Allah's Mercy: Drawing His Servants Near Through All Conditions

Opening — The Quranic Address

O you who have believed, fasting has been decreed for you, as it was decreed for those before you, that you may be righteous.

Allah, the Exalted, has spoken the truth. My dear respected brothers and sisters, respected elders and youngsters, peace and blessings of Allah be upon you.

Allah's Mercy — Drawing His Servants Near

Allah, the Exalted, is so Merciful and so Generous, He is so loving of His servants, that He comes up with different excuses to draw us near to Him. Allah, the Exalted, brings good conditions upon us, so that we recognize His favors and return to Him in shukr, in thankfulness, in gratitude. But if we still choose to turn our backs, and Allah, the Exalted, desires the one and the same — He wants us to come close to Him.

Sometimes He brings difficulties and calamities and tests and tribulations, so that we can come close to Him through sabr and patience. Ibn Ata'illah Al-Iskandari, may Allah have mercy on him, he mentioned this point. He said that whoever, from his own accord, chooses not to turn towards Allah, the Exalted, despite the fact that Allah, the Exalted, is showering him with His caresses of love and favors upon favors — now if Allah, the Exalted, still decides that He wants His servant to come towards Him, then He sometimes employs the second option. He may be dragged towards Allah, the Exalted, after being chained with the chains of calamities and misfortunes.

The سَلَاسِل are chains and shackles. He is shackled and chained with the chains of misfortune, and He said: okay, if you don't want to come the right way, the easy way, come the hard way — but I do want you to come back towards Me. This is how Allah, the Exalted, works in various different ways. But Allah, the Exalted, at the end of the day, is more happy when an abd al-'asi, a sinning servant of His, does tawbah and returns back to Him.

The Hadith of the Man Who Lost His Camel

More happier than a human being would be upon losing his life and feeling that his life is lost, he regains his life — as in the very well-known detailed hadith of the one who is traveling in the desert, and he loses his camel and all of his belongings, and he is now resigned to his fate. And then when he finds it once again, he is so overwhelmed with joy that he cries out and says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 49, Hadith 2)

He is so overcome with excitement — he had lost his wife, he got his wife back; lost his children, got his children back. He was never going to see his homeland, his watan. Now he is going back. He was never going to see his friends, now he is going back. Everything had been lost, now it has come back to him. His camel with its belongings, with the food, with the means of conveyance, with the water, with all that which is necessary to sustain life had been lost. He had searched for it right and left and front and back, and now he had given up and had laid down to accept his fate, as he would be dying from dehydration. But then when he hears a noise and wakes up, he sees the camel is right there. He grabs the rope, and everything — he got it back.

Rasulullah ﷺ gave this whole example, and he said: Can you imagine how excited this man is? Can you imagine how happy he is? What is the level of his happiness and excitement? As sometimes people in their criminal defense, lawyers say that this person committed this crime but had temporary insanity. He was so beside himself that he did not realize what he did. So he should be exempted from the charges because this was a mistake — he was temporarily insane, he was not aware of what he was saying.

In a less dramatic fashion, this happens also when husbands come with their talaq cases and they say, "Oh, I was so overcome with anger, I did not realize what I was saying when I gave talaq. So it should not be valid, should not be enforced. I didn't know what I was saying. I was in temporary junoon."

So this is an example Rasulullah ﷺ gave — that this person is so happy, so happy, that he makes such a mistake that nobody who is drunk will make it, nobody who is high on drugs will make it. Nobody can make such a mistake because it is so preposterous. He says: Allahumma, O Allah, anta 'abdi — You are my slave, wa ana rabbuka — and I am Your Lord. This is not Fir'awn speaking; this is a thankful servant of Allah. But why is he saying such a thing? Because he is just so overcome with happiness that he actually does not realize what he is uttering.

So this is very thought-provoking on multiple accounts. One is that this person is actually at such a level that he is making such a mistake. And what is more impressive is how detailed the example is given by Rasulullah ﷺ — he is going to such great lengths to explain this concept to us. He could have just said that Allah is happy when a servant makes a sin and makes tawbah and comes back, and that would have been sufficient. He would have done the tabligh al-risalah and the ada' al-amanah — transmitting the message and discharging the trust that he is given by Allah to tell us, his Ummah, his followers, that Allah loves a sinner when he does tawbah and comes back. He could have just said that and that would have been the end of the story.

But Nabi ﷺ went so far. He said: can you imagine a man, he is traveling in the desert, and there are no signs of life, and there is nothing to sustain life, and he is alone with his camel, with all his belongings — and then he loses everything, he stops to rest, he takes a nap. He had tied his camel before he went, but then what happened is when he woke up, the camel had escaped because it was tied very loosely. And then everyone is wondering where in the world the story is going. Then he is looking for his camel on the right, left, everywhere he is traveling. Then he said: why should I overexert myself, it's gone, it's impossible. So then I lay down to die. Then when he wakes up, he finds it.

The story could have stopped there — you can imagine how happy he is, that's how happy Allah Ta'ala is. The purpose of the whole story is to give an example of how happy Allah is, but to set a standard that Allah is actually happier than this. Not as happy as this man, but happier than this man. He could have ended there, but then the final point is that when he sees his camel, he utters those words — because he has completely lost his mind in his happiness.

Then do you understand, O my Sahaba, how happy that man is? Well, Allah is even happier than that man when a sinful servant comes back towards Him. So we see the mercy of Allah in this hadith, and we see the mercy of Rasulullah ﷺ, that he is going to such great lengths to explain this concept to us. May Allah Ta'ala allow us to understand.

Ramadan — An Excuse to Return to Allah

So similarly, this is what the entire month of Ramadan is about. Allah is giving us an excuse to come back towards Him. This is the ayah that we always recite before Ramadan, in Ramadan — reminding ourselves.

Allah addressed those who have already signed up and took the shahadah. As far as those who have not accepted Islam: O people, the rest of mankind, all of humanity — say La ilaha illallah, then you will be successful. O people, all humanity, enter into Islam. And after we have accepted Islam, then we are now addressed by: O those who have already signed up and took the shahadah.

So Allah addresses different groups in the Quran. Sometimes He is addressing the entire humanity — that is, O people. Sometimes He is addressing just the believers — O you who believe. And sometimes He is addressing the Christians, O People of the Book, and the hypocrites, and the polytheists. These are the different groups in the Quran — the groups being directly addressed during the period of revelation. The Jews of Medina, the Christians of Najran, the hypocrites of Medina, the polytheists of Mecca, and then, O you who believe — the Muhajirun and the Ansar.

The Unaddressed Majority — The Fasiqun

The reason I mention these were the groups, and these are the only groups being addressed, is because — interestingly, ironically — the greatest portion of the Ummah that is alive today is not directly addressed in the Quran, believe it or not. This is a very interesting point to reflect on. There are lessons in the Quran for the biggest portion of the Ummah, of course — why not? But they are not being directly addressed. And the reason this significant portion of the Ummah is not directly addressed — called mukhatab in the Quran — is because this portion of the Ummah simply did not exist.

Which portion is that? You have O you who believe — those are the Sahaba, Muhajirun and Ansar. Some have given their lives, some are waiting for their chance. So they are completely sold and they are dedicated Sahaba. Then you have the Munafiqun, the Mushrikun, the Nasara, and the Yahud. But the group that is the biggest portion of the Ummah, which did not exist at that time, are non-practicing Muslims — the Fasiqun.

There is no O you who are Fasiqun in the entire Quran. There is Kafirun — disbelievers. Disbelieving outright is Kufr al-Juhud, and disbelieving while hiding it inside is Kufr al-Nifaq. So both types of Kafirs you have. You have Abu Jahl — he is a Kafir doing juhud, meaning openly denying. Then you have Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul — he is also a Kafir, but he is hiding it. Then you have Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, and Talha ibn Ubaydullah and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, and Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas and Sa'id ibn Zayd — these are the Ashra Mubashara bil-Jannah — and Abdur Rahman ibn Awf, etc. And among the women, for equal representation, we have Aisha and Hafsa and Umm Salama and Umm Darda, etc., and Fatima bint Muhammad ﷺ.

So you have those who are ready to give their lives, and then you have those who are denying. But this other category — one of our scholars mentioned this very important point, which really hit me and I am sharing with you incidentally today — is that the significant portion of the Ummah today are of the Ummah, but of a specific type.

There are two types of Ummah. One is called Ummat al-Dawah and the other is Ummat al-Ijabah. All of humanity is the Ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ in the sense of Ummat al-Dawah, because:

Say: O mankind, I am the Messenger of Allah to you all. There is nobody who is not part of the Ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. But this is Ummat al-Dawah — the Ummah that we still need to go out and give them dawah and remind them. The other part of the Ummah is Ummat al-Ijabah — that part who have already responded and said:

They have accepted Islam. From this Ummah, the biggest proportion — unfortunate reality — is of those who say we believe, but our practices do not prove that. So this person is not a Kafir. This person is a believer, a Muslim. But what type of Muslim? This is called Fasiq — a sinning believer.

For example, if a person says, "I believe Riba is halal, it's not a problem" — that would be kufr, rejecting the ayah of the Quran. And if a person says, "I believe it is haram and I abstain from it" — that is, mashallah, a mu'min. And if a person says, "I believe, yes, the Quran says it's haram, but whatever, and I'm going to engage in it" — so you believe it is haram, so you have Islam. But then you are involving yourself in that haram. That is fisq.

I believe Fajr is fard, and I pray — that is a sign of Islam and iman. I believe Fajr is fard, but I can't pray — inshallah, may Allah forgive me — that is a fasiq, a sinning believer. Believes, but sins. And then you have a person who says, "I don't care about Fajr, I don't believe in it. I don't believe in Allah, I don't believe in Quran, I don't believe in Muhammad, I don't believe in anything." That is a Kafir.

So where is the majority of the Ummah — the Ummat al-Ijabah, not the Ummat al-Dawah? The Ummah that have accepted — how many are praying, how many are not; how many are fulfilling obligations, and how many are not. So it is a very obvious fact. This is what Allah Ta'ala mentioned:

Most people will not realize.

Few of My servants are truly grateful. So this is the proportion from the beginning — this is the reality. Most of us are Fasiqs. The Ummah is largely the Ummah of Fusaq. And the beautiful point here is that they never even existed in the time of Rasulullah ﷺ, because — subhanallah — they were either a Sahabi ready to give his life, or he was a Kafir or Munafiq.

So Allah Ta'ala here is saying:

O those who believe — addressing those who have accepted Islam, the Sahaba. Fasting has been prescribed upon you — it is an obligation upon you — as it has been prescribed upon people prior to you. They were able to do it; you will be able to do it as well. Do not be afraid about this obligation.

The Goal of Fasting — Taqwa

There are many other points that we paused so long on the amanu part. But I wanted to just mention one thing before we conclude as time is coming to an end — this last part:

So that you may gain Taqwa. This is a — subhanallah — beautiful gift from Allah for us to inculcate Taqwa.

This is Taqwa — that we become cognizant of Allah. That Allah is watching me.

Allah is with me, He sees me, He hears what I am saying. He is aware of what I am doing. He is watching me. He is سَمِيعٌ لِأَقْوَالِكُمْ — hearing all that you say. He is بَصِيرٌ بِأَفْعَالِكُمْ — watching all that you do.

What you do not say, what you do not do, but it is hidden in your heart — He is aware of that too. عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ — He is aware of the thoughts across your mind, in your heart.

So this is something conceptual. The teacher explains it in the science class — the theory. The swimming teacher explains it on the board: this is the butterfly stroke, this is how you float. Then you jump into the pool for the swimming class, and you go into the chemistry lab for the science class. So likewise, the fact that Allah is watching us at all times is a concept we are talking about here on the minbar. But the lab of experimenting with that — so this reality becomes experiential and we experience it — is what sawm is about.

Because our natural, primal desires — that are there to quench our thirst and to fill our bellies with our physical needs — we gravitate towards that. And then every Muslim, inshallah, will stop and pause in Ramadan and say: wait, but who is watching me? Nobody is watching me. No adult male or female who is practicing — inshallah, at some level a Muslim — is going to be so low that they will go and hide and drink water in the bathroom. No. Either you fast or you don't fast. If you are fasting, you are not going to do that. But why? It is because we are having this practical application of the fact that Allah is watching me at all times. This concept is continually reinforced in fasting. And that concept of accountability to Allah is known as taqwa. And if we have this taqwa, then everything will, inshallah, come into control.

Fasting Does Not Guarantee Taqwa — A Point from Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi

But one thing here is that Imam Fakhruddin al-Razi, he writes:

It is not something guaranteed. It is something that can perhaps happen. Because Allah Ta'ala says لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ — perchance you may develop taqwa if you do it the right way. So it is a great gift from Allah. If fasting necessarily produced taqwa, Allah would not have said la'allakum — "so that you may perhaps gain taqwa." It is an opportunity from Allah. If we approach it in the correct manner, we can develop taqwa. But if you let it go, then:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1690; also recorded in Musnad Ahmad)

How many people are fasting, and the only thing they get is hunger and thirst. No taqwa, no maghfirah, no anything — only hunger and thirst. That is all they got. Because they did not approach it in the correct manner.

May Allah allow us to approach fasting in the correct manner, to truly benefit from this great gift from Allah. And inshallah, tonight there is also a fiqh of fasting seminar. Mufti Sa'd Raouf will be covering fasting. So let us inshallah come and benefit and attend. Jazakumullah khairan. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Second Khutbah

Alhamdulillah, wa kafa, wa salamun 'ala 'ibadihi alladhina ustafa. Amma ba'd.

Allah Ta'ala said: O you who have believed, fasting has been decreed for you as it was decreed for those before you, that you may be righteous.

The Prophet ﷺ said: Whoever fasts in Ramadan with faith and seeking Allah's reward will be forgiven for his past sins.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 38; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 760)

And the Prophet ﷺ said: How many of those who fast have nothing from their fasting but hunger and thirst. And how many of those who stand in prayer at night have nothing from their standing but fatigue.

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1690)

Du'a

Announcements

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We have a fiqh of fasting seminar tonight after Isha', inshallah. We will have an opening recitation by guest Qari Wasimullah Amin.

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