The Noble Purpose And Distinctive Virtues Of Muhammad's Ummah

The Purpose of Nations and the Role of Messengers

It's beneficial, it's valuable. Why? So long as it does its function. The moment it stops doing its function, we'll try to fix it. And if we're able to fix it, great. If not, we get rid of it.

In the past, every nation that came — as long as it worshipped Allah, and it fulfilled the function that Allah Ta'ala created it for — Allah Ta'ala gave them prosperity. Allah opened all the doors of blessing. When they disobeyed Allah, Allah sent messengers. The messengers came to remind the people:

Worship Allah, have fear of Allah. Remember why Allah Ta'ala created you.

If they continued to disobey, and if they continued to belie the call of the messengers, then Allah's punishment came. Allah seized them with whatever punishment He wanted. Why? Because now, after reminder after reminder, they failed to recognize the function and purpose that they were created for.

Then He seized those who did wrong — Allah destroyed them. فَأَهْلَكْنَاهُمْ — We destroyed them. One nation after the other.

The Virtue of Being in the Ummah of the Prophet

This nation — Allah gave many خُصُوصِيَّات (special distinctions) to. My dear respected brothers, sisters, whoever is listening — my gosh, the virtue of being in this Ummah. We have no idea. The virtue of being in the Ummah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, in the Ummah of رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ. It means we take benefit from so many things — not only in this world, but also in the hereafter.

In the hereafter you will see — the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says:

"I am the first person who will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment, who will emerge from his grave — and I don't say this boastingly. I will have the banner of Allah Ta'ala's praise — and I don't say this boastingly. Adam عليه السلام, the father of humanity, the first person whom Allah created, and any other Nabi who came after him — will be under my banner."

He will knock on the doors of Jannah, and the angel who is there will ask: مَنْ أَنْتَ؟ He will say: أَنَا مُحَمَّدٌ. The angel will say: "It is because of you — it is for you that I have been waiting to open the door. I have not been permitted to open the doors of Jannah for anyone other than you."

The Description of the Prophet and His Ummah in the Tawrāt

Even in the previous scriptures — Imam al-Dārimī رحمه الله narrates a narration in his book, in his Musnad, where one Sahabi was asked: what is the description of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the Tawrāt? He says that some of the descriptions that came in the Qur'an are those descriptions that are in the Tawrāt:

That he is a bringer of glad tidings and a warner, a caller to Allah, and a radiant lamp. That he is not صَخَّابٌ فِي الْأَسْوَاقِ — he is not somebody who is boisterous, who is belligerent in the marketplaces. He is somebody who لَا يَجْزِي السَّيِّئَةَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ — he does not repel evil with evil.

And he even says the description that comes of his Ummah:

His Ummah are the people who praise Allah — they glorify Allah, they remember Allah. وَهُمْ رُعَاةٌ لِلشَّمْسِ — this is the description that is given: they are people who observe the sun.

What does that mean? رُعَاة is the plural of the word رَاعِي. رَاعِي is a shepherd. The reason why the shepherd is called رَاعِي is because the word in Arabic, رَاعَ, means to give care and concern to something — مُرَاعَاة، رَاعَى يُرَاعِي. And رَاعِي also carries this meaning: the shepherd tends to the flock, he takes care of the flock, he makes sure they don't go here and there.

That's why specifically that word is given — and you cannot force the sheep. You can't beat the sheep. If one sheep is going the other way, you can't scold it. No, you have to be calm. I spent one month, many years back, when I led Tarawih in Minnesota. The مُؤَذِّن who made accommodations for me had a farm, so I spent one month on that farm. He had sheep and chickens, livestock. In the afternoon, late afternoon, you'd let the sheep out. And when the time came to get the sheep back in — my gosh — one sheep is going this way, and it's only like 15 sheep, it's only 15–20 sheep, but one little baby sheep is going this way, the goat is going that way, his son is catching the other one, and I'm going the other way. One got stuck in the fence one day, so you're helping it come out, and by that time the other one is going somewhere else. What are you gonna do? You have to do a lot of رِعَايَة — you have to give a lot of concern. It's a lot of work.

So رُعَاةٌ لِلشَّمْسِ — what does that mean? When they take care of the sun, they're observant of the sun. The next part of the hadith explains it: يُصَلُّونَ فِي وَقْتِ الصَّلَاةِ — the reason why they observe the sun is because of the صَلَاة.

The Importance of Ṣalāh — Prayer With Khushū'

Because the صَلَاة has been mandated at a particular time — that's why they are so careful. What time is it right now? Is it time for prayer? What time does the prayer time end? When's the next prayer coming?

That person who has this much connection to the صَلَاة — that he's always thinking, "Okay, when's the next صَلَاة? I have to pray in the masjid" — Allah Ta'ala says about this person:

That man whose heart is connected to the masjid — why is it connected? It is connected because of the prayer.

Establish the prayer for My remembrance.

There are people who don't just pray — they pray with خُشُوع. What is خُشُوع? We think that we're praying five times a day and that's sufficient? No. The condition for فَلَاح — the condition for success that was mentioned for the believer — is what? الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ. Those who in their prayer have خُشُوع.

خُشُوع is where the person is thinking about Allah — where his heart, his mind, his body is completely recognizing: "I am standing in front of Allah."

The Man Who Prayed Too Fast

When one Sahabi prayed salah and prayed it very fast, the Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

"Go back, pray again — you didn't pray. This is not prayer." Then again he prayed and prayed very fast. He didn't realize his mistake. Again the Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم said: اذْهَبْ فَصَلِّ فَإِنَّكَ لَمْ تُصَلِّ — "You didn't pray salah. This is not salah. What type of salah is this?" Then finally he came: "Ya Rasulullah, teach me — what did I do wrong?" He said: "When you pray salah, when you do the rukū', make sure you do rukū' with اطْمِئْنَان. When you go for sajdah, make sure you do sajdah with اطْمِئْنَان. It is not that you're just rushing through it."

That's just pleasing ourselves. We're worshiping Allah the way we want to worship Allah. I'm praying salah the way I want to pray salah — the way that makes me feel happy. And then we feel at ease: "Alhamdulillah, I prayed five times salah." Is that the salah that Allah Ta'ala was demanding from us? Is that the salah that Allah Ta'ala is asking?

And in the hadith it comes:

Among the first things — or the very first thing — that a servant of Allah Ta'ala will be asked about and reckoned with is the salah.

The Conversation in Ṣalāh

That salah — that prayer — where the person is concentrated and devoted to Allah, his attention is on Allah. If his mind goes here and there, he brings it back. He reminds himself: "I have to concentrate. I am standing in front of Allah." يُنَاجِي رَبَّهُ — he is speaking to his Lord. Does he realize he is speaking to his Lord?

In the hadith it comes: when he says الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ, Allah responds:

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 395 — Hadith on the division of the prayer between Allah and His servant)

"My servant praised me." الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ — مَجَّدَنِي عَبْدِي — "My servant glorified me." There is a conversation. You may not be able to hear that conversation, but that conversation is happening.

In the Qur'an, Allah Ta'ala says:

You remember Me, I remember you. What are you doing? The تِلَاوَةُ الْقُرْآنِ is remembrance of Allah. Anytime we are doing تِلَاوَةُ الْقُرْآنِ, it is as if we are speaking to Allah. Any ذِكر that any person does — he is remembering Allah, and Allah is remembering him.

That salah that has خُشُوع in it — that salah will stop a person from evil. That salah will make a person conscientious of the actions that he does.

The Five Daily Prayers as a Rhythm of Remembrance

Because he is supposed to be praying five times a day — he wakes up in the morning, early in the morning, and reminds himself of Allah. In the midday, during the daytime, he is involved, doing whatever activities he has to do — that's part of life. But at Ẓuhr time he comes. On يَوْمُ الْجُمْعَة he comes, and he reminds himself of Allah again. 'Asr time comes, again he reminds himself. The sun sets, he reminds himself of Allah again. And at night, before he goes to sleep, again he reminds himself of Allah.

Ibādah Without Avoiding Sin — The Open Window

Fasting — the month of fasting comes and goes. Five daily salah come and go. We're giving charity — mashallah, subhanallah — you see in the month of Ramadan the amount of charity that our community gives. When Hajj comes, 'Umrah comes — mashallah — the amount of individuals now that are going for 'Umrah. Every month in these past couple of months, every subsequent month has been a record-breaking month for the number of مُعْتَمِرِين — for the number of individuals who have been doing 'Umrah.

But where we're doing all of this ibādah — are we making an effort to stay away from the disobedience of Allah or not? That's what I want to bring it back to.

If we're praying five times a day, alhamdulillah. If we're not, that's something we need to work on. The month of Ramadan just passed by a month ago. These different occasions that come throughout the year — where we get an opportunity to increase in reward — why is it that we are not getting out of our normal state? It's not affecting us. It's because we're not realizing the effect and the impact of sin.

Where we're doing all of this — are we really mindful and careful about staying away from sin? And I address myself first and foremost. Are we careful about our tongue and the sins of the tongue? Are we careful about our eyes and the sins related to the eyes? Are we careful about our ears and the sins related to the ears?

You know — let's say a room is filled with smoke. So you apply a filter, you put a filter there. Inshallah, depending on the type of filter you have and the mechanism you have, it will purify the air. But here you have a purifier that's purifying the air, and at the same time you have a window open that's bringing in more of that smoke. Depending on the type of smoke, it could be poisonous, it could be dangerous.

So here we're praying, we're fasting in the month of Ramadan, we're doing all of these things — but we're not controlling our eyes, we're not controlling our tongue. Our relationships — my gosh. Our relationships with our parents. Our relationships with our spouses. Our relationships with our kids. "No, that's not part of deen." Who said that's not part of deen? "No, my deen is just limited to the musalla. It's limited to the salah."

The best of you is the one who is best to his family, and I am the best with my family. That's part of deen. How you do تَرْبِيَة of your children, teaching them about the deen — that's part of the deen.

In one hadith the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

Teach your children about your lineage — not so that you can boast, not so that your children can boast, "I belong to this family." Teach them about the relationship so that they can fulfill the rights of that relationship. If so-and-so is my grandfather — and I know he's my grandfather — I know the right I have to fulfill. His right comes above other people's rights. So-and-so is my father, so-and-so is my mother — what are the rights that they have? So-and-so is my wife — what are her rights? So-and-so is my husband — what are his rights? These are my children — what are the rights of my children?

It shouldn't be that when they grow up they say: "My father never taught me. My father never taught me this is how I have to behave. My father never taught me what the rights of Allah are."

The Day of Judgment — When Rights Are Demanded

These are sins — disobeying the commands of Allah, not fulfilling the rights of other people. These are sins. Why? Because on the Day of Judgment these very individuals will ask and demand their حُقُوق — demand for their rights.

As it comes in the Qur'an and in the hadith — that a man will come on the Day of Judgment. He will have salah, he will have zakāt, he will have all of these good deeds. But:

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 2581 — Hadith of al-Muflis, the true bankrupt)

He violated so-and-so's right, he usurped somebody's wealth, he abused somebody, he cursed somebody. And each one will line up: "You violated my right — I want my right back." And the commodity on that day — you can't say, "Here, I have some money, why don't you take some money? Here, I have some property, why don't you take some?" Hey, you know what — let me help you out, you forgive me. It's not going to work like that.

The only currency that will work on that day are good deeds and evil deeds. You have good deeds? Give your good deeds away. You don't have any more good deeds to give away? They'll give their evil deeds to you. Allah protect us. Allah allow us to realize these are important things.

Time Is Passing — Prepare Now

My gosh — the way our lives are just going by, passing day by day, month by month. It's been a month already since Ramadan is over. Hajj season — we are in أَشْهُرُ الْحَجّ. Hajj season starts from Shawwāl. The Ḥujjāj are going to start going within the next month, in May — those whom Allah Ta'ala has written for them inshallah. They'll start going for Hajj. Hajj will come, those days will come, Yawm al-'Arafah will come. Then again Muharram will start, a new Islamic calendar year will begin.

So these are things that we have to be very careful of. Where we are obeying the commands of Allah, we have to also be mindful of the parameters of Allah — and those things that Allah Ta'ala prohibited as well. And that doesn't come until a person learns. That doesn't come until a person learns about what it is that pleases Allah and what it is that brings the displeasure of Allah.

Allah give us the tawfīq to understand that. Allow us to live a life that Allah is pleased with. And allow us to die in a state of Imān, where we are saying لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ in a state where Allah Ta'ala is pleased with us. وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

Announcements

Inshallah we'll pray our sunnahs. If there's any space in front, please fill that gap — there are a lot of brothers behind the doors. Please pass the donation boxes from left to right. Inshallah, ṣadaqah wards off calamities.

Annual Retreat — April 24th to 26th: Signs of the Hour

Very important announcement — inshallah, next weekend, the weekend of April 24th to 26th, is our annual retreat. We have this retreat once a year and it is usually revolving around a topic that is very important and very pertinent. This year's topic is The Signs of the Hour.

The whole purpose is not that it creates fear within a person, or it's just a way of information or something — but rather the fact that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned these various different signs of the hour. The hour — what is it for? It's to prepare. A person prepares.

I've said before too: you look at the weather before going out. Why? So that you're ready for it. If you know it's going to rain, you're going to keep an umbrella with you. If you know the next day it's going to snow, you're going to make sure you wake up early to clear the driveway. You prepare for it.

Likewise — Allah Ta'ala knows, we don't know — are we going to see Imām al-Mahdī in our lifetime? I don't know. Is Dajjāl going to appear in our lifetime? I don't know. There's no one who can say that for sure. It can happen in our children's lifetime. It can happen in our grandchildren's lifetime. It can happen a hundred years from now. It can happen two hundred years from now. That's in the knowledge of Allah. Allah has knowledge of the Hour.

However, these signs have been given to the community — to the Ummah — so that they can prepare when they start seeing them. Many of the minor signs we are aware of, we're seeing all the time — they're all in front of us. So that's the reason why this is a very important topic, inshallah.

There are people coming from out of state just to benefit from this, so alhamdulillah. Those of us in the community, those of us who live nearby or have family members in the neighboring suburbs — I highly encourage you. There are flyers here as well. Take a look at it, take some time out, come and attend. Let your friends know, let your families know.

If there's something beneficial, what do you do? You go around and tell people. There's a sale going on — you call up your family. This is more important. This is talking about our protection in this life and protection in the hereafter as well. Please, you can register at majidds.org.

Other Programs

We have other programs as well — you can see them on the back of our flyer. We have summer programs and applications for the Tanweer program as well. Our weekly programs continue, mashallah:

• Monday nights — a podcast-style conversation with Mufti Azeem
• Tuesday — Tafsīr
• Thursday night — an Urdu program on the Shamā'il of Imam al-Tirmidhī with Muhammad Abdul Basit
• Saturday — our weekly Team Fajr on the lives of the Ṣaḥāba
• We also have a sisters' program

Go to majidds.org for more information about all of that.

Du'ā Requests

We have a couple of du'ā requests. Brother Omar Mahboob, who is 24 years old, has stage 4 lung cancer. May Allah give him شِفَاءً كَامِلًا. Brother Riaz from Naperville had a brain tumor surgery — we make du'ā for his shifā as well.

May Allah give shifā as well to the whole Ummah. Our community is not just this community — our community is all the Muslims around the world. Whoever is sick, may Allah give them shifā. Whoever is in difficulty, may Allah remove that difficulty. Whoever has passed away, may Allah shower His infinite mercy upon them and grant them جَنَّةَ الْفِرْدَوْس.