EPIC Masjid, Imam Nadeem Bashir, Arrogance 2-2 (Shaytaan Series)

Khutbah: Arrogance — Part 2 (Shaytaan Series)

الحمد لله، الحمد لله على ذاته العظيم الصفات، السميع الصفات، كبير الشأن، جليل القدر، وفي العزة القوة والجلال البرهان، فخيم الاسم، غزير الإحسان، جميل الثناء جزيل العطاء والمجيب لدعاء عباده الإحسان، قليل الحساب الشديد العقاب، أليف الأدب، العزيز السلطان. ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له في الخلق والأمر. ونشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله. أما بعد، فهذا قال الله تبارك وتعالى في القرآن المجيد والفرقان الحميد، بعد أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم، بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم:

صدق الله العظيم. أما بعد.

Respected brothers and sisters, this khutbah is a continuation from the previous week's khutbah. Last week, I just want to quickly go over and jog your memory — what did we talk about last week? We are going through the series regarding Shaytan and how he attacks a person.

We came to the subject of arrogance, because it was arrogance that was the real cause of Shaytan being dismissed from Jannah. That is when he took an oath to Allah that he will continue to misguide every person to step foot on the face of this earth till the Day of Judgment. So far, he has lived up to his promise. So far, he has never got tired. He has never given up. He makes one attempt. If he fails in that attempt, he makes a second attempt. And he will continue to go on and on.

Recap: The Definition of Kibr (Arrogance)

One of the key things that Shaytan brings inside a person is takabbur. We talked about this last week — throughout the entire khutbah we talked about this, but briefly I want to touch upon it.

The Prophet ﷺ says in a hadith that anyone who has the smallest amount of kibr and ujub in their heart, they will not enter into Paradise. The sahabah of Rasulullah ﷺ asked him — they were very curious learners, great learners, always asking questions — they said, "Ya Rasulullah ﷺ, what about a person who wants to wear nice clothes? They love to beautify themselves. What about them? A person who wants to wear good shoes, what about that kind of person?"

The Prophet ﷺ replied:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 164)

There is nothing wrong in beautifying yourself, wearing good clothes, smelling good, coming to the masjid and putting some perfume on. There's nothing wrong in doing that. That's good — we should, we are encouraged. But what is the definition of kibr?

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 164)

It is to reject the truth of Allah and the Prophet ﷺ — to reject the Qur'an and the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ — and not only that, but to demean others, to belittle others.

Ghamṭ al-Nās: Belittling Others

1. Acquiring Knowledge for the Wrong Reasons

We talked about بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ — I don't want to get into that. We briefly talked about غَمْطُ النَّاسِ. There are so many different forms of غَمْطُ النَّاسِ. There is intellectual arrogance — that we have a piece of knowledge, not with the purpose of how we can come closer to Allah, but unfortunately today we have other interests, other intentions and purposes for why we are obtaining that knowledge. And this is something we have to always remember: that knowledge has to be acquired only with the intention that we come closer to Allah. What can we do to fulfill the obligation of the Qur'an? How can my life come onto the life of Rasulullah ﷺ? How can I gain nearness to Allah? And ultimately, how can I enter into Jannah?

Knowledge should never be achieved or acquired with the simple purpose of just giving a lecture, or to gain publicity, or to demean others. That is not the purpose of knowledge. Knowledge should not be acquired just so that I can gain information — otherwise it is just gaining information, it will not have an impact on our life. So that's the very first form of غَمْطُ النَّاسِ — why are we receiving knowledge? Not to demean others.

2. Feeling Superior in Worship and Da'wah

Then, another way of غَمْطُ النَّاسِ — of belittling people — which I want to actually get into today, is what I talked about briefly last week. It is this ayah:

In this ayah, Allah — this is an amazing ayah. Generally, those who are very involved, very engaged in da'wah activities, they usually use this ayah over and over again, to remind themselves of what Allah has said about these people. And the ayah means: who is better than that person who calls people to Allah? In other words, Allah is saying there is no person who is better than that person who calls people to Allah. But that's not the complete ayah.

Here Allah is saying that there is no person who is better than the one who calls people to Allah. At the same time, in regards to their individual life, وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا — they continue to do good over and over again. It is not sufficient that we teach others and we don't do it ourselves. It is important that while we're teaching others, it has to be within my life. We have to cultivate that in our life. We have to bring the good in our life and refrain from the bad.

And then after that, what happens is — when a person is so active in the community, their individual life, they're waking up for qiyam al-layl, they're fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, they're reading Surah al-Kahf every Friday, every day in the morning and in the evening they're making all their adhkar, they're performing all the sunnahs of Rasulullah ﷺ — at that time, Shaytan comes to a person and says, "You know what? You are a jannati. You are a person who's going to get a free ticket straight to Jannah. Look at your life. Amazing." And then you look at that person who's walking on the street — a person who hardly comes to the masjid, a person who may come to the masjid here and there, a sister not wearing hijab — and what happens is that we say to ourselves, "I'm better than that person."

What is Allah saying in this ayah? He says that the best person is the one who calls people to Allah, and in his individual life he is very adherent. And then what does he say?

"I'm just like anyone else. I'm just like anyone else. Who cares about my position? Who cares about who I am?"

Umar رضي الله عنه — amazing. When we study about the khulafa' al-rashidin, it blows our mind away. When he was going to Jerusalem, he had an agreement with the person who was traveling with him: for some time I will ride the animal and you will be walking, and for a while I will be walking and you'll be riding the animal. Such humility, such humbleness.

And what happened? It was a coincidence that while they were arriving at the city of Jerusalem, people were waiting there, waiting for Umar رضي الله عنه. And it was at that time, when it was the turn for Umar رضي الله عنه to walk, and the person accompanying him was riding the animal. That person said, "O Umar, you should ride the animal. What are people going to say?" He said, "Who cares what people say? I'm just like you. We made an agreement. I have to fulfill your rights." This was the humbleness of Umar رضي الله عنه. This is who we need to become like.

3. Judging Others by Their Past

Another way we can belittle and demean others is by judging them — by judging them for their past. If there is one thing that we learn for sure from the life of the Prophet ﷺ, it is that he would never hold anyone's past against them.

We know the story of the Battle of Uhud. It was the time when the uncle of Rasulullah ﷺ, Hamzah رضي الله عنه, was martyred — he became a shaheed. Not only that, but his entire body was mutilated. To such an extent that some narrations say that his body was so mutilated that no one could recognize him — his sister had to come and recognize him by his fingertips.

And who was the one who mutilated his body? It was Hind bint Utbah — this woman who was the enemy of Islam. She hired a man by the name of Wahshi to go and kill Hamzah. And not only that, but then she went and she mutilated the entire body of Hamzah رضي الله عنه.

Now, when the Prophet ﷺ came and saw the body of his uncle in this state, imagine what was the situation and the emotion of the Prophet ﷺ. He kept his grief in and remembered his uncle again and again.

But let's fast forward to the time when Wahshi came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "O Prophet of Allah, I want to accept Islam. But I don't know —" Allah says in the Qur'an:

Wahshi said, "I don't know if Allah will forgive me for this." Then after that, Allah sent down the ayah:

Even Allah is not holding Wahshi based on his past. The Prophet ﷺ is inviting Wahshi into the fold of Islam. He never said, "You're the one who killed my uncle — you don't deserve Islam, and now you will experience the wrath of Allah." When he came, he accepted it with open arms. When Hind came to Rasulullah ﷺ, he did not hold her to her past. He never judged her — "You are the one who did this to my uncle." But now that she was ready to come into the fold of Islam, the Prophet ﷺ welcomed these people with open arms.

When the Muslims and the Prophet ﷺ entered into Makkah at the time of Fath Makkah, it was not the ordinary way as anyone would enter a land they have just conquered. When people conquer land, they usually enter with great arrogance and pride. The Prophet ﷺ entered into Makkah praising Allah, being focused on Allah, remembering Allah the Almighty.

And at that time, the wife of Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl came to Rasulullah ﷺ and said, "My husband — who is the son of the staunch enemy of Islam, Abu Jahl — wants to come, but he fears for his life. He fears that you may hold him accountable because of the actions of his father." And what did the Prophet ﷺ do? He said, "No, just come." And these people came into the fold of Islam.

It is natural for anyone who is once defeated to have revenge on their mind. But it was the akhlaq, the tawadu', the humbleness, and the humility of Rasulullah ﷺ that changed the hearts of these people. It was his actions that changed their hearts. Instead of revenge, they now had even more love for Rasulullah ﷺ.

The Lesson from Musa ﷺ and Fir'awn

What we learn from the story of Musa ﷺ: Musa ﷺ goes into the city, sees a person from his clan fighting and arguing with an Egyptian. What does he do?

He punched him — and the man was done. And at that time, when Musa ﷺ found out that the army of Fir'awn was after him, he fled the country. He went all the way to Madyan. And when he was called back as a prophet — this was one fear that he had. He said, "How am I supposed to face Fir'awn again, when I have committed a crime there?" And Allah told him: you don't have to worry about that, We are on your side. You have Our support. Go and give da'wah.

But what did Fir'awn do when Musa ﷺ went to him?

"Aren't you the one who did what you did long ago?" — just being sarcastic with Musa ﷺ, trying to rub it in his face. "Aren't you the person who's come to call me to Allah, yet you're the same person who took the life of an innocent person? You're that same person, right? Am I mistaken?" And Fir'awn was just dripping with sarcasm.

So what we learn from the story of Musa ﷺ, and what we learn from the story of the Prophet ﷺ and his akhlaq, is that when we hold anyone accountable because of their past, we are no different from people like Fir'awn. We are no different from the kuffar during the time of the Prophet ﷺ — because this is what they did. This was the opposite of what the Prophet ﷺ did.

That means that if there is a person in our community who may have done something wrong in the past, or who may be going through a situation — and we as Muslim brothers and sisters love not to mind our own business. We always want to know what's going on with them. We're always worried about others, not about ourselves. And then we begin to judge others.

A person comes into the masjid, and we know that person may have done something wrong many years ago. But what do we say? "Oh, that's the person who did that. Remember I was talking to you about that one time? That's the person I was talking about." That is judging others. What we learn from Rasulullah ﷺ is that this is also a form of takabbur. This is something we have to stay away from.

Finally, there is one more thing I want to mention about takabbur. InshaAllah, I'll mention that in the next part of my talk.

Second Khutbah: Unity, Equality, and Treating Others with Dignity

الحمد لله، الحمد لله، نستعين ونستغفر، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا، ومَن يَهدِ اللهُ فلا مضلَّ له، ومن يضللْ فلا هاديَ له، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، ونشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله. أما بعد.

Respected brothers and sisters, there is something amazing we learn from the life of Rasulullah ﷺ. And that is that the sahabah who used to gather around the Prophet ﷺ were not only from one descent — they were not only of one color, one background. The company of sahabah, in respect of their race, in respect of their color, in respect of their language, was very diverse. The Prophet ﷺ never, ever treated anyone differently from one another. Everyone was equal. Everyone was equivalent. Everyone was on one page when it came to Rasulullah ﷺ.

Unfortunately in our societies, we begin to judge — we treat people very differently. If there is a person who is my friend, then we even have different levels of friends. The friend that I will do anything for. The friend who is in the middle of the pack — sometimes if there is a personal interest, I will do something for that person; otherwise I don't want to. And then there is a third type of friend: they don't do anything for me, I don't do anything for them. I've asked them for a favor — they said no one time. We don't even know why. But when they ask us for a favor, we say, "I can't do it." Why? "Because last time when I asked them for a favor, they said no." That is not for the sake of Allah. When we do anything, we do it for the sake of Allah.

We need to learn how to treat each other in our community and in our societies as equals. That's what the Prophet ﷺ did. This is how the Prophet ﷺ treated the sahabah.

The Example of Bilal رضي الله عنه

People like Bilal رضي الله عنه — who was a slave at that time, his color, his status, where he was from — he was a slave. But Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه won his freedom. And what was the position granted to him by Rasulullah ﷺ? It was the position of the Mu'adhin. Such a prestigious position was granted by Rasulullah ﷺ to teach mankind until the Day of Judgment: you will not be judged, you will not be treated differently, because of your race, your color, your language — no one will be treated any differently.

We in our community need to build that unity again. We need to bring that love again. Just like the sahabah — the way they would work, the way they would communicate, the way they would interact with each other with such love.

It was never that Bilal رضي الله عنه never got along with the others. It was never that Suhaib al-Rumi رضي الله عنه, because he was from another country, never got along with the other sahabah. It was never that Salman al-Farisi رضي الله عنه, because he was not an Arab — he was from Persia — never got along with the others.

We need to bring this back in our society. We need to stop judging others based on race, color, or financial status. If there's a person in my community I don't know, if I see them and they may be from somewhere different, they may not even speak the same language as I do, they may be of a different color — that should not stop us from going to them and saying, "As-salamu alaykum, brother and sister. Where have you come from?" This is the love that we need to bring.

The Example of Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum رضي الله عنه

And imagine what status the Prophet ﷺ gave to Bilal رضي الله عنه. Not only that, but a person like Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum رضي الله عنه, who was blind — a person today who is blind can hardly even get a job — at that time, the Prophet ﷺ gave him the most prestigious position. He was the Mu'adhin of Rasulullah ﷺ. What does the Prophet ﷺ try to teach us? That anyone who is in your community — accept them as part of you. Make them part of your community.

At the time of Fath Makkah, when the Muslims had taken over Makkah, the Prophet ﷺ ordered Bilal رضي الله عنه: "I want you to go and give the Adhan out loud. Call out the name of Allah." And Bilal رضي الله عنه stood up and loudly called out the Adhan.

And the kuffar in Makkah at that time were saying, "O Prophet of Allah, tell someone else to give the Adhan. This person used to be a slave of ours. And now you're going to tell him to give the Adhan in this place?" The Prophet ﷺ said, "He is my Mu'adhin."

Conclusion: Stay Away from Takabbur

So in our community, if we judge anyone, if we look down at anyone, if we treat anyone differently because of their financial background, their race, their color, or their language — then this is also part of demeaning others and belittling others. This is also a form of takabbur.

May Allah give us a true understanding of what takabbur is, and may Allah give us the ability to stay away from takabbur. May Allah clean our hearts. May Allah protect us from Shaytan.

InshaAllah, next week we need to understand what is the counter — the complete opposite — of takabbur and ujub. It is tawadu' — the humility of a person. And we learn that from the sahabah. We learn that from the life of the Prophet ﷺ. InshaAllah, next week I want to focus only on the humbleness and the humility of the Prophet ﷺ and the sahabah, so that we can learn how we need to conduct ourselves.

What we have heard today and what we heard last week — these are the things that come under the definition of takabbur, and we have to stay away from that. But InshaAllah next week, we'll talk about humbleness and humility. May Allah give us the ability to act upon what has been said and what has been heard.