The Defining Attributes of Successful Believers

Khutbah: The Attributes of the True Believers

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and to the righteous, and there is no enmity except against the wrongdoers. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that there is no partner for Him but the Lord of the worlds.

I bear witness that our master and our prophet is Muhammad, His servant and His messenger. The one who was sent as a mercy to the worlds — may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and upon his family and companions, the good and the pure, and those who follow them with goodness and call to his call to the Day of Recompense.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in the Quran which He has revealed as a source of guidance for all mankind, has revealed it in the month of Ramadan. He has revealed 114 surahs, which have been divided into 30 juz. In the beginning of the 18th juz is also the beginning of the 23rd surah — Surah al-Mu'minun. So these are not only the opening verses of Surah al-Mu'minun, the 23rd surah, but also the opening verses of the 18th juz.

Indeed, the believers are successful. These are very beautiful ayaat in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the sifat — the attributes — seven attributes of the true believers who will be granted salvation, will be granted ultimate, permanent, eternal success. And we should study these ayaat, we should focus on these ayaat, we should contemplate over them — not merely as an academic study of who the believers are and what their attributes are, but rather with the intention: how can we, insha'Allah, all become amongst them ourselves?

We need to go over these sifat, these attributes, with the intention of how can we inculcate these attributes within ourselves. So it is not just an academic discussion — "oh, these are the mu'minun, or they were the mu'minun in the past" — but rather: how can we become these mu'minun?

The Virtue of These Verses

There are many virtues of these ayaat specifically mentioned in the books of hadith. Sayyidina Umar ibn al-Faruq radiyallahu ta'ala anhu narrates, as is mentioned in Musnad Ahmad, that on many occasions when the effects of wahi and the conditions of revelation would become apparent and manifest on Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the sahabah who were surrounding him had an unparalleled, unbelievable experience of witnessing some of those effects.

As Sayyidina Umar radiyallahu ta'ala anhu mentions — one time when the Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was sitting cross-legged and part of his body was resting upon him, when the wahi was being revealed upon Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he felt like his bone would be crushed from the weight. They would see the camel sit down. One of the things that would sometimes happen is that they would hear the wiyun nahl — a buzzing like the buzzing of bees — or salsalatul jaras — the sound of a chain being rung and shaken.

He said: one time we were sitting with Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and we heard the buzzing of the bees. Then we all withdrew and remained silent, as we knew that wahi was descending upon Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. We were hoping and waiting to see when this condition would pass, and then we would have — subhanAllah — brand new, absolutely fresh, first-time-recited ayaat of the Quran. This would be a fresh new revelation from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, never before recited on the surface of the earth.

So we were waiting, and then subhanAllah, after that condition passed — and in the coldest days of winter, the forehead of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would become overcome with beads of perspiration and sweat from the weight of the revelation, for it is a very heavy burden that would come upon the heart of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — he said: after Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam returned to a normal condition, he faced the Qibla and started making du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then he recited:

till the end. Likewise, we have another narration — Imam al-Nasa'i mentions in his Kitab al-Tafsir from Yazid ibn Babnus that he once asked Aisha Siddiqa radiyallahu anha: "O Umm al-Mu'mineen, O mother of the believers — from whom one third of knowledge has been narrated — I could not meet Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. I did not have the honor of witnessing him. You are not only an ummati of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam but you are also his wife, so you saw him so closely and you had unparalleled access to our beloved master sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Can you please tell us about his akhlaq, can you tell us about his character?"

So she said:

His character was the Quran. — (Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 139 / Hadith 746)

"Read the Quran — have you not recited the Quran? That is his akhlaq." And then she said: "Let me give you a sample," and she recited:

She recited these same ten ayaat and said: "These are the ayaat that in a brief manner describe his attributes." SubhanAllah.

The Meaning of Falah

The first ayah, the opening ayah, is قَدْ أَفْلَحَ — and this qad is for tahqiq and ta'kid, for emphasis. أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ — the believers, they have attained falah.

What is falah? Falah is such ultimate, complete success that a person is saved from every calamity and misery, anxiety, and worry — and a person is granted every single desire and wish. This level of falah, this level of complete success and fulfillment of every single wish and desire, is obviously not something that can be fulfilled in this worldly life. That is not the nature of this life. In this worldly life it is mixed — there are good days and bad days, there is richness and poverty, there is health and sickness, there is life and death, there is happiness and sadness.

He makes some laugh and others cry; some rich and some poor; some healthy and some sick. These are the ups and downs of life. So this type of complete falah that is being referred to in this ayah cannot be anything else besides Jannah itself — eternal Jannah. And that is why, when we enter Jannah insha'Allah, the believers will say:

All praise and thanks to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who has removed from us forms of grief and sadness. Inna rabbana la-ghafoorun shakoor — He is the one who forgave the sins that we committed, and Shakur, He is the one who accepted the good that we did. So Ghafoorun — He forgave our sins; Shakurun — He accepted our good deeds. Allathi ahallana dara al-muqamah min fadlih — He is the one who has brought us into this place of eternal abode, eternal enjoyment, from His grace. That means everyone is going to recite this ayah when we enter Jannah — meaning everyone had some hazan, some form of grief and sadness in this worldly life, which will be removed when we enter into Jannah insha'Allah.

The Seven Attributes of the True Believers

First Attribute: Iman (Faith)

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ — The first sifah is, of course, iman. Without iman, nothing else counts. All the good deeds, all the beautiful practices, good habits, good character a person may have — it is of no avail and will not help a person for his salvation on the Day of Judgment without iman. So this is not only an attribute by itself but it is a precondition for everything else to follow.

There is no concept of salah without iman — and that is obvious. But what about being kind, being polite, helping the needy, acts of charity, social services? This may happen and does happen throughout the world — we see people without iman doing such things — but all of that without iman is of no avail. Allah ta'ala says that these are in fact the greatest losers:

They made many efforts in their worldly life; they may have done a lot of charitable actions. But all of their actions go to waste. They were expecting a great reward because they were doing good deeds, but they will not receive any reward — because without iman. So iman is the first thing. We have to all work on our iman.

What is iman? It is al-tasdiq al-kamil — complete conviction from the bottom of the heart — bi jami'i ma ja'a bihi al-nabiyyu sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — in the truth of the entirety of the message conveyed to us by Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, that it is haqq, the ultimate truth. And we make tasdiq with our heart, we make iqrar with our tongue — we testify with our tongue — and we make 'amal bil arkan — we act accordingly with our body parts. This is the reality of iman that we need to have.

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ — such iman whose reality is la yaqbalu al-shakk: there is no room for doubt. With practice, for sure there will always be deficiency — it is impossible to have perfect practice. But it is not permitted to have imperfect iman. Meaning: we will never have 100% 'amal, but we can never have less than 100% iman. So if a person says "I believe in 99.99% of the Quran or the deen of Islam," that is equivalent to being an outright disbeliever — it has no value, it is inconsequential, it has no bearing. If it is 99%, it must be 100%. Whereas 'amal can never be 100% — that is a big difference between the two.

Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's 'amal was the most perfect 'amal, and he himself said: مَا عَبَدْنَاكَ حَقَّ عِبَادَتِكَ — "O Allah, I cannot worship You the way You deserve to be worshipped." So with respect to iman, we must believe in the entirety of the message and have complete conviction in it. May Allah ta'ala grant us that iman.

Second Attribute: Khushu' in Prayer

Those that have khushu' in their prayer. What is khushu'? There are two things that we commonly hear: khushu' and khudhu'. Khudhu' deals with the physical body parts — not moving them excessively, keeping them in the exact position as is in the sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. That is the khudhu' of the body parts. And khushu' is the condition of the heart. So there is the external dimension and the internal dimension — the zahir of the salah and the batin of the salah.

We have to perform the salah as the beloved Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

"Perform the salah the way you see me performing it." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 631)

Performing the salah according to the zahir of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is khudhu'. And then there is a kayfiyyah qalbiyyah batinah — an internal condition of the heart in the qiyam, ruku', and sujood — that is the khushu' of the heart.

In this ayah, Allah is talking about alladhina hum fi salatihim khashi'un — speaking about the quality. And the last sifah, which I will mention here to save time, also returns to salah: alladhina hum 'ala salatihim yuhafizun — those that are punctual upon their salah. What is the difference between the two? One is regarding the quality; one is regarding the quantity. One is the kayfiyyah qalbiyyah. Here Allah ta'ala is speaking about the quality of the salah — there must be khushu' in it.

So if a person is performing his every Jumu'ah with great khushu' — but that's the last check-in until next Friday — that's great, you have khushu' in the Jumu'ah, but we need more than that. Allah has required more than that. Khamsu salawat — Allah has made five prayers obligatory on His slaves. And Allah has made a promise:

"Whoever performs the wudu' properly for them, performs them in their appointed times, completes the ruku' and the khushu' — then Allah has taken a promise upon Himself that He will grant him complete forgiveness. And whoever does not do so, there is no promise from Allah for him — if He wishes He may forgive him, and if He wishes He may punish him." (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 425)

So we need, all of us with no exception — and I don't think anyone has any confusion — we have a lot of work to do when it comes to our khushu'. And we can see the example of the sahabah radiyallahu anhum ajma'een — how their khushu' was, how their khudhu' was. They were so still in their performance of prayer — motionless — that sometimes crows would come and perch on their shoulders, and birds. Why were they perching on them? Because they thought they were pieces of wood stuck in the sand — motionless, disconnected from everything outside.

An example of khushu' is Sayyidina Ali radiyallahu anhu. He was struck with an arrow in battle, and the arrow had penetrated him. They had no anesthetic to numb the pain, and they had to pull it out. These arrows had a pointed force to penetrate, and also double hooks in the opposite direction — so when pulled out, it would tear the flesh on both sides. They tried to pull it out so many times, and despite him being — subhanAllah — a great, courageous, and strong individual — the Fatih of Khaybar, the one who picked up the gates of the fort and threw them — the pain was so great that he kept saying: "No, no, hold on, I can't do it." Then he said: "Look, I will perform two raka'at salah, make du'a to Allah ta'ala, and then however many companions are required — hold me down, no matter what I say, just pull it out."

So after two raka'at, he closed his eyes, put his leg out, and said "go ahead." Then they said: "It's done." He said: "What do you mean?" They said: "While you were praying the salah, we saw you focusing — so someone said, this is the best time to take it out." SubhanAllah. This is the level of khushu':

Third Attribute: Turning Away from Idle Speech and Vain Actions

Those who stay away from idle things — vain talk, vain actions — things that are not necessarily haram, but are just a waste of time. As the hadith says:

"Part of the beauty of a person's Islam is that they leave that which is not beneficial to them." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2317; also in Musnad Ahmad)

So laghw here refers to permissible things that are just a waste of time — not makruh, not haram, not even doubtful, but mubah permissible things. A person cannot reach the level of taqwa without leaving some of that which is permissible, out of the fear of falling into that which is impermissible.

Remaining Attributes (Summary)

Due to time, I will just translate and summarize the remaining ayaat and we will continue in detail next time insha'Allah.

They perform their zakat; they guard their private parts — and those who fulfill their promises and covenants; and at the end, alladhina hum 'ala salatihim muhafizun — they are punctual in their prayers. These are those who are going to inherit — inherit what? Walladhina yarithuna al-firdaws — they will inherit al-Firdaws, which is the highest level of Jannah. Hum fiha khalidun — they will remain therein forever.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us these sifat, grant us the ability to learn these ayaat and to implement them in our lives, give us the haqiqah of it, and grant the reality of it to our children and grandchildren.

Wa akhiru da'awana anil-hamdulillahi rabbil alameen.

Announcements

As we perform the sunnah prayers insha'Allah, we have some important announcements. Please pass the donation boxes from left to right side. Please ensure that the boxes reach the other side. Please donate generously and give others a chance to donate. Make sure that the boxes continue to pass insha'Allah. Sadaqah tatfa'u al-bala' — charity wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the sadaqah given on the day of Friday is the most rewarding, as mentioned in the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Please note that we have the 15th of Sha'ban program here this Saturday, tomorrow, after the prayer insha'Allah. One of our seminary teachers, Mawlana Ahsan Syed, will be giving a very important talk about attaining the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on this 14th/15th night of Sha'ban.

We are also having programs every Friday leading up to Ramadan — Road to Ramadan: Ramadan preparation programs. On Friday, March 1st, we will have "Guide to a Healthy and Balanced Fast" with Mawlana Asifuddin after the prayer insha'Allah. And then on Friday, March 8th, we will have "The Fiqh of Ramadan" with myself insha'Allah.

Join us for our weekly programs: Team Fajr is a tazkiyah program continuing tomorrow after Fajr, Saturday at 6am. Tuesday Tafseers are continuing with Surah al-Tahrim. Weekly Salawat every Thursday night insha'Allah. Sisters' programs: we have a weekly online tafseer in Urdu on Thursdays — please register on the website to receive the link.

There are also dates available for sale — this is a khidmah of the community and for the masjid. Please contact the food stall outside the R2 entrance to buy your box of dates from the masjid insha'Allah, for iftar in Ramadan.

Also, alhamdulillah, a new masjid has been established in Addison — the Islamic Society of Addison. They will be having an inauguration event next Sunday, March 3rd. Brothers outside are distributing flyers; you can pick that up for more details.

And of course, we have the request for du'a for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, in Gaza, in the West Bank, and Muslims that are suffering throughout the world:

Ameen, ya Rabb.