20170331 -1st Khutba- imam Mokhtar Maghroui

Opening — Khutbah of Need

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 وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

Allah calls us in this eternal call for us to always behold: O you who have attained faith, O you who say we believe, O you who have faith — ittaqullah, have taqwa in Allah in a way that is worthy of who He is, in a way that is worthy of His bounties and grace and benevolence and kindness and gifts, and worthy of His attributes and names of beauty and majesty, and worthy — after all and most importantly — of His essence. For He is the source of all that is, including beauty and majesty.

Ittaqullah haqqatu qatih — and make sure you do not die except in a state of Islam. Make sure you do not die except in a state in which we are internally, mentally and emotionally, and actively through words and deeds, lovingly surrendered — lovingly surrendered — to Allah.

The Reality of This Life

This is the book of life from beginning until the end. My dear brothers and sisters, in life — as by now I'm going to say probably all of you know, except those who are still too young to experience some things that yet they will experience as they mature intellectually and emotionally — you all know that this life is filled with challenges. Not only opportunities, but challenges of all sorts: at home, at work, individually, collectively, in this world at all levels. And that for many of us, and many human beings, engenders and generates inside of us fear, insecurity, grief, anxiety, or even depression — كَرْب، وَهَم، خَوْف، قَلَق.

And that's a fact. And thus as human beings, we do what we think we need to do to be relieved from all of that, to be freer from that, to be liberated from that — no matter who one is and no matter how much one has or does not have. We will do everything we can and any resource we have to be liberated from that. And the sources of that sort of grief and restriction and afflictions that lead to anxieties and these things — the source of that is innumerable, so many, so many. And we mentioned a few of them: socially, politically, psychologically, emotionally, family, economically — all of that. And we want to be free from that.

Taqwa: The Forgotten Means

Well, what I'm going to remind myself and you here today — and as we do some other times as well — is about a means that, because of the nature of the world in which we live, a push towards materialism, a push towards resources — material resources — a push towards only (I underline the word only) rational resources and rational means, because of that I'm going to remind myself and you of the other means that is as — may be more important than that — especially for us who claim tawheed of Allah and who desire to leave this dunya in a state of loving surrender to Allah.

That means, that sabeel, that zari'ah, that waseela, is taqwa of Allah. To have taqwa of Allah.

Taqwa — as those who know, the expert scholars, the ulama, and the beautiful awliya, the scholars of Allah, tell us as they understand the Quran and the words of Rasulullah ﷺ, and as they strove to live the Quran and the words of Rasulullah ﷺ in all aspects of their lives — taqwa is:

Taqwa is the healing, the cure, from every illness and from every grief and affliction, and it cleanses and purifies the heart. As you know, we all need to strive in this dunya to develop a heart that is pure and safi to meet Allah with, because only those with those kinds of hearts are promised to be in the special divine company.

Taqwa — that's a means for relief, a means for protection. As the word taqwa even implies linguistically — from waqa, yaqi and taqa, yataqi — and waqa means to shield, to protect, to keep away from us, to ward off from us that which is not good for us and that which we don't like and don't love. It keeps that away from us, taqwa.

And taqwa has also the meaning of taqwiya and quwwa in the letters of that word — and that is strength. With taqwa there will be strength: emotional strength, spiritual strength, moral strength, social strength — strength necessary to navigate in this world safely and successfully so that we end up leaving this dunya in a state in which we are in loving surrender to Allah.

The Quranic Promise for Those with Taqwa

Allah — doesn't He say in the Quran, after commanding us to have taqwa like the verse we just recited:

And whosoever develops taqwa in Allah — Allah will always make for them — for him or for her — will always make and provide a way out, an exit, from anything that concerns them and holds them back and hurts them and keeps them back from their journey, the free journey towards Allah's consciousness. Yaj'al lahu makhrajan — from grief, from anxiety, from fear, from insecurity, from all kinds of challenges. Taqwa is the remedy. Yaj'al lahu makhrajan.

And even more: wa yarzuqhu min haythu la yahtasib — and Allah promises to provide for such a person in terms of rizq: material rizq as needed, and most importantly rizq emotional and spiritual — more needed — in ways he or she never expects. Never expects. Beyond your statistics and beyond your rational analyses.

This doesn't mean you don't have to be statistical or rational, but it's beyond that. For a relationship with Allah is not only — I underline the word only — is not based only on rational relationships. For Allah has also created that which is supra-rational, that which is rawhani, not only that which is aqlani.

And He says: wa man yatawakkal ala Allahi fahuwa hasbuh — and whosoever truly, eternally relies — emotionally and spiritually and intellectually — on Allah... that feeling — that I cannot describe to you — not something we memorize and we read, but a hal, a state, a condition of tawakkul upon Allah. When that exists, says Allah, He will provide for you. If you do that, then Allah is enough for you — fahuwa hasbuh. He suffices you.

Inna Allaha balighu amrih — what Allah has willed to be, has destined to be, as a purpose, as an aim, will come to be. Qad ja'ala Allahu li kulli shay'in qadra — everything about this existence, not only about our human lives, everything about this existence in the observable reality and in the hidden realities, nothing happens without due measure that Allah had assigned and designed and planned. The design of everything is done from beginning till the end, and all the adaptations in between — it's all done and designed. Qad ja'ala Allahu li kulli shay'in qadra.

And He says: whosoever develops and has taqwa in Allah, Allah will bring ease into his or her life and the matters of this life — ease versus unresolved conflicts, personal, family, social, political, national, international. Yusra — versus the very difficult to resolve.

And to be free from the means: when they are stripped from taqwa, they will not be blessed, they will not be so successful. If there is any type of satisfaction or change, it will be only very short-lived and not so blessed.

What Is Taqwa? — The Two Dimensions

What is taqwa? As we said, it has the meaning of protection and shield and warding off and keeping away. My dear brothers and sisters — may Allah help us all — taqwa operates at two levels: externally and internally.

The External Dimension of Taqwa

At the external level, at the apparent level, taqwa is when I and you are very watchful, very careful, very protective, very alert about how we use our external abilities and resources and senses — in which we are to guard ourselves about that which we know Allah does not love and does not permit.

Number one: the senses. It is said by our expert scholars that when we seek refuge in Allah against the devil and yet at the same time we are allowing all the gates open to shaytan to come into our lives — how is that? Each sense that we have is a gate.

My eyes — the sight is a gate. If I keep it open for shaytan and I say a'udhu billahi minash shaytan, and the gate is wide open for him to come into my heart — what does a'udhu billahi minash shaytan mean when I open my sight and my gaze to shaytan? That is: to use my gaze, my sight, my eyesight to look at, to watch, to see that which Allah does not love. Then that is not taqwa. I'm not shielding myself despite saying a'udhu billahi minash shaytan ar-rajim.

The gate of my hearing — when I allow my hearing, my dear brothers and sisters, when I allow my hearing to receive all sorts of sounds and signals from different sources in this world. Yes, the world of digital spaces has introduced into our lives so many, many, many ways and sources and means by which we use our eyesight and our hearing. And when I allow my hearing to receive sounds and signals that Allah does not love and does not permit — and He does that because it is not good for us in the pursuit of happiness in this dunya, the noble happiness in this dunya and freedom, noble freedom in this dunya, and most importantly the happiness and noble freedom in akhira — when He says "don't do" and "do," it's not because it suits Him or because it benefits Him, but because it maximizes and optimizes our benefits in this world, in happiness and freedom in the noble sense, and in the hereafter. And when I allow my hearing to receive that which He does not love, that's a gate wide open for shaytan from which to come into my heart.

As you know, we receive signals through observing, hearing, seeing, reading, etc. — and that all is operated upon in our hearts and in our feelings and in our minds. We receive that and it is stored, and then it is analyzed and synthesized and then recalled from time to time.

The gate of my tongue — how I use my tongue in the way I live: at home, at work, in the masjid, in problem solving, in conflicts, in discussions, in debates, in dialogues. How I use my tongue even as one in da'wah to Allah, or one who is doing good work seemingly externally for the sake of Islam. How am I using my tongue? How am I using my eyes and my ears? And if I use that in ways Allah doesn't love — in any sense I'm aware of — that's a gate wide open for shaytan into my heart.

The way I use my stomach — another gate for shaytan. Halal or haram, makruh or mubah, or dubious — "I'm not sure but I still do it" — that's another gate open for shaytan inside of me.

My sexual drive — how I use my sexual drive. If I indulge my sexual drives and desires in ways Allah does not love and does not permit — which after all, as we must all know, is very harmful to me. Not because Allah wants to deprive me, but because it is harmful for me: physically, emotionally, economically, socially, and more — and spiritually. The spiritual negative effects of that are too obvious even to talk about. If I open that gate and then say a'udhu billahi minash shaytan in my awrad and don't care about closing that gate — that is not taqwa.

The gate of my hands — how I use my hands in touching, in pointing, in using. If they are used in ways that Allah does not love, that's not taqwa. That's a gate open for shaytan.

My legs — how I use my legs. To do what? To run — why run? Where? Walk — why, where, how? Kick — why kick, whom, what, when, for what reason, in which way? Yes, that also counts. Stepping on something — why? Here and not there — why? Stepping on this ant — yes, why stepping on this ant? Let alone stepping on a human being. All of those are gates open for shaytan into our hearts, and that opening is absence of taqwa. The use of my limbs, of my senses in that way — that's not taqwa. Taqwa is the opposite of it, externally.

The Internal Dimension of Taqwa

And secondly, internally — my qalb, my thoughts, my feelings, my emotions. When I feel inside of me — when I allow inside of me — I have to watch: does Allah love it or not? Secondly, if I know that Allah loves a quality of my heart and morals, I should strive to have the state of my heart upon it. Meaning, Allah shouldn't find my heart in a state that He does not love.

My heart, my feelings, my emotions, my drives, my ideas, my set of thoughts — they must not be allowed, by me, by my choice, to be in a condition that Allah does not love. That's taqwa: to refuse to allow — to be in a condition He does not love. Where is the qalb at every breath of my and your lives? If it is in a condition He doesn't love, that's not taqwa. That's the opposite of taqwa. And also, if He loves my heart to be in a certain state or phase or condition, then I must be there. And if I am there, that's taqwa. If I'm not there, that's not taqwa.

Taqwa externally as an external dimension, and as an internal dimension — that is taqwa. Taqwa here — and taqwa here — and he pointed to his heart. Taqwa is in here, taqwa is in here, in the sense we are explaining.

May Allah help us be of those who hear and know the truth and see it and hear it and know it as the truth, and may He give us the strength to embrace it. And may Allah show us the truth and grant us to follow it, and show us the falsehood as falsehood and grant us to avoid it.

I ask Allah for forgiveness. I ask Allah for forgiveness. There is no god but He, the Ever-Living, the Ever-Sustaining, and I repent to Him.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah and He is sufficient, and may Allah bless His servants who have chosen taqwa — to keep away from our lives that which will make our lives miserable in the spiritual, moral sense, and even in the noble worldly sense. Because there is some worldly sense that is qabeeh, that is not befitting of a mu'min. Not everything of this world is beautiful and noble. There are many things in this world that are ugly. And so we speak of the noble things of this world. Not every pursuit in this world, of this world, from this world, is noble. There is that which is cheap and low and base. May Allah protect us.

Taqwa and Good Character: The Keys to Paradise

Rasulullah ﷺ said about the consequences of taqwa and he taught us through his companions:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2004 — graded Sahih by al-Tirmidhī)

That means that most instrumental to allow and to enable most people to enter paradise is taqwa and husn al-khuluq — beautiful character. As I said, the most instrumental means for happiness in the hereafter: taqwa — as I hope I have tried to help us understand it — and consequently a beautiful heart, and therefore beautiful character, beautiful khuluq. And the absence of that is a recipe for the opposite: misery in akhira and in this dunya.

The Du'a of the Prophet ﷺ for Taqwa

When we look at the noble sense of happiness in this dunya, indeed our Rasulullah ﷺ used to teach us and used to say — so often, imploring Allah — and he was who he was, intellectually and rationally and spiritually — Allahu Akbar — Sayyidul Waladi Adam, Habibullah, Khalilullah ﷺ, the best of the creation of Allah, the most beloved of the creation of Allah to Allah — and he used to say and teach us to say:

O Allah, please grant my soul its taqwa — what it ought to have of taqwa, of God consciousness, of Allah consciousness. Taqwa is not fear. Translating taqwa as fear is inaccurate, even though you're going to read it in books. Taqwa is different than fear. Fear is an expression of taqwa. Love is an expression of taqwa. Raja' is an expression of taqwa.

Allahumma aati nafsi taqwaha wa zakkaha — and cleanse it, O Allah, for You are the best who is able to cleanse my soul. Anta waliyyuha wa mawlaha — You are the owner and You are the protector of my soul, of my life. That's necessary in our lives, my dear brothers and sisters.

A Warning for Our Times

I'm going to close with this. Rasulullah ﷺ taught that there will come a time when the only one who would be saved is one who implores Allah in du'a in such a way as though he were drowning — that's the only one who shall be rescued. By the way, this is an authentic hadith.

There will come a time when the only ones who will be rescued — those who shall be given rescue by Allah — are those who turn to Allah in du'a, but in what du'a? In a du'a of a person who is drowning, a prayer of a person who is drowning, having lost every hope. Drowning — perhaps because in that time there is so much less taqwa, so much lack of taqwa.

Taqwa — that which we were explaining. For Allah to answer the du'a, you've got to do a lot more than what you are doing. Because you turn to Allah in du'a, you ask Allah for relief and for rescue — but where is taqwa? And therefore it is said: this text says only those who implore Allah and solicit from Allah in the way the drowning one would.

Now you need to do a lot more. Long ago, when there was taqwa — when there was a lot of taqwa — some du'a would give a lot of results, by the grace of Allah. Now that there is so much less taqwa, you have to do a lot more in du'a to get what you want to get. You still have to show — you still have to feel — that you really, really need Allah. Because now, with these material resources that you have, you have learned through relying on these resources to forget Allah. You have learned to only think of the means. You have learned to worship your means — not in a religious sense, but in a practical sense. That's what you have become.

Allah is called upon only as a sort of cultural exercise, not something that is really true and deep in our hearts. And so maybe that's why — only if we implore Him like the one who is drowning — then He will give us. Why? Because we lack taqwa.

O servants of Allah, stand up for your prayer. May Allah have mercy on you.