Every Blessing Carries Divine Accountability On Judgment Day

Opening Praise and Introduction

الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد الأنبياء والمرسلين وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين أما بعد

قال الله تبارك وتعالى في كتابه المجيد بعد أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم:

وقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1952)

صدق الله المولى العظيم وصدق رسوله الكريم ونحن على ذلك من الشاهدين والشاكرين والحمد لله رب العالمين.

Every Blessing Carries Accountability

Any blessing that Allah gives an individual — that blessing comes with a responsibility. Any blessing, if a blessing is not given to a person, that person will not be asked about it. But any blessing that Allah gives any individual, he is accountable for it, he is responsible for it, and there will be questioning related to it.

For example, the eyes through which we see — this is a ni'mah from Allah. It is a great gift, and where it's a great gift, we will also be held accountable for it. On the Day of Judgment we will be asked: what did you use these eyes for? How did you use them?

Imam Ghazali rahimahullah writes in one of his books that the eyes Allah created for you to see the creation of Allah, so that through it you could recognize Allah — to use the eyes to read the kalam of Allah, to gain the ma'rifah of Allah. But that individual who uses — who abuses — the eyes to look at that which is impermissible, inappropriate, he will be questioned on the Day of Judgment: why did you use your eyes for this? I gave you these eyes to recognize Me, to recognize My favors on you, to gain the ma'rifah of Me, but you used them for something else.

It is a ni'mah. And likewise, if a person was not given — if this blessing was taken away from — there is going to be no question for him. It comes in the ahadith that one who loses his kareematayn — his two precious things — he will be entered into Jannah. The one whom Allah takes away, removes his eyesight — there is no question for him. Where will the questioning be? "What did you use your eyes for?" — a person couldn't see.

The Accountability of Wealth

Same thing with wealth. The more wealth a person has, it is a ni'mah from Allah, but the more questioning will also be there. Imagine, for example, I have two individuals — I hire two people. One person I give a long list of items to get for me, and I give him the cash. I say: here's a thousand dollars, and I want you to buy this list of items. And another person I give five dollars and I say: this is how much I give you, I just need you to buy this. When both of them return — the one who I gave five dollars to — show me the receipt, okay, no problem, that's fine, it's five dollars. But that person who I gave a thousand, ten thousand dollars to — I am going to look through each thing. Let's see if it adds up — does everything add up or not? It's going to take time. So where there is the ni'mah of wealth, the accountability is also great as well.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2416)

The feet of Ibn Adam on the Day of Judgment will not move from their spot until he is asked about five things. Among those five things will be مَالُهُ — about his wealth:

Where did he get that wealth from, and how did he spend that wealth? His feet will not move on the Day of Judgment until this questioning is asked — عَنْ مَالِهِ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَا أَنْفَقَهُ — where did he get it from? Did he acquire it through halal means or through haram means, through means that were disliked by Allah? And فِيمَا أَنْفَقَهُ — where did he spend that wealth?

But a person who his whole life spends with very little — he could barely survive — where will that questioning come from? He has nothing. What questioning will there be? Or he has very minimal — yes, then too, as long as the means are halal and it is spent on halal, it is going to be very few questions. After that the person goes.

Children: A Great Blessing and a Great Responsibility

Likewise, from the blessings that Allah has given to people are children. Children are a ni'mah from Allah. Those who have children — this is a ni'mah for you from Allah. Allah says in the Quran:

وَهَبَ — hiba is a gift. We gift whoever We want with a daughter, and We gift whoever We want with a son. Or We give both — We give daughters and sons. And it is up to Us: if We want to leave a couple without any children, then that is up to Us also.

Those who do not have children — they will not be asked: "What did your children do? How did you do the tarbiyah of your children?" They don't have children. But those who do have children — where this is a ni'mah, you will also be asked about it. You will be asked about it.

The First Right: Giving a Good Name

The scholars say, through the hadith, that there are a couple of rights that children have over their parents. Among them is the name — the name is a right that the child has over his parents: to give a good name. And often when we give a name, we are looking at usually two factors. We are either looking at the meaning of the name, or we are looking at a personality. Sometimes we may not even know what the name means, but because there is a personality — a shakhsiyyah — we want those qualities that are within those shakhsiyyat to come into our children. That is how we name.

So for example, somebody names their child Ibrahim, Ismail, Yaqub, Yusuf — most of us don't know what these names mean, although they have their own meanings. It is not like they don't have meanings; they have their meanings. But most of us don't know what they mean. But when we name our child one of these names, what is in the back of our mind? I want my child to be like the Prophet Ibrahim — to have the qualities of Ibrahim. Ibrahim alayhi salam was خَلِيلُ اللهِ — I want my son to be like خَلِيلُ اللهِ.

In fact, it comes in the hadith — the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4950)

Name your children the names of the Anbiya'. And the most beloved names to Allah are عَبْدُ اللهِ and عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ — why? Because they are associated to Allah: the servant of Allah, the servant of the Most Merciful. This is where you have the meaning aspect of it. Somebody names their child عَبْدُ اللهِ — well, the idea is: I want my child to be a servant of Allah. Somebody names their child, for example, سَاجِد — I want my child to be from those who prostrate to Allah.

Sometimes it is a combination of both — there are personalities that have this name and because of the meaning. For example, the name عَبْدُ اللهِ — there are so many Sahaba in the lifetime of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who were named عَبْدُ اللهِ. Perhaps because of this statement of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, many Sahaba named their children عَبْدُ اللهِ — Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As, Abdullah ibn Jubayr. There are so many. If you open the books that talk about the biographies of the Sahaba, there is a whole list that continues — عَبْدُ اللهِ، عَبْدُ اللهِ، عَبْدُ اللهِ، عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ، عَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ — because the idea is: I want my child to be a servant of Allah.

So this is one of the rights that children have on the parent — that they give a right name. Today, subhanAllah, what happens is we want the most unique name, and sometimes we compromise the meaning — why? For the sake of the most exquisite name that is there. Of course, subhanAllah, at least we have a little bit of sense about meaning and message. But we saw, for example, someone named their child "X Æ A-12" — for those who know, you know what I'm talking about. 'Ajib. Or whatever other names that are there that have no meaning to it — we don't understand what they're thinking in their mind.

There is a very famous story — a man said: I want to name my child something from the Quran. So he picked up the Quran and flipped through the pages, saying wherever I put my finger that's the name I'm going to give my child. As he's flipping over — not looking — he put his finger on the page and looked, and it said: Iblis.

It's something important that we think about, right — it's not just a name. Imagine if you are calling this person by this name: the attributes that are associated to that name are going to come within that person. Let me give an example. Let's say a person says to a child constantly: "You're smart, you're intelligent, you're smart, you're intelligent" — his whole life he says this. How do you think the child is going to feel as he grows up? He's going to be confident, he's going to be optimistic, he's going to feel — yeah, I am smart, I am intelligent; my whole life my parents have been calling me this. Versus a parent who says to his child: "You can't do anything, you're nothing, you're useless, you're a fool, you're stupid, you're dumb" — and his whole life this is all he hears. What do you think his psyche is going to be as he grows up? "I'm pathetic, I don't know anything, I'm a fool, I'm stupid." The words we use have an impact on the person.

Now imagine if this is the name of the person — the name you are calling him with from the time of birth. Can you imagine the kind of effect that is going to have on the person? سَاجِد — Sajid, insha'Allah Sajid — that's the idea we have. So this is one of the rights of the child. Don't take it lightly.

Some of our scholars would actually make istikhara. We often think istikhara is supposed to be made for big affairs. And if we don't have the opportunity to make istikhara, then there is a du'a that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also taught us that we should learn:

Ya Allah, choose for me, decide for me, and put khayr in it for me. If you don't have the opportunity, for matters that are important, definitely we should do Salatul Istikhara — two rakat salah with the du'a:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1166)

This is a du'a that every Muslim should memorize. When the need comes, when you need to do istikhara — you pray the two rakat, you make du'a: Ya Allah, if there is khayr in it, Ya Allah guide me to it. Ya Allah, if there is no khayr in it, Ya Allah turn me away from it. So the matter of naming a child is this important because it is going to have an effect on him for the rest of his life.

The Second Right: Adab and Tarbiyah

The second right is adab — tarbiyah. The tarbiyah of the child starts from the home. The father and the mother are the first teachers of the child. Now is it difficult? Of course it's difficult — it's not easy. Anyone who's a parent — I have a little one at home, I'm going through the experience — Allahu Akbar, it's difficult. And how do we know we're always right? We are going to make mistakes.

There is no way — in fiqh we have this word called ijtihad. Ijtihad is basically: in matters where there is no explicit text from Allah or His Rasul, or the text has some degree of ambiguity, then the fuqaha and the Sahaba do ijtihad — they look at it and they make the best judgment according to that.

I'll give an example from the seerah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم sent a group of Sahaba to a Jewish tribe by the name of Banu Qurayzah, and he said: "Do not pray Asr until you get to Banu Qurayzah." This was the statement that Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم made. Now as they were going, they were a little delayed, and in the middle, Asr time came. Some group of Sahaba said: well, Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said don't pray Asr until you get to Banu Qurayzah — so we are not going to pray Asr right now. This is the explicit hukm of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم — we are not going to pray Asr until we get to Banu Qurayzah, even if we end up missing Asr. The other group said: no, what Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم meant by it is — make sure you leave early so that you get there by Asr time and pray Asr there. But if Asr time comes, it says in the Quran it is a written, prescribed, ordained time — it is Asr time. By the time we get to Banu Qurayzah, Asr is going to finish. So some group of Sahaba prayed Asr; the other group said we are going to wait until we get there.

Later, when Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم came, they presented this to him: could you tell us who was right? Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: both of you are on the correct ruling — both groups are on the hukm. Why? Because you took my statement and you each understood it in a different way, so both of you are correct. That is what the fuqaha do.

Same thing with parenting — there are times where it is not easy. I tell you: do ijtihad, make mashwara, learn. But ijtihad doesn't mean you just make up a conclusion by yourself. Ijtihad is what? It is based on 'ilm. So you have to learn.

The Most Important Aspect of Tarbiyah: Teaching About Allah

In the case of raising children, one of the rights is tarbiyah. What is the most important aspect of tarbiyah when it comes to the children? It is teaching them about Allah. It comes in the ahadith that from the time that they are a child, they should know: I am a creation of Allah, Allah is my Lord, I worship Allah. And they should see you worshiping Allah too — they should see you worshiping Allah.

It is amazing to me, subhanAllah, how we want our children to do something but we ourselves are not a model for them. "Beta, you have to read Quran." But, Baba, I don't see you reading Quran. Honestly, we have to ask ourselves this. "Beta, you have to pray salah." But, Baba, I don't see you praying salah. We, as parents, are the first teachers — what kind of teacher is that who cannot display, who cannot show the child?

It is known in education that if we are teaching something at only a theoretical level and we don't show it — take the subject of math, for example. I just tell a person: okay, when you have 2x plus 3 equals whatever, you have to just do it like this. What is the child going to think? "Like, what are you talking about? I don't know." Until you actually demonstrate it on the board — look, this is what you do, you subtract this from here, you balance the equation, you divide it here and there — when the child sees it in action on the board, he begins to understand. The more you show it, the more he is able to learn.

Here we are telling: "You have to read Quran, you have to pray salah" — but our actions are demonstrating something completely different. What do you think the child gets? There are mixed messages — you're saying one thing but doing something else.

The Trial of Technology

One of the biggest trials and fitan of our era is technology. We are telling our kids: "No, you cannot..." — there are so many, subhanAllah, so many issues that are brought about because of technology. The access that we have to haram is at our fingertips — literally. Before you could have said figuratively; today it is literally. You just search something up and it is right there.

And then we are telling our kids: "No, don't use the cell phone. You have to stay away from it." But subhanAllah, day and night we are doing it too. I said to my spouse: we really have to cut off — there has to be a time during the day where we say: you know what, we're putting our phones away and we're spending time together. At the end of the day, there's a time when we need to use the phone, we'll use the phone. People used to survive without the phone before — what's happened today? SubhanAllah, just all day constantly on the phone — and it's not like doing something important, maybe playing games, maybe watching something. So much time. This time is also a ni'mah from Allah which you will be asked about: I gave you your life, I gave you existence, I gave you time — what did you do with it?

By time — I swear by time — insan is in loss, except for one who believes and who does righteous actions, and who advises one another with the truth, and advises one another with patience. They are the only ones that are not in loss.

So may Allah grant us tawfiq.

Announcements

Tonight we have a special program related to this idea of our children being attached to phones. We call it Parenting in the Dopamine Era with Dr. Jawad, who is a trained psychologist. I think this is a very beneficial program that the community needs to attend — whether you're a parent, or if you're not a parent and you're young, it's good to start from now to learn these things so that you know what to do when you do become a parent insha'Allah. May Allah grant us tawfiq.

I ask everyone — before we pray the sunnah — if everyone can move forward; if there is any spot that is open, please fill that up first. Jazakumullahu khayral jaza'.

Some quick announcements: please pass the donation boxes from the left to the right.

Please join us for our monthly seminar today after Isha at 7:45 PM — this is on Parenting in the Dopamine Era, as I was mentioning. Practical advice for parents to understand and navigate the challenges faced by Muslim youth today, presented by Dr. Jawad Parvez.

Registration for the Winter Intensive is now open. Tickets are available at a reduced price for a limited time. You can get yourself and your families registered at majidds.org/winter.

Please save the date for our 2023 Benefit Dinner — called Patrons and Professors: A Lasting Legacy of Islamic Scholarship. Our guest speaker will be Sheikh Imam Zaid Shakir, co-founder of Zaytuna College. That is January 28th, 5 PM at Shalimar Banquets. Tickets are available at majidds.org/benefit or in the office — adults $100, kids $30.

Weekly programs: we have our Saturday Team Fajr every Saturday — Fajr iqamah is at 6:15 AM. We have our weekly Bukhari Dars every Monday after Isha — iqamah is at 7:45. And Tuesday's Tafsir program after Isha — we will be continuing with the Tafsir of Surat al-Anbiya', please be sure to join us for that. And of course we have our weekly Salawat gatherings on Thursdays after Isha.

There is a request for du'a for brother Muhammad Sadiq, who passed away in a car accident. May Allah forgive him and grant him Jannat al-Firdaws. Likewise, any individual from our community, from the Muslims, who may be sick or ill — may Allah grant them shifa' kamilah, da'imah, 'ajilah, mustaqirrah. Jazakum Allah khayr.