The Mercy That Never Runs Out | Jumuah Khutbah | Imam Nadim Bashir | EPIC Masjid

Welcome to Islam and Community Announcements

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. So we have Brother Carol here. He came, he contacted us that he want to take his shahadah. Some brothers were suggesting that he can take his shahadah after Salat. I said, why after Salat? Do it before Salat so that his Salat is accepted, right? So that is why we want to take care of his shahadah inshallah before. I was talking to Brother Carol, he lives here in the Garland area. I asked him that how many years he has been learning about Islam and he said that for the last 20 years, he has been learning little by little about Islam because he has been surrounded by Muslims. And then I asked him that what has intrigued you the most about Islam? And usually every single person here taking shahadah, they usually pinpoint one particular thing. I asked him, what intrigued you? He said, everything intrigues me, subhanAllah.

So this is Brother Carol, you ready to take your shahadah? Okay, repeat after me. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah. Peace be upon him, is his messenger. Takbir!

So Brother Carol, congratulations. Welcome to the fastest growing family in the entire world, the Muslim family. Through this, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has wiped your slate absolutely clean. So this is a fresh new start in your life. All of us here, we are part of your family. And if there's anything that you need from us, we're always here for you, okay? Jazakumullahu khair, thank you, congratulations.

Also, I just want to announce quickly that there are a few announcements for dua. Number one is our own Dr. Nimr. He's requesting dua for his niece. Her name is Sarah Khan. She is currently in the hospital. So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant her shifa.

Also, another volunteer of our community, Brother Zaheer, requesting dua for his cousin, Dr. Javed Zari. He's also sick. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give him shifa.

And finally, there's a brother of our community, Brother Ahmad Mahmood. He's requesting dua for his mother-in-law, who passed away just three days ago overseas. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ. We ask Allah that all those who are sick, may Allah give them shifa. اللَّهُمَّ اشْفِ مَرْضَانَا وَمَرْضَى الْمُسْلِمِينَ. And we ask Allah that all those who may have passed away, may Allah have mercy on their souls. اللَّهُمَّ ارْحَمْ مَوْتَانَا وَمَوْتَى الْمُسْلِمِينَ. Aminn. Rabbil alameen.

The Mercy That Never Runs Out

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Wa alaykum as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. There is none worthy of worship except Allah. And may Allah take us from this dunya when He is most pleased with us. Aminn. Rabbil alameen.

Brothers and sisters, one of the greatest diseases of the heart is despair. Many people think that because their sins are so great, or they have committed way too many mistakes, or that their book of deeds are filled with just darkness and only sins, they go into a level of despair. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in order to reverse that despair, and to have complete hope in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah says to us in the Quran, a verse that you and I have heard many times, which is:

O people who have transgressed against themselves, and the reason why Allah says, transgressing against themselves, is because when we do something that is considered as an act of disobedience, we are not harming anyone, but we are harming ourselves. So Allah is telling us, those who have transgressed against themselves, do not ever lose your hope in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Do not fall into despair.

In fact, many ulema have even stated, that falling into despair is an act of sin in itself, because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is known as, أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ. Every single rak'ah, when we say, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. What do we say after that? We say, الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. Both of them are exhibiting the idea of mercy. How consistently Allah is merciful, and how much Allah is merciful.

The Story of the Sinful Man

And to keep this in mind, we also go back to the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ, a very beautiful story, that really highlights the mercy of Allah azza wa jal. The Prophet ﷺ was one time sitting with the companions, and he says, let me tell you the story of a man who came before you. He was a person who did nothing good. Meaning that the only thing this person did was, he lived his entire life in the disobedience of Allah azza wa jal. However, the only thing that he did, was that he did believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So right before he died, he called his family members. And he says that, when I die, I want you to burn me. And after you have burned me, I want you to crush me. And after you have crushed me, and I've turned into dust, I want you to scatter this dust in the sea and in the wind. He then says, by Allah, if Allah gets hold of me, I will not be able to save myself from the wrath of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah will punish me like He has not punished anyone else before.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, of course as we all know, that Allah is قَادِرٌ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ. And Allah is the one who brings the dead back to life. So he did the same exact thing. He ordered the earth to bring this person back together. And this person was presented before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah asked this person, what made you do exactly this? Why did you do this? The man said, Ya Allah, it was out of fear of You. Because I know I lived my entire life in disobedience, and how can I stand before You? The Prophet ﷺ goes on to say that Allah said to this person, in his infinite mercy, that he says, I have forgiven you. This is Allah telling this person, I have forgiven you.

Brothers and sisters, this hadith and this story teaches us, that no matter how sinful we become, no matter how much we live in disobedience, a person should never lose their hope, and never fall into the state of despair. This is not a green light to us, that you know what, go ahead and commit as many sins as you want, because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ. Again, at the end of the day, a believer is always between hope and fear. But at the same time, there are some people who are so overwhelmed by fear of Allah, that they lose sight of the hope and the mercy of Allah azza wa jal. And that is why you have a hadith reinforcing the idea of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then there are some people who have so much hope in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that they lose track of the fact that they have to stand before Allah and give accountability. So that is why brothers and sisters, we should never lose hope in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Allah's Response to Our Efforts

There is another beautiful hadith of Qudsi, stating and highlighting the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7405)

This is a hadith of Qudsi. Allah says, I am, I treat my slaves according to their expectations with me. If he remembers me in his heart, I remember him in my heart. If he remembers me in a gathering, I remember him in a better, a more noble gathering. And then the Prophet ﷺ says, Allah says, If he comes to me by one span, I come to him by one cubit's length. If he comes to me by one cubit's length, I come close to him by one arm's length. And if he comes walking to me, I come running to him.

Now subhanAllah, this is a hadith that many ulama and scholars have discussed. And they have contemplated and they have documented about. And while subhanAllah, there are many people who go into this irrelevant discussion about this hadith. That what does shibirin mean? What does zira'an mean when it comes to Allah? What does it mean that when I come walking to Allah, they get into this theological discussion? That what does it mean for Allah to run?

Brothers and sisters, this is not the objective of the hadith. The objective of the hadith is, Allah is trying to instill this hope within us. That anytime we do anything to come close to Allah, Allah will go out of His way, and Allah will do double the work. Allah will do more in coming close to us as a result of us doing a little in coming close to Allah.

Because there are a lot of people, by the way, you know, imagine if you really like someone, and you really want to come close to someone. Some people are so egotistical that they're going to tell you that, you know what, I want you to give up everything that you have, and go to the ends of the earth, because you want to come close to me. This is not who Allah is. Allah is telling us, you take one step, I'll take two steps in coming close to you. This is a hadith to instill the mercy of Allah, to understand how merciful Allah is.

The 100 Parts of Mercy

And if you think that this hadith is amazing, think about this next hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, where he says that, I have divided mercy into 100 parts, and I have shared, I have given the entire mankind, meaning the jinns, the human beings, the animals, the insects, I have given all of you one share of the pie, one share of all of mercy that does exist.

And it is through that one share of mercy that we are compassionate towards each other, we show love towards each other. When it comes to a mother staying up all night because of her sick child, or a father going outside and working hard from morning to evening, or whether it is strangers helping each other out when they're facing a disaster or a calamity, or even the fact that animals, wild animals, showing compassion and love to their young ones, brothers and sisters, all of this mercy that we see all over the earth, subhanAllah, is only one share of that mercy that Allah has given us. We all are sharing that one mercy, one percentage of mercy.

The other 99% of mercy has been kept by Allah Himself. And there's a hadith where He says that, I will share that 99% of mercy on the day of judgment. May Allah make us from amongst those who will be the recipients of Allah's mercy on the day of judgment.

Never Lose Hope

Brothers and sisters, this is how much Allah is merciful. Today so many people have lost hope in life. They feel like that there is nothing good that's gonna happen in their life. Brothers and sisters, this is where we need to reverse this idea, reverse this mentality. Come back to Allah and put your trust in Allah.

Do not just make du'a and think that I'm just making du'a because Allah told me to make du'a, but I actually do not have so much hope in my du'a. If this is how you and I are making du'a, then go back to the hadith of Qudsi, أَنَا عِنْدَ ظَنِّ عَبْدِي بِي - I treat my slaves according to their expectations with me.

If I'm making du'a, brothers and sisters, and I'm saying that most certainly Allah will grant me my du'a, even if it's after some time. وَلَوْ بَعْدَ حِينٍ - Even if after some time, I have full trust and full faith in Allah, that Allah will accept my du'as, Allah most certainly will accept our du'as. And this is why subhanAllah, all over our life, think about how merciful Allah is. Think about how merciful Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is. Brothers and sisters, every blessing is a mercy of Allah.

The Mercy That Never Runs Out

The sun that we have that provides energy on a day to day basis is a mercy of Allah. Imagine if the sun did not exist, how would we live on the face of this earth? The fact that Allah has given you and I the ability to breathe, inhale and exhale. There are so many hundreds and thousands of people who are stuck in the hospital. They are in the hospital, may Allah give them shifa. But they are hooked up to an oxygen machine. And the hospital charges them, do you know that? The hospital charges them to use that machine on a daily basis. Here you and I are sitting, Allah has given us the ability to inhale and exhale. Why? It is through the rahma and the mercy of Allah عز وجل.

Every single blessing that we have, the fact that you and I we can see, is from the mercy of Allah. The fact that you and I we can hear, is from the mercy of Allah. The fact that you and I we can taste things, food is one of the greatest pleasures of life. The fact that we can taste food is a mercy of Allah. The fact that Allah made us Muslims, the fact that He gave us a shari'ah, He gave us halal and haram. And why did He make certain things haram? For our benefit, for our benefit. Not because Allah wants to take the fun out of life. As so many people they have said and they believe, this is so that Allah wants us to be protected. Allah wants us to live a pure life. Allah gave us the shari'ah, this in itself is a rahma and a mercy of Allah عز وجل.

The fact that when we commit sins, and Allah delays the punishment, Allah does not punish us right away. He gives us the opportunity to come back to Allah, to make tawbah to Allah, to repent to Allah, in itself is a mercy of Allah. The fact that brothers and sisters, wallahi, think about this, how many sins that you and I, we have committed. When we are away, when we are in seclusion, when we are in privacy, and Allah has kept our sins hidden. Wallahi, this is a mercy of Allah. Can you imagine, if everyone in the community knew what I have done, wallahi, many of us will not be able to show our faces in front of the community. The fact that Allah has kept our sins hidden, is a mercy of Allah. And the fact that Allah, when we do a good deed, Allah multiplies it. And the fact that when we commit a sin, Allah records only one sin, this is in itself from the rahma and the mercy of Allah.

We are surrounded 24x7 by the rahma and the mercy of Allah. But you and I, we don't realize that. And that's why we don't appreciate Allah.

How Can We Achieve Allah's Mercy?

The next thing I want to quickly get into is, that how can we achieve, how can we earn the mercy of Allah. The very first thing I will say, there's just two things I want to share. What can we do in order to receive Allah's mercy? Part of believing in Allah's mercy, is to realize that Allah is everything, what people are not.

This is why subhanAllah, so many of us, we feel sadness. There is a sense of emptiness in our lives. And the one reason why we feel this, is because we have put so much trust, and hope, and dependency on people. Forgetting that no matter how close or beloved they are, people and human beings can disappoint us. But Allah, Allah is different.

Allah is more generous than people. While others hold back, Allah gives endlessly, even when we least deserve it. Allah is more dependable than people. Friends can forget you, but Allah never leaves your side, even in your darkest hour. Allah is more forgiving than people. Human beings hold grudges, yet Allah welcomes our tawbah and our repentance, every single time we return to Him. Allah is more trustworthy than people. Secrets shared with people can be betrayed. But secrets whispered and shared to Allah stay safe, protected, and comforted. And not only that, but Allah is more understanding than people. Where people can judge harshly, Allah understands our struggles, and sees the sincerity within our heart.

So brothers and sisters, that is why true happiness, and peace, and comfort lies in placing our trust in Allah عز وجل, not in people. Don't hang your hearts and hopes on those who might let you down today. If there is one that you should always put your trust in, and depend on, it is Allah عز وجل.

The next time someone promises you something, do not completely believe it, because they're human beings. The next time someone says, I'll get you a job, don't worry, I'll take care of you, do not completely trust them. Put your trust in Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى.

Show Mercy to Others

The second thing that we can do in order to earn Allah's mercy, is that we show mercy to others, and Allah will have mercy on us. Rasulullah ﷺ, he says:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4943)

The Prophet ﷺ says, the merciful are shown mercy by the most merciful. And then he says, show mercy on to those on the face of this earth, and the one in the heavens will show mercy to you.

That is why brothers and sisters, if we want mercy from Allah, we have to show mercy to others. Wallahi, how many times do we abuse people? We abuse their rights, we violate people's rights. And then we're saying to Allah, Ya Allah, I want you to show me mercy. How is Allah going to show me mercy if I'm violating other people's rights?

That is why all over the Qur'an you will see this. Allah is telling us to show mercy towards each other. When it comes to a husband and wife:

Show mercy towards each other. When it comes to our parents, Allah says:

Lower your wings, and show mercy towards your parents. When it comes to believers, one another, Allah says regarding the Prophet ﷺ:

Just like Rasulullah ﷺ, he was loving, he was compassionate, he was merciful towards everyone. Why did the Prophet ﷺ do this? So that we can learn from the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, that just like he was merciful, we need to be merciful towards others. And that is why also in Surah Al-Balad, what did Allah say:

They encourage each other to be merciful towards each other.

Learning to Forgive

Brothers and sisters, this is what we need today. Show mercy towards each other. Mercy means learning how to let it go, learning how to forgive each other. I understand that there might be grudges, I understand that someone may hurt you so bad. But in this dunya, if you forgive them, and by the way, there is no concept of forgiving and forgetting. You cannot forget. You cannot forget. No one has ever said to forgive and forget. Forgiving is something that we can do. Forgetting is a lot of times beyond our capacity. But if we forgive, only for the sake of Allah, then Allah will give us something greater in the akhirah.

So I ask Allah that may He make us from amongst those who are able to show rahmah and mercy towards others, so that we are recipients of Allah's mercy.

The Vastness of Allah's Mercy

Brothers and sisters, to wrap up this khutbah, remember, no matter what you have done, no matter how far you have gone away from Allah, Allah's mercy is greater than your sins. Take one step to Allah, and Allah will come your way by two steps. And remember, show mercy to others, and Allah will shower His mercy upon you. And also remember that all the love that you have seen in this world is only 1% of Allah's overall mercy. And 99% has been reserved for us, inshallah, in the akhirah.

Keep always this in mind, because this will actually motivate us to ask Allah for His mercy and to show mercy to others.

Du'as for Allah's Mercy

Now as far as that, are there any du'as in the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ? There are plenty of du'as in order to ask Allah for His mercy. Right now in this khutbah, I want to share with you five du'as, and you can all come back to it later on and watch the video, and record these five du'as.

The very first du'a is:

The second du'a:

The third du'a, especially for those who are struggling:

Fourth du'a:

And lastly:

May Allah show us mercy in this dunya, and more importantly, may Allah shower His mercy in the akhira, on the day of judgment, when we will need it most importantly.