Holding on to Faith in times of Fitnah | Jumuah Khutbah | Imam Nadim Bashir | EPIC Masjid

A Time of Unprecedented Confusion

In fact, there's another hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ where he says:

He is swearing by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that a time will come upon the people that the person who's killing does not know why they're killing and the person who's being killed does not know why they're being killed. And subhanAllah you see this all over the world - people are taking orders, they have lost what the concept of humanity is, they have lost their moral compass, they have become worse than animals.

That's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says a time will come when He says in the Quran:

They will have physical hearts but they're not gonna be thinking, they will have ears but they cannot listen to the truth, they will have physical eyes but they will not be able to see the truth because either they want to remain blind or they are just blind as it is. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says these are people who have become like animals. In fact Allah goes even further ahead and He says they're worse than animals - they are worse than animals.

And this is where we see humanity today - a person, a child who's standing in line just because they want water and there are people who are sniping down that child, that mother, that father. May Allah destroy the dhalim, may Allah destroy the dhalim and may Allah destroy every person who supports that dhalim. We see this happening and you ask yourself when is this going to come to an end.

Signs of Ignorance and Moral Decay

Brothers and sisters, as if that was all that we see - no. As the Prophet ﷺ also says in a hadith:

When the signs of the day of judgment is you're going to see ignorance everywhere. How ignorant are some people of this country, how ignorant are they? When you talk to them, wallahi is as if your IQ drops - that's how dumb they are at times. And you're asking yourself this is a country that was once talking about education, they pride themselves on being an educated community, an educated country, and look at the ignorance that is spreading everywhere. It's not only there, it's happening in our Muslim community also, it's happening in the Muslim world also and you see this all over plastered all over social media.

Then the Prophet ﷺ says that ignorance will remain, knowledge will disappear, ignorance will remain and then he says the intoxicants, wine is going to become very common. And you see unfortunately even our Muslim countries selling alcohol openly. And as if - you know, a lot of times when we talk about these kind of things we think I'm just going to be very straightforward about this - many times we think that oh this is not our problem, this is their problem, the non-Muslim community, their problem. Uh-uh, don't fool yourself, this is our problem too.

You know how many Muslims drink? You know how many Muslims are selling wine and alcohol? This is happening, yet they will hide behind the laws here because we have freedom. And I ask every single person who sells alcohol and wine - you want to sell it, you sell it and you hide behind the laws here, but we will see how much you hide in front of Allah on the day of judgment. No person is going to escape Allah because Allah is judge, jury, executioner, yet you find people saying these kind of things.

And then the Prophet ﷺ also says zina will become rampant. How much zina takes place within our own Muslim community? The illicit relationships that take place. How many boys and girls - forget about the boys - young boys and young girls, even married people committing zina thinking that no one knows. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows, and again you see people doing all this kind of stuff.

The Signs of the Dajjal

And then if you have been following up with the news - one is a genocide that they are committing and then now they want to control the narrative everywhere, they want to control the narrative everywhere. Now they're buying out platforms, social media platforms so that they can control the narrative. This is something that Rasulullah ﷺ told us about when the Dajjal will come:

He will order the skies to rain and they will rain, and he will order the earth to grow and it will grow. The Prophet ﷺ is telling us the time will come that anyone who follows the Dajjal then Dajjal will give them rizq, Dajjal will give them dunya, and if you deny the Dajjal then he will take away, he will not give these people. And subhanAllah it's as if we're seeing that same thing happening today - if you speak on behalf, if you speak in favor of a certain country you're gonna get $7000 per tweet per social media post. It's as if the Dajjal is here already, we're seeing those remnants right now.

What Can We Do?

Brothers and sisters, on social media you see everything taking place but the question is - is there ever an end to this and what do we do in these kind of situations? What can I do as a Muslim? What can I do when I see this over and over again? What can I do?

I'll tell you what you can do. Remember this world was plunged in a state of darkness before the time of the Prophet ﷺ. What did Allah give to this ummah to get out of that darkness? He gave us the Quran - not because we put the Quran on a shelf or we put the Quran as a decoration in our rooms. No, the Quran is called the Quran which comes from the word Qara'ah - why? Because the Quran is a book that has to be read not once, but over and over again.

Why did Allah give us the Quran? Why did the Prophet ﷺ recite the Quran to us? Why do we have all these stories in the Quran? So that we can have faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala no matter what the situation is. There's going to be difficult times and there might be even more difficult times coming up, but we got to hold on to the Quran, read the Quran, study the Quran.

Don't Lose Your Faith

Brothers and sisters, in that same Quran, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us don't lose your faith. Things are going to be confusing, sometimes it's going to be very difficult to follow, but don't lose your faith in Allah. How many people have lost their faith in Allah because of this whole Gaza situation? That's a test for them, no doubt, but that Gaza situation is a test for us also.

This is Allah's way of deciding and this is Allah's way of giving us the decision ability - that who's on the right side and who's on the wrong side. And we see this separation taking place slowly and gradually - who's on the side of humanity and who's not on the side of humanity, who are the delusional people. This separation is happening slowly and gradually all over the world whether you want to believe it or not, but it's happening.

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us that during this time you don't lose your faith, don't lose your trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because one of the greatest sins that a Muslim can commit is to lose their trust and faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Did we forget that even in the time of Firaun, how many children did Firaun kill? How many children did he kill? And he was there in power for so many years. I mean when you say the life of Musa عليه السلام - Musa went to Madinah and came back and Firaun is still in power, he's there for so many years. But ultimately his destruction came. This is the principle of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala - Allah does everything based on his own wisdom.

You and I, we don't understand the wisdom of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so we start questioning his wisdom. We don't question the wisdom of Allah. Our job is to have faith in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala no matter what. Ya Allah, you are my Rabb, you are the king, Ya Allah you are the ilah, I put my faith in you Ya Allah, no matter what the situation is, I put my faith in you.

If a Palestinian child can say - if a Palestinian child can say that my Rabb is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala despite everything that they have faced, yet they are saying that my Rabb is Allah and I believe in Allah - then who are you and I to say that we don't believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?

Allah is Sufficient

Brothers and sisters, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran:

Is Allah not sufficient? Allah is the one who is sufficient for all of us. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in another verse says:

People came, they tried to put fear into the hearts of the Muslims. What did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say? حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ.

Remember brothers and sisters, they can do whatever they want to do. At the end of the day it always comes down to the plan of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala:

They want to plan, make all your plans, make all your plans - Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's plan is ultimately the one that's gonna take place. And that's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also says because people come and they say isn't Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala watching, when is Allah's wrath gonna come? Remember brothers and sisters this is not my words, these are Allah's words:

The person who is the oppressor, they should not for once think that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is oblivious, Allah is ghafil - no. The only thing Allah has done for you is that Allah has given you a chance to repent because when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's wrath comes there's no one who will be saved from Allah's wrath.

Return to Allah

So during this time the very first thing that we need to do brothers and sisters is to put our trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and do not lose faith in Allah azza wa jal. The second thing that we need to do is that we need to come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that is why the Prophet ﷺ - there's a very beautiful hadith because of times like these - he says:

See many people are gonna come and say if you ask everyone in the Muslim community what is the solution to our problems today, everyone's gonna have their own solution, everyone's gonna have their own version of what the solutions are. And I'm not denying those solutions but you know what comes above everything? Is your spirituality. You really wanna protect yourself? Make sure that first we are connected to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And that is why the Prophet ﷺ said hasten - not just walk - hasten towards good deeds. Why? Because there are fitnas, trials, tribulations that are on the horizon. And then he says they're like a dark night. SubhanAllah what a beautiful hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. He says they're like a dark night - not the batman dark night okay, this is another dark night.

It's like a night - imagine the streets are pitch dark, imagine you are outside, you can't see anything, you don't know where you're walking, you have no idea where you're walking to. You could be walking to a trap, you could be walking into danger, you have no idea. And at times the fitnas are gonna be like that because the fitnas that are going to occur are like that - you have no idea what to do. There's fitna after fitna after fitna and you're trying to ask yourself what do I do? Where am I going? What's next? What's gonna happen tomorrow?

Holding Onto Faith During Times of Trial

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 218)

The Prophet ﷺ described times of trial كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ - like pieces of the dark night. Then he says يُصْبِحُ الرَّجُلُ مُؤْمِنًا وَيُمْسِي كَافِرًا - there are people who will be in the morning a believer, but because there are so many trials and their iman is not strong and they have not hastened towards good deeds, the Prophet ﷺ says by evening they will become a kafir. وَيُصْبِحُ الرَّجُلُ كَافِرًا وَيُمْسِي مُؤْمِنًا - and there will be people who might be in the evening a believer, and by the next morning they will become a kafir. They will lose their faith in Allah.

Brothers and sisters, in times like these we have to turn to Allah, and that is why even right now if you think about it, how many of us actually make dua? Right now fajr is so late - if you think about it, I mean if you're sleeping at 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning then fajr is still gonna be early for you, but if you're sleeping at night at a reasonable time like around 11, 11:30, then fajr is late. Fajr comes in around 6:15 nowadays. It is so easy for us to wake up 10 minutes before salatul fajr starts, make dua, make wudu, pray two rakah of qiyam, and then make dua to Allah. Make dua for yourself, make dua for the people in Gaza, make dua against the zalimun.

It's easy just to keep on doing the superficial things, but these are the times where we need to come back to Allah. The best time to ask Allah is in the middle of the night. Wake up in the middle of the night, wake up your family. It's easy right now - fajr is so late. Wake up, pray tahajjud and make dua to Allah.

Learning to Disconnect and Protect Our Faith

The third thing - there is a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ where he was asked what do we do when times become very difficult, and the Prophet ﷺ basically said to be the rugs of your home. What that means is learn how to stay at home. Now it could have a very metaphorical meaning to it, but when a person thinks about it, when a person is at home you're not engaged with what is going on outside. Even though nowadays the dunya has come into our homes in the form of social media - even if you sit at home and don't go outside, you still will know what's going on all over the world through social media.

But even in the time of the Prophet ﷺ, think about it. When the Prophet ﷺ is saying stay at home, what he's saying is learn how to disconnect from people. Now don't get me wrong - when I say you live in isolation, you live completely isolated from people, the Prophet ﷺ did not do that. Never in his life did he isolate himself from everyone else. That's not what I'm trying to tell you to do. But what I'm saying is that the way we have become so obsessed about socializing all the time - every single time I want to go here, I want to go there. How many of our kids sit at home for like 10 minutes and say "I'm bored, oh my god I'm so bored." Let me do this, let me do that. This is the problem - we cannot stay at home.

We have this obsession: I need to go outside the house. Not realizing that outside the house is where the fitnahs are. I'm not saying don't go to work, I'm not saying don't go to school - do all those things, take care of your responsibilities. But learn how to stay at home with your family. Learn how to protect yourself from everything that's out there.

And now the dunya has come into our homes. I'm saying this: if you feel like you're losing faith and you cannot digest everything that you see on social media, then delete the social media app. Why are you keeping it? You know that you are being disturbed by everything that you see on social media, yet we keep on going into social media and we just cause ourselves unnecessary harm. Disconnect yourself sometimes - that is the best thing to do.

Things are happening. I'm not saying be oblivious - no, a Muslim should never be oblivious of what is going on around the world. But the amount of time we are giving on social media versus how much time we spend in our salat, how much time we spend in Quran, how much time we spend in dua - there is not even a comparison. We spend so much more time on social media hurting ourselves emotionally and psychologically, and we are not doing the things that we need to do.

So that is why, if there is anything, learn how to protect yourself from the fitnah. We know what is causing what hurts us, what hurts our faith, what hurts our iman - we stay away from those kinds of things.

Three Essential Points

So number one is: do not lose faith in Allah in times like these. Once again, Allah is watching. These ayahs of the Quran should give you enough assurance. Allah will take care of the affairs. Allah will take care of these people. We know this. We put that faith in Allah.

Number two is spirituality - we connect with Allah.

And number three is: if there is anything that can destroy and harm our faith and iman and causes doubts, we stay away from all those kinds of things.

I ask Allah that no matter what the situation is going to become, no matter what things are going to unfold in the future, may Allah always keep us steadfast, keep us firm on the Quran and the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ, and may Allah protect our upcoming generations. Amin Ya Rabbil Alameen.

Talking to Our Children About Current Events

Brothers and sisters, the last thing that I want to mention is that in times like these that we are witnessing, the general behavior and attitude when it comes to any Muslim family, especially mother and father, is that they say "don't ever talk to the kids about what's going on." Not realizing that your kids are exposed to YouTube, your kids are exposed to Instagram, your kids are exposed to TikTok, your kids are exposed to all the social media platforms, and they see what's going on.

You, as a parent, should rather sit down with them and ask them: what do you know? How much do you know that is going on around the world? And keep on talking about reaffirming their iman and faith. That is why I've said this so many times: we don't sit down as a family and read a hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ. We should be sitting every single day, at least 5 to 10 minutes, pick up Riyad al-Saliheen, read a hadith from Riyad al-Saliheen. Let your kids connect with the Prophet ﷺ. Let your kids connect with Allah.

We don't do anything at home from a spiritual perspective. We bring them to the masjid - and a lot of times they don't even behave inside the masjid. And even if they're behaving, alhamdulillah, then after that, we might send them to a Quran class, we might send them here and there. No, brothers and sisters, the way these fitnahs are coming, we need our kids to be strong in their faith. We need our kids to be strong in their deen.

The Prophet's Teaching to Ibn Abbas

When Ibn Abbas was sitting with Rasulullah ﷺ, he never said "you know what, he's only a kid, why should I teach him about iman?" No, the Prophet ﷺ taught him about iman.

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2516)

"Ya Ghulam" - O child. He's a child. Ibn Abbas is a child. The Prophet ﷺ did not say "no, no, no, don't get him worried, do not distract him from his studies, do not distract him from here and there." No. He told Ibn Abbas: "Ya Ghulam, inni u'allimu kalimat" - O child, I will teach you some words. "Ihfaz Allah yahfazka" - Always protect the orders of Allah, and Allah will protect you. "Ihfaz Allah tajidhu tujahak" - Protect Allah and His commands, and Allah will always be on your side. "Wa idha sa'alta fas'al Allah" - You want something? He is teaching a child iman and faith. You want something? Ask Allah. "Wa idha ista'anta fasta'in billah" - When you want to seek assistance, you ask Allah for His assistance. And remember, if the entire world gets together and they want to harm you, and Allah does not want them to harm you, they cannot harm you.

This is the Prophet ﷺ teaching a child basic fundamental aqeedah and faith in Allah. And yet you and I, when we talk about these kinds of things, we say "no, no, no, don't talk to the child about this. He's gonna get scared. He's gonna ask us questions." Why are we acting like this? As if they don't know what's going on in the world.

I'm not saying put ideas in their head. What I'm saying is ask them what do they know? And then if they have questions, you answer those questions. But to remain oblivious - because one of the things that really makes me upset about the Muslim community is that we're so passive. We're never active. We're always passive by nature, and it comes to the cultures that we come from, unfortunately.

So that is why, let's remain proactive about these kinds of things. Talk to your kids over and over again, because that is what will keep them insha'Allah steadfast upon the deen. May Allah protect us. May Allah protect our children.

Amin Ya Rabbil Alameen.

Remember Allah and He will remember you. Be grateful to Him and do not be ungrateful. Establish the prayer.