Taqwa And Unity: Keys To Individual And Collective Success

Taqwa and Unity: The Keys to Individual and Collective Success

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His chosen servants. Allah, the Exalted, has said in His decisive revelation, after we seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and you will not die except as Muslims. And hold fast, all of you, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you, when you were enemies — He brought your hearts together, and you became brothers in His favor. And you were on the brink of a pit of fire, and He saved you from it. Thus does Allah make His signs clear to you, that you may be guided.

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

Allah in these well-known ayat mentions two principles that are fundamental for our success in this dunya and in the akhirah — both at an individual level and at a communal level.

All of us are individuals. We came into this world alone — I guess in the case of twins or triplets, one by one we came into this world. And then when we die, we will be entering our own graves, or we will have our own alam al-barzakh, whether we hope, insha'Allah, a physical grave or otherwise. And on the Day of Judgment, for sure, no matter what — no matter if a person was born alone or as a twin or triplet, no matter if he had a physical grave, or should a tragedy occur and his body was otherwise disposed of — those differences may be there. But when it comes to the third stage, Allah will resurrect everyone for sure.

...in which there is no doubt. And He will resurrect us on the Day of Qiyamah, individually. And we will have to give our individual account to Allah.

These are two principles mentioned by Allah: no one will carry the good deeds of someone else, and no one will bear the sins of anyone else. If there is ithal al-thawab — transfer of good deeds — there is a certain process for that. But in general, everyone has their own good deeds and everyone will have their own sins that they will have to face on the Day of Judgment. And we will see it in front of us:

An atom's weight of good deed — he will see it. And if it is evil — he will see it as well. So we have to have concern for our individual success, and to ensure we do not have our individual failure. On the other hand, we do not live in isolation. We live in societies, we live in communities. And we cannot be concerned just about ourselves — me, myself, and I — but rather we have to have a concern for our society, for our community, for the general public.

So Allah in these ayat mentions both of these points: what is the key to individual success, and what is the key to collective success?

The Key to Individual Success: Taqwa

At an individual level, Allah says:

All those who believe, inculcate taqwa. Inculcate fear of Allah. A sense of accountability. Taqwa is translated sometimes as fear of Allah, but obviously it is much broader than that. It is having that sense of accountability — that there is a Yawm al-Din, a Day of Judgment, and there is a Maliki Yawm al-Din, a Master of that Day of Judgment, and He will judge between us. And we have to answer to Him. And that day, we cannot hide from Him:

And there will be witnesses called forth. Our own body parts will testify against us or for us. The Qur'an itself will testify for us or against us:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 2, Hadith 432)

The Qur'an will testify in favor of some, and the Qur'an will testify against others. The Prophet will make shafa'a in favor of some. And he will also say:

"O my Lord, these people have abandoned the Qur'an after me." And the earth itself will be testifying in favor or against:

So the concept of that fear, that Day of Judgment — the realization of hisab — that is the reality of taqwa. And that is the only way to ensure that individually we will have success. If we have taqwa, we will be fulfilling the rights of Allah. And if we have taqwa, we will be fulfilling the rights of the creation of Allah. If you want to be a beautiful slave of Allah, it is only through having taqwa. And if you want to be a beautiful husband — through taqwa. A beautiful son — through taqwa. Beautiful wife, beautiful daughter, beautiful neighbor, citizen, employer, employee, ruler or ruled, governor or governed, king or subject. The only way a person will be successful in any sphere of life, in any facet of life, in any aspect of life — is if you have taqwa. If the businessman will be honest, it is through taqwa. And the absence of taqwa is what we are seeing and what we are all suffering from.

The default is not having taqwa, and we have to make an effort to acquire it. The default — for example, since we are talking about businessmen — what does Rasulullah ﷺ say?

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1210; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 2146)

The default is that all the merchants and all those involved in business are fujjar — sinners — except those who fear Allah, speak the truth, and do good. Now, we are not singling out businessmen and merchants and traders, saying they are sinners, na'udhu billah. We are all humans. So the default for humans is:

All humans are headed towards destruction — that is the default. And then the exception is except for those who believe, do righteous deeds, invite one another towards truth, and invite one another towards sabr — which is habs al-nafs, squashing the nafs. Because the majority:

They do not know. They do not understand. They do not believe.

Few are those who are My grateful servants. So we have to be among those few. And the way we can is only through taqwa — fear of Allah, fear of accountability in front of Allah. This is what Allah points out first in these ayat:

Now how much taqwa? Not up to you — not however much you feel like, whatever you can afford to have — but rather the way it is: the right of Allah. That is how Allah quantified it. The right of Allah is that we believe in Him and do not deny Him, that we are grateful to Him and we do not be ungrateful to Him, and that He is obeyed and He is not disobeyed. This is the right of Allah.

And we have to maintain this, work on it, strengthen it till the last moment:

Make sure you do not die except in a state of submitting to Allah. It's not a 9-to-5, it's not 40 hours a week. SubhanAllah, it is every single moment — while we are awake and even when we are asleep. We go to sleep with the name of Allah and we wake up with the name of Allah:

"With Your name I die and I live." And: "My Lord, I have laid my side down and with You I raise it. If You take my soul, have mercy on it; and if You release it, then protect it as You protect Your righteous servants." So this is the reality. Make sure you continue in the state of taqwa, continue in the state of submission to Allah till your last moment, till your death. This is with regards to personal success, personal salvation.

The Key to Collective Success: Unity Through the Rope of Allah

The second component I mentioned in the beginning is the community. What about everyone else? The key to that success is to become unified — to have ittihad. And ittihad and unity — Allah gives that command and He also gives us the way to achieve it. Unity on whose terms? On the terms of Allah. Not unity on what I think or what you think or what anyone else thinks, but unity and ittihad based on the binding factor of the Kitabullah. Because Allah does not have a special relationship with one nation over another, with one language over another language, with one color over another color. His loyalty is with those who believe in Him, those who have taqwa:

The most noble amongst you in the eyes of your Lord are those who have the most taqwa. So Allah did not just give us a command to be united — He also showed us how to achieve that unity:

Hold on firmly to the rope of Allah and do not become divided amongst yourselves. The rope of Allah has been explained in the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ himself:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3788)

The rope of Allah extending from the heavens to the earth is the Book of Allah. Hold on firmly to the Book of Allah, all together. Do not become divided amongst yourselves.

Everyone is calling towards unity but at their own terms — that itself creates further disunity. If there is one point on which there is a unity of opinion, it is the point that united we stand and divided we fall. Unity is beneficial. Unity is productive. Unity is desirable. It is an objective according to everyone. And despite everyone agreeing that unity is something we should strive for, we are becoming more disunited at every level — from the family unit, husband and wife, parents and children, to communities, to societies, to states, to countries, to nations, to the globe.

So why is disunity increasing? It is because we are inviting towards unity on our own man-made terms and understandings. Instead of that, the essence of Islam is submission. That we put our intellect aside, our experience aside, our hawa and nafs, our carnal desires aside, and we submit to what Allah wants. Very simple. Very basic. He is the Master. We are the slave. We are all His slaves and we submit to what He wants from us. And when everyone agrees to follow those terms — there you have unity.

The Living Example: From Enemies to Brothers

Is it something theoretical or is there a practical example? There is a practical example — and it is in the same ayah:

Remember the favor of Allah upon you when you were enemies of one another. Current-day marketing talks about one of the most effective methods being personal testimonies — the before picture and the after picture. This is that before picture. Allah says: remember when you were enemies of one another, slaying one another, killing one another, murdering, pillaging — no rights of anyone were secure. It was a Jahiliyyah, not only in name but in practice.

Then what happened? Allah gave such an unparalleled, unprecedented level of muhabba and love and attachment in your hearts for one another. It is through the fadl of Allah — not because you can attribute any greatness to yourselves. Allah didn't say you became ka-ikhwan — like brothers. He said:

You became brothers. In fact, you became closer than brothers — closer than biological brothers. And Allah paints a very detailed image and shows how dangerous the situation was before. There is no hyperbole, there is no exaggeration in the kalam of Allah:

You were literally standing on the edge of the pit of Jahannam. You don't need anyone to push you — if you kind of just lose your balance in a moment of ghaflah, you will fall headlong into the eternal fire of Jahannam, خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا — remaining therein forever. That is how close you were to eternal destruction. This is the words of the Qur'an — the words of Allah. And then Allah picked you up and saved you from there, and made you the Sahaba of His Rasul ﷺ. And how did this happen? Because you all submitted to the will of Allah. You submitted to the Qur'an. And you established that brotherhood which the world has never seen before nor after.

The Mu'akha of the Muhajirun and Ansar

The Mu'akha — the brotherhood — that was established between the Muhajirun and the Ansar. We have tragedies occurring nowadays where we have entire populations as refugees and no country wants to grant them citizenship, and the whole world is watching. Whether it's the Rohingya refugees, or the Palestinian refugees, or Syrian refugees — so many refugees throughout the world. That is why I don't like to mention countries, because we may end up missing one or two. There are so many:

From east to west. Versus the Muhajirun — look at that example. How the Ansar, رضي الله عنهم أجمعين, gave everything they had — half. "I have two gardens, you take one. If I have one garden, you take half. If I have two homes, you take one. If I have one home, I give you half." To the extent that they even offered: "If I have two wives — a wife is also a necessity of life — I can divorce one and you can marry." And it must be mentioned, on record, not a single Muhajir accepted that offer. It was offered to them, but they did not accept it. But it was the spirit in which it was given:

They preferred others over themselves even if they had to undergo a severe loss. They were feeding food despite remaining hungry themselves. It's not that you eat and then give the leftover. This brotherhood came only through Islam. And in case you think it could come through something else — Allah rejected that. The other means that people of the world use to purchase loyalty is through payments and money. You buy the loyalty, you create an ally. Allah says to Rasulullah ﷺ:

O Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, if you would try to purchase the loyalty of the tribal leaders by spending all the money on the entire surface of the earth — all the gold, all the silver, all the platinum, all the oil, all the diamonds in every mine in the world — you give all of it, you could not purchase their loyalty, you could never create the unity that was created. But it is Allah who united their hearts. And Allah united their hearts because they submitted to His will.

Unity Within Our Capacity

Now, we are individuals — how are we going to bring global peace? We cannot necessarily do that. That is beyond our scope. We can make du'a for that. But what we can have is peace in our family — core family. Peace in our extended family. Peace in our community. Peace in our masjid. How can we create that peace and unity? If we all agree to submit to the will of Allah. If we all agree to follow the words of Allah in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah, the explanation of His words. Then we will have peace at these different levels — within our capacity, within our jurisdiction.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 893; Sahih Muslim, Book 20, Hadith 4496)

Each one is responsible at a different level and will be questioned regarding his responsibility. So the kings and the rulers — it's not a game, it's not fun, it's a big responsibility on the Day of Judgment. And if we have authority over our family, our business, whatever we have authority over, then we will be asked about that.

So, insha'Allah, this is a reminder for myself and all of you — that individually we need to work on developing our taqwa, and collectively we have to work on holding on to the Book of Allah. This will, insha'Allah, guarantee our individual success and our collective success. May Allah give us all tawfiq. Alhamdulillah.

Second Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon the most honored of the prophets and messengers, and upon his family and companions. Allah Almighty said:

Verily, Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, send blessings upon him and give him peace.

O people, fear Allah in secrecy and openly. And leave the immoralities — that which is apparent and that which is hidden. And keep yourselves firm upon hearing and obeying. And be mindful of the Friday prayers and gathering. And know that the best speech is the speech of Allah. And the best guide is the guide of Muhammad ﷺ. And the worst of affairs is its innovation. And every innovation is a bid'ah. And every bid'ah is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

May Allah bless us and you in the great Qur'an, and may He benefit us and you with what is in it of verses and wise remembrance. Indeed, He is Exalted in Might, Generous, Sovereign, Kind, Merciful.

Indeed, Allah commands justice and goodness and giving to relatives, and He forbids immorality and evil and transgression. He warns you that you may remember. And the remembrance of Allah is the greatest. And Allah knows what you do.

Announcements

A few announcements, insha'Allah. There is a request for du'a — one sister is on the ventilator suffering from pneumonia. Please make du'a for shifa kamila for her.

Please pass the donation boxes. Donate generously from left to right. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah. Specifically, as mentioned by Rasulullah ﷺ, the hadith that sadaqah given on the day of Jumu'ah carries greater reward than any other day, as mentioned in Musannaf Abd al-Razzaq.

Alhamdulillah, you may have heard that through the fadl of Allah alone, the purchase of the used car lot in the Qibla direction has been completed. As a result of this acquisition, we alhamdulillah have additional parking now. We are requesting that the brothers and sisters do not park on the curbs behind the seminary building or on what we call the "swift highway" — the big, wide road out towards Swift Road. There is now ample parking available, and this will make entering, exiting, and all movement easier for everyone. Please consider this request.

The Darul Islam monthly seminar is tonight, Friday, January 13th, after Isha. The topic is Breaking the Stigma and Addressing Addiction in the Muslim Community. We have Dr. Amir Rahimullah, Assistant Professor at Stanford University, coming all the way from Stanford University in California to address us. This is a very, very important and relevant topic. We should not miss out on benefiting from his expertise. May Allah protect all of us and our loved ones from any form of addiction.

Please join our Tafheem part-time weekend Islamic studies program. Enrollment is now open for the next semester. Classes starting Saturdays and Sundays. Topics include: Fiqh of halal and haram, Fiqh of marriage and divorce, misunderstood verses of the Qur'an and how they are misapplied, and more. Amazing topics and great instructors. Please join — Saturdays and Sundays for adults.

Please save the date for the 2023 Benefit Dinner, coming up in a few days — January 28th. Guest speaker: Imam Zaid Shakir, at Shalimar Banquets, Saturday, January 28th. Ticket sales are in the lobby. This only happens once a year. You should participate in our yearly event.

Weekly Programs:

We have the Soful Chat — a program for sisters ages 13 to 21. Our alimat students, graduating students of the sixth year of the alimat program, conduct these halaqat with the girls of the community. 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. If you have young daughters at home or nieces, please send them for this beautiful program in the sisters' prayer hall.

Saturday's team Fajr will resume tomorrow. Fajr iqamah is at 6:15 a.m.

We have a sisters' dars as well, once a month on the first Sunday. This month it will be on January 15th, insha'Allah, at 12:00 p.m. — the monthly sisters' dars in the masjid, women's side.

This Monday, instead of the Bukhari dars, we have a guest speaker: Sheikh Hamza Karamali of Basira Education, now based in Istanbul, originally from Toronto. His topic will be: What Muslim Parents Need to Know About Atheism. He has an entire foundation — Basira Foundation of Education — training scholars on this topic, training educators, conducting workshops for ulama and Islamic studies teachers across the country and across the globe. He has written books on this topic. It is a very important topic that will be addressed Monday night, insha'Allah, after Isha at 7:45 p.m.

Tuesday's program is continuing with Surah al-Mu'minun with Mufti Azim al-Din. We will have Salawat gatherings on Thursdays, insha'Allah.

Du'a requests: Please make du'a for shifa for Sister Hajar al-Rahim, recovering from cancer. May Allah grant her shifa. And du'a maghfira for the mother of Colonel Mazhar, who passed away in Pakistan. May Allah grant shifa to all those who are sick and grant maghfira to all the marhumeen.

We have two brothers in the lobby selling tickets for our annual benefit dinner on January 28th. We humbly encourage the brothers to not leave until they purchase their ticket for themselves and their family. Please meet one of the brothers in the lobby to purchase your tickets. May Allah reward you well.