has been taken ill very suddenly — very quickly — and she has requested that we keep her in our du'ā'. Her name is Fāṭima.

قُومُوا إِلَى صَلَاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللَّهُ.