Six People Loved By Allah (SWT) | Jumuah Khutbah | Imam Nadim Bashir | EPIC Masjid

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. So we request for du'a. Number one is du'a request for brother Tahir Ahmed who passed away after a long battle with cancer. He is the uncle of brother Amir Waheed who is a member of our community. We ask Allah to grant him a place in Jannah and forgive him for his shortcomings. Number two is brother Chaudhry Anwar Al-Haq who is the maternal grandfather of brother Usman Waheed, in fact his wife's uncle. So he also passed away in Pakistan. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ. And finally brother Ansar Ahmed Sayyid who is the father of brother Abrar Sayyid also passed away overseas. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ. We ask Allah that all those who passed away, may Allah forgive them for their shortcomings. May Allah grant them a place in Jannah. May Allah have mercy upon them. May Allah grant their families sabr jameel, ameen ya Rabbal alameen, and all those who are sick may Allah give them shifa. اللَّهُمَّ اشْفِ مَرْضَانَا وَمَرْضَى الْمُسْلِمِينَ. اللَّهُمَّ ارْحَمْ مَوْتَانَا وَمَوْتَى الْمُسْلِمِينَ, ameen ya Rabbal alameen.

Again another reminder that during the Jummah khutbah, try to avoid staying on your phones as I was coming in right now. Unfortunately you see things, people are sitting on TikTok, on Instagram and so forth. Please make sure that during the Jummah khutbah you are not playing any kind of games, checking emails, checking your social media platforms. The Jummah khutbah is something that is extremely serious that we have to pay attention to. Does not matter who the khatib is. Why? Because they're saying Qala Allah and Qala Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. If you have any respect for Allah and His Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, then you will pay attention to the khutbah. Jazakumullah khair.

I ask Allah that just as he has gathered us here today on this day of Jum'ah, may Allah gather us along with our families in Jannat al-Firdaus al-A'la, in the companionship of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and his Sahaba. Ameen. Ya Rabbal Alameen.

The Greatest Force: Love

Brothers and sisters, one of the greatest forces on the face of this earth is a type of force that leads us to do everything and helps us achieve everything in our life. What we are chasing after in life, what do we have as our goals in life, whatever we want to do in our life, everything is driven by one force. And that one force is called love. In the name of this love, people cross oceans. In the name of love, people spend fortunes. In the name of love, people write poetry. In the name of love, people will sacrifice everything they have in their life.

And no matter how much you do, the reality is that we invest into earning other people's love, or the love of anything in this dunya besides Allah. If we are chasing after the love of anything besides Allah, brothers and sisters, the possibility of your heart being broken is extremely high. How many times we see parents often giving everything they have in their life for their kids, only to be forgotten when they grow up and they become seniors. How many times we swear our loyalty towards each other as friends, but we betray each other at the first test. How many of us, there are so many couples that they commit their lives to each other, in the name of love, only in many cases their relationship fall apart.

Brothers and sisters, when you try to invest into the love of anything besides Allah, remember that that love is going to be limited, that love is going to be conditional, and that love is going to be temporary. On the other hand, on the flip side, when it comes to loving Allah, that is a type of love that does not fade with time. It is a type of love that does not depend on looks, it does not depend on our wealth status, or it does not depend on anything that we have. The love of Allah does not diminish with our past sins, or the small things that we do in life. And when Allah loves you, when Allah declares His love for you, then He never betrays you either.

Brothers and sisters, how many times I've met people who feel betrayed in their life. Why is that the case? When you invest into something, and they don't pay dividends, that is where we feel betrayed. But how many of us have said, that, you know what, I'm not gonna chase after the love of people, or the love of dunya, I'm going to chase after the love of Allah. Because once I start loving Allah, then Allah will put the love of me in the hearts of everyone else.

And that is why we find time after time, whether it is the Quran, whether it is a sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ, the goal of a Muslim is to earn the love of Allah. In our hearts, the love of Allah, the love of Rasulullah ﷺ, should supersede the love of everything else. Why is it that Allah in the Quran He says:

Allah, He lists eight different categories of things. That if the love of these things, they supersede the love of Allah and His Prophet ﷺ, فَتَرَبَّصُوا حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ اللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ Then just wait until the command of Allah comes upon you.

Brothers and sisters, when you run after things that are limited, you will get limited love. When you run after the love of things that are conditional, then remember that these are not gonna be forever. And as long as you fit that bill and fit that criteria, people are gonna show you that love. But the minute you are no longer on that criteria, people are not going to show you that love.

So the question is, if I truly want to become beloved by Allah, and I want Allah to love me, I don't care if anyone else loves me or not. I want Allah to love me. First of all, that should be the greatest goal of our life. Imagine, if someone that you truly admire, and because today we live in a culture of, for example, celebrity shuyukh. We live in that society, we live in that culture nowadays, especially with social media and so forth. Imagine there's a shaykh that you admire very much, and you listen to them all the time, and you always forward their clips and so forth. And imagine they came to you, and they knew your name, and they said that, you know what bro, I love you so much. I admire you so much. Wallahi, we will feel ecstatic, that this person who I admire so much, they love me. What about if Allah says, I love you. That is the greatest honor of our life, that Allah loves us.

But of course, Allah, He can show His love to us in different ways. But there are certain things that we need to do, in order to be in that category of people, who will earn the love of Allah.

The First Group: Those with Taqwa

So the very first group of people that are mentioned in the Qur'an, who are those who earn the love of Allah, are those who have taqwa. Allah, He says in the Qur'an:

Allah loves those, who have taqwa in their life. What is taqwa? The ability to stay away from sins. The fact that sins will present themselves in front of us, whether it is in the form of social media, whether it is in our seclusion, whether it is some certain group of friends. There are always gonna be situations, where sins are gonna present themselves before us. But at that time, to put the taqwa in front of us, to put the love of Allah in front of our desires, that is why Allah, He loves this group of people.

And that is why even these group of people, are the ones who are gonna be guided by the Qur'an. Allah says:

And throughout the entire Qur'an, Allah, He promises people of taqwa with different things.

You want an exit out of your problems? Apply taqwa in your life.

You want Allah to give you rizq? Apply taqwa in your life. But we are the ones who have to apply taqwa. And Allah promises His love for those who have taqwa.

The Second Group: Those Who Repent

Next Allah, He says in the Qur'an:

Allah, He loves those who come to Allah in repentance. Those who sit down, they raise their hands before Allah, and they say, Ya Allah, I am a sinner. Ya Allah, You know that I am a sinner. Ya Allah, such and such day, and such and such time, I committed a sin. Ya Allah, no one knows but You, Ya Allah. But Ya Allah, I'm coming to You, and I'm raising the hands of guilt. Ya Allah, forgive me. A person who crushes their ego for the sake of Allah, Allah loves those kind of people. Those who purify their hearts, Allah loves those kind of people.

And that is why even in a hadith, the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2499)

The Prophet ﷺ says, every single son of Adam, they commit sins. But Allah loves those who turn to Allah in repentance.

Brothers and sisters, the sins that you and I, we commit, and only we are aware of those sins. Those sins are between us and Allah. It is absolutely important, that we first of all, we are not arrogant, but we stand in front of Allah عز و جل, and we raise our hands, and we admit to our mistakes. The one of the greatest things, the one of the greatest problems today that we have, is that we are so focused on other people's sins, that we are not focused on our own shortcomings. And this is where tawbah comes in. Forget about the entire dunya, I know, I know that I'm a guilty person. If the community knew today of my sins, I probably will not be able to show my face in front of the community. It is at that time, that we turn to Allah, and Allah says that He loves those who turn to Allah, and they repent to Allah عز و جل.

The Third Group: Those Who Practice Ihsan

The third group of people that Allah mentions in the Qur'an, that He loves them very much, are those who apply ihsan in their life. As the Prophet ﷺ, he tells us in a hadith, that what is ihsan, and how have our ulema, how have they explained ihsan. They usually explain ihsan in the form of excellence. That everything that you do, you do it with excellence.

If you pray salat, pray salat at the highest level. Make sure your salat is considered as excellent. When you give sadaqah, make sure your ikhlas is at such a level, that it is considered as excellent. An excellent type of sadaqah and charity in the eyes of Allah. Everything that we do, even when it comes to our relationships, we try to make sure that our relationships are excellent. Every single thing that we do as a Muslim, we should try to shoot for the stars. Always try to aim high.

One of the greatest flaws today that we see, is that we are content with mediocrity. We are content with the bare minimum. When it comes to the matter of religion, we are content with mediocrity. When it comes to the matters of this dunya, we always want to be excellent. There is no problem in being excellent when it comes to the matters of this dunya. But we should have the same goals when it comes to our deen.

The Essence of Ihsan

And that is why in the hadith of the Prophet, what did he say? What is ihsan? He says:

It is as if when you are worshiping Allah, as if you are seeing Him. And if that cannot be your state of mind, then you worship Allah in a way that Allah is watching you. Imagine if someone was watching you 24x7. How would you conduct your affairs? How would you conduct your life? That is what ihsan is. To have this awareness that Allah is watching us 24x7. And in reality Allah is watching us 24x7. Allah says in the Quran:

Apply excellence. Reach the levels of ihsan. And then Allah says:

Allah loves those who apply ihsan in their life. Forgive me for my voice. I have a sore throat.

Those Who Practice Patience

Number four, Allah, who does He love? He says:

Those who go through calamities. And each one of us, we will go through our calamities in our life. But at that time, to say that, Ya Allah, whatever Allah has brought upon me, I know that Allah has still given me many more blessings that He has given to other people. Often when we become, when we are going through calamities or adversities in our life, what happens is that we always turn to being in gratitude or ungrateful to Allah. Why is Allah doing this to me? Why is Allah not doing that to that person? In that situation, no matter what it is, we always put aside our emotions, and we always say that in this particular situation, even if a loved one in my family passed away, I'm going to hold my emotions, control my emotions, and I'm gonna say that which is appropriate. And what is that which is appropriate? That this is the qadr of Allah, and I'm content with the qadr of Allah.

Those Who Trust in Allah

The next group of people that are loved by Allah, are those who have taqwa, who have tawakkul in Allah, who put their trust in Allah, they put their reliance in Allah.

This is also found in the Quran. What does that mean? It means that no matter what the situation is, I put my faith in Allah. Brothers and sisters, it is not easy. It is not easy to put your full trust in Allah. Because putting your trust in Allah requires that you have faith in Allah.

Let me give you an example. Right now what's happening in Gaza, of course we all are very familiar. But even in times like these, many Muslims, many people are losing their faith in Allah. They're not putting their tawakkul in Allah. And what are they saying? Where is Allah? If Allah loved us so much, if Allah did care about the Muslims, why is He allowing this? Once again brothers and sisters, in situations like these, we say what? That I have my faith in Allah. I put my tawakkul in Allah. If Allah is the one who has put us in this position, Allah is the one who will take us out of this position. In the help of Allah, there's only one help that can help our brothers and sisters in Gaza, and that is the help of Allah.

So in times like these, or in any other time in our life, we always try to put our trust in Allah. That's why even when we leave our homes, what do we say? When we leave our homes, we say:

I'm putting my trust in Allah. When I leave the house, anything can happen when I go outside the house, but I put my trust in Allah.

Those Who Apply Justice

And finally, Allah, who else does He love? He says:

Allah loves those who apply justice in their lives. And there is a very beautiful ayah in the Quran, in Surah Al-Ma'idah, where Allah tells us, in what situations can we compromise when it comes to justice? A lot of times we compromise in justice when it comes to our children. No matter how wrong our children are, I'm always gonna stand on the side of my children because they are my children. How many times people, especially when it comes to marriages, and in-law issues and so forth, I'm always gonna stand on the side of my parents, even though if they're wrong, because they are my parents. That is wrong. That is a wrong way to look at justice.

In fact, Allah tells us in the Quran, that when it comes to your parents, when it comes to your children, when it comes to the people who are close to you, there are gonna be people who are gonna stand between you and justice. And how many times we stand on the side of the wrongdoers. Why? Because I need to show my loyalty. Wallahi, when you stand on the side of the wrong people today in this dunya, and you say that, well, this is just a temporary matter. I stood on their side because I need to show them my loyalty. I work with them. I serve with them. We need to show our camaraderie. We got to stand by each other. Brothers, this is called brotherhood. This is not called brotherhood. You'll find out what kind of brotherhood that is on the day of judgment. You're standing on the side of the wrong people, you will stand on the side of the wrong people on the day of judgment also. That is how it works. You cannot have your cake and eat it at the same time. You cannot say that today I stand with the wrongdoers, in the akhirah I'm gonna be away from them. That's not the way it works.

That's why it is very difficult to apply justice. It is very difficult to stand on the side of the right people, even though if it is against you.

You have to apply justice even if justice is against you. That means that if I'm in the wrong, that I need to admit that I was in the wrong, and you let justice carry itself out. This is what Allah says:

Allah loves those who apply justice in their lives.

Du'a for Divine Love

So I ask Allah that first of all may He make us from amongst those that He loves us. May Allah make us from those group of people that when we are raised on the day of judgment, we are raised amongst those who love Allah and Allah loves them very much. May Allah purify our hearts, and may Allah grant us the tawfiq to stick to the Quran and the sunnah of Rasulullah.

Second Khutbah

Why Allah Loves These Groups

Why does Allah love those who make tawbah? Because we are putting Allah above our ego. Why does Allah love those who apply ihsan in their life? Because Allah loves those who are not content with mediocrity especially when it comes to their spirituality. Why does Allah love those who apply patience in their life? Because we are showing that Allah is above our pain and our emotions. Why does Allah love those who put their tawakkul and trust in Allah? Because we are putting Allah above our plans, our skills, and our intellect. I put my trust in Allah. I will not depend on what I have. I will trust Allah. And why does Allah love those who apply justice? Because we are putting Allah above our biasness, and we are putting Allah above our urge to take advantage of others.

This is why Allah loves us. This is when we show that Allah is the most important entity in my life. Not just by lip service, but we actually live by that law, by that principle, Allah will raise us from amongst those whom He loves very much.

Living by These Principles

So that is why in conclusion, we need to live with taqwa, we need to return to Allah with tawbah, we should act with ihsan, we should hold on with sabr, we should always trust Allah with tawakkul, and always stand on the side of justice, and in a person who does all these things, insha'Allah they will stand with Ar-Rahman on the day of judgment, and they will be amongst those who are loved by Arham Ar-Rahimin. May Allah make us from amongst those.