Jumu'ah Khutbah

Mawlana Osman Mohammad — June 23, 2023

Opening Praise

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, we praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, for truly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is deserving of all praise. We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he has made us from the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ. We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for he has made us from amongst the believers in the Ummah of the Prophet ﷺ. And we praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he has blessed us with these blessed days of Dhul Hijjah — the days amongst which the believers perform Hajj.

Not All Days Are Equal

We know as believers that not all days are equal. Some of the days that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed us with is the month of Ramadan. And from amongst the virtuous days are the days of Shawwal. And from amongst the virtuous days is the day of Jumu'ah. So we praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he has blessed us again with the day of Jumu'ah.

And from the many wisdoms that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has not created every single day equal is that we can strive on certain days, and other days we don't need to strive as much. And there are certain days that our deeds are multiplied, and there are certain additional benefits for carrying out certain deeds. So for example, today Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has blessed us with the day of Jumu'ah. The Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said that the day of Jumu'ah is a day of Eid for the believers. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made Friday the day of Eid. And on the day of Friday, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has kept a time in which du'a is accepted — that if we were to make du'a during this time, then whatever we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for during that time, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will accept this du'a from us.

The Virtues of the Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah

And from amongst the virtuous days are the days of Dhul Hijjah — the days that we are currently in. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to highlight the virtue and the significance of these days, took an oath on these days. And the reason why he took the oath was to show that these days are of significance, that there is a special virtue behind these days — so that we can prepare for these days in advance, and so that we can excel and push ourselves in striving and following the commandments of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, fulfilling his commandments and the extra voluntary acts of ibadah for his sake.

The Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said that there are no days in which worship to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is more beloved than the days of Dhul Hijjah.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 969)

The Prophet ﷺ said that one day of fast during these ten days is equivalent to fasting one whole year. And the person who worships Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — the worship of one of these nights is equivalent to the worship of Laylatul Qadr. And we all know the virtues behind the Night of Qadr.

And what is even of more significance to us is that in the month of Ramadan, Laylatul Qadr is so virtuous that the Prophet ﷺ — at first he would be in the masjid, in i'tikaf, throughout the entire month, and then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told him to look for the Night of Qadr in the last ten days. So the Prophet ﷺ would be in i'tikaf, away from his family, in the masjid, for ten days every single year until he passed away — why? To ensure that he would catch this Night of Qadr. And he commanded the believers to do the same.

But then what is the Prophet ﷺ telling us in this hadith? He is guaranteeing and saying that the ibadah on the nights of Dhul Hijjah is equivalent to doing ibadah on the Night of Qadr. He is not telling us to go spend time in i'tikaf again so that we can look for a night equivalent to the Night of Qadr. Rather, the Prophet ﷺ is telling us that one fast during the days of Dhul Hijjah is equivalent to fasting for the whole year, and worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on one of these nights is equivalent to worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on the Night of Qadr.

The Prophet ﷺ said in another hadith — a general statement that includes any good deed, whether it is praying, fasting, or giving sadaqah — there are no good deeds that are more virtuous than the ones that are carried out in these ten days. The sahabah replied and asked the Prophet ﷺ, "Not even going out in battle?" And the Prophet ﷺ said, "Not even going out in battle — except for the one who goes out and takes all his wealth with him and does not return to his family." So this hadith shows that the Prophet ﷺ is comparing the actions done in these ten days to the action of the one who goes out in battle with all of his wealth, making the greatest sacrifice — and not only does he go out, he does not return from battle. He will be counted from the martyrs, the shuhada.

The mother of the believers, Hafsa r.a., she reports that the Prophet ﷺ, in these days of Dhul Hijjah, would fast every single day — the first nine days.

The Day of Arafah

And amongst these ten days is the day of Arafah, which has even more blessings. The Prophet ﷺ says in a hadith that this day is so special that the one who controls his ears, and the one who controls his eyes, and the one who controls his tongue on this day — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive him.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1162)

The Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said that whoever fasts on the day of Arafah, the sins of the past year and the sins of the next year — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive all of those sins. We know very well the amount of sins that we have committed in the past year, and we know very well that there are no humans that are protected from committing sins. So we know that we are going to continue to sin. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us this opportunity, saying that the one who fasts on the day of Arafah, Allah will forgive his sins of the previous year and the next year. So for those who cannot fast every single day, we should at least make it a goal to fast on the day of Arafah.

And the Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said that there are no days that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sets more souls free from the fire of Jahannam than the day of Arafah. And he remarks to the angels about the desires of his servants. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is informing us — informing the angels — that today I will set my believers free from the fire of Jahannam, I will accept whatever du'as my servants will make. And this is not restricted to those people who have gone for Hajj. This is open for all those who have gone for Hajj and for all of those sitting here today who insha'Allah one day intend to go for Hajj.

The History and Symbolism of Hajj

One of the virtues of Dhul Hijjah is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has dedicated a specific act of ibadah that cannot be done except in these ten days — and that is the action of Hajj. And truly we have to think about the history and the symbolism behind Hajj.

We think back to thousands of years ago when Ibrahim a.s. left his family — left his wife and his newborn child — in the middle of a desert. Why? Because this was the commandment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He did not sit down and think to himself, "Does this make sense to me?" No, he said that if this is the commandment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then I must carry it out.

And it was because of the sincerity of Ibrahim a.s. — his sincerity when he left his family behind, his sincerity when he built the Ka'bah with his son — that even today, thousands of years later, we continue to go — thousands, millions of Muslims every single year — and make tawaf around the Ka'bah.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told him to build this house, and he didn't ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala: "There is absolutely no one here who is going to come and worship you around this house." And then you look at the actions of his family — his wife decided to go up the mountain, to go down the mountain. And even today, thousands of years later, we have millions of Muslims walking on Safa and Marwah because of the sacrifices of Ibrahim a.s.

Ibrahim a.s. saw a dream in which he was slaughtering his son. And then he asked his son what he thought. His son said:

"O my beloved father, do what you have been commanded. You will find me insha'Allah from those who are patient." He realized that there is nothing more important than carrying out the commandment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Those actions that were done thousands of years ago — there was no one to witness them except for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. No one was there to witness the sacrifice of Ibrahim a.s. No one was there to witness the sacrifice of Ismail a.s. No one was there to witness the sacrifice of Hajar a.s. But today, my dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, we talk about the sacrifices of these people. Not only do we talk about them — we do what they did. Why? Out of respect for their sacrifices, because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has rewarded us for carrying out these actions. Why? Because of sincerity.

The Sacrifice We Are Called to Make Today

My dear respected brothers and sisters, today we are not being asked to go to some desert where there is no water and no food and no people. Today the sacrifice that we have to make is that we have to take a step and say that we are going to stay away from impermissible desires — not even from the permissible desires that we have. The sacrifice that we have to make is of staying away from impermissible desires.

And my dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, we have to think to ourselves — what does Hajj represent? Yes, it definitely represents the sacrifices of Ibrahim a.s. and Ismail a.s. and those who came after them. But along with that, it represents our life, it represents our death, it represents the hereafter.

When those who go for Hajj, we see that they perform ghusl before putting on the ihram. And what is the ihram? The ihram is two pieces of white cloth. All those hujjaj who have gone to perform Hajj — millions of people — they are voluntarily putting on the ihram before it is put on them involuntarily when they pass away. We have to think to ourselves: what do these actions represent?

These hujjaj and us — insha'Allah on the 9th we will start doing the takbir. What does this mean? We are telling Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala: "Ya Allah, you have created us with a purpose, and today I am telling you that I am ready for whatever commandment you have told us to carry out. I am ready to carry out all of your commandments. I am ready to stay away from all of that which you told us to stay away from."

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, when we look at Arafah, when we look at those days, when we look at the people that are performing Hajj, when we look at those videos, we have to be reminded that this will be our situation on the Day of Judgment. We will all be gathered in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we will be begging and we will be crying for his mercy, just like we did in this world.

What We Take Away: Practical Lessons

So now, what do we take away from these virtuous days? First and foremost, we understand that we must increase in our ibadah, because truly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the Prophet ﷺ has mentioned in numerous hadith — and once again I will mention a few of the virtues of Dhul Hijjah:

That the one who worships in the nights of Dhul Hijjah — his reward is equivalent to the worship of Laylatul Qadr. And the person who fasts on one of these days — his reward will be like the one who fasts for one whole year. And the person who fasts on the day of Arafah — the Prophet ﷺ has been reported to have said that the one who fasts on the day of Arafah, his sins of the previous year and the upcoming year will be forgiven.

So let us all make intention today, let us all make intention right now — that first and foremost, we will pray five times a day in the masjid, in the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. For truly, the salah that is offered in jama'ah is rewarded 27 times more. Let us maximize on that first and foremost. And then after that, let us make intention that if not every day, then at least on the weekend we will perform the nafl prayers. And along with that, we will fast — if not every day, if not on the weekend, then on the day of Arafah.

And let us reflect on the actions of Ibrahim a.s. and the sincerity. Sometimes these thoughts might come to our mind that we are addicted to certain sins, and we know that even if we say no now, in the future perhaps we may fall into this sin again. But my dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam — the scales of the hereafter are very different from the scales of the dunya.

In this world, success is measured based on whatever output we have — it is not based on the effort that we put into something. A person can sacrifice, a person can work for 14 or 16 hours a day, but if he has nothing to show for it, then that individual is considered to be unsuccessful. But on the Day of Judgment, our scales are based on the effort that we put in.

So if there are sins that we are addicted to, if there are sins that over and over again we had made intention to leave but over and over again we keep falling back into — know that every single time we made intention, every single time we stayed away from them, even if we went back to them later, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has rewarded us for the effort that we made to stay away from these sins.

My dear respected brothers and sisters, think about the sacrifices of Ibrahim a.s., Ismail a.s., Hajar a.s. No one was there to witness their sacrifices. But today we talk about their sacrifices — today there are actions that are required of us to do based on those sacrifices. There are millions of people that have been doing umrah, that have been doing Hajj, that have been doing udhiyah, that will be sacrificing sheep and goats — why? Because of the sacrifices of Ibrahim a.s. and his family. It was their sincerity.

So we must reflect upon this: yes, there is no one today except for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who may be witness to our good deeds, who may be a witness to the effort that we are making in staying away from sins. But that should not stop us — because sincerity is what counts. It is based on this that our good deeds are measured.

A Final Reflection: The Mercy of Allah

And lastly, I would like to end off with the final reflection — that truly it is a mercy from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He has blessed us with the month of Ramadan and then he gave us the days of Shawwal. And we think about ourselves and our spiritual state in the month of Ramadan — how careful we were in staying away from haram, how careful we were to go to the masjid and to pray five times a day. And right after Ramadan and the days of Shawwal, we started to leave the masajid. We weren't as punctual in coming to the masjid for five daily prayers. We weren't as punctual in reciting the Qur'an.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala could have said: "Let me punish these Muslims, because after I blessed them with such a blessing, after coming to the masjid, they have left my worship once again, they have left my house once again." But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not do this. Rather he said: "Let me bless my servants with another opportunity." So let us reflect on this — that truly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the Most Merciful and he has given us another opportunity once again. So let us take advantage of this opportunity.

Closing Du'a

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he allows us to maximize this opportunity, that he allows us to go for Hajj, that he accepts the Hajj of those who have gone. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he forgives our sins and he makes these days a means for us entering Jannatul Firdaus.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Announcements

All brothers and sisters are requested to pray their sunnah prayers and please move forward. Please pass the donation boxes from left to right and donate generously.

Join us for our weekly programs. Team Fajr will continue tomorrow, Saturday. Fajr iqama is at 4:45. Tafsir will continue with Surah al-Hajj on Tuesday with Mufti Azimuddin.

Registration is open for the following programs: the Tanweer Intensive and the Daris Classes, which will begin from August 14th. For more information, please visit Masjid Darul Islam's website.

Eid al-Adha will be on Wednesday, June 28th. Fajr iqama is at 4:45am. Takbirat will be at 5:00am. The first Eid address will be at 5:15, followed by the Eid prayer at 5:45. The second Eid address will be at 10:00am, followed by the Eid prayer at 10:30.

We have two du'a requests: for brother Qazi Salim and brother Mustafa — both of them are in the ICU. We ask Allah that he grants them complete and quick shifa.