Jumu'ah Khutbah | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 10/20/23

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته، بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم، الحمد لله. Dear listeners, peace be upon you all.

We thank Almighty Allah who's blessed us with iman, blessed us with peace, blessed us with comfort, blessed us with safety, blessed us with the ability to come here for Salatul Jum'ah without a fear on our lives, without a fear on the lives of our children, without a fear on the lives of our family members, without a fear on our homes. We ask Allah that those who are going through that fear, that He alleviate that fear from them. And that Allah grants them safety after having tested them through fear. And then we also ask Allah not to test us with fear once He has allowed us to enjoy the sweetness of peace and safety and security, ameen ya rabbal alameen.

The Believer's Perspective on Difficulty

Beloved friends, Allah mentions in multiple places in the Qur'an what do believers do when faced with difficulty, as well as what do disbelievers and hypocrites do when faced with difficulty. And you'll see as we study through those verses that when it comes to difficulty, a believer always remains optimistic, hopeful, and always understands that there is definitely a silver lining to everything. Although that may not be apparent to everyone, but it definitely exists.

And it may not be that you can enjoy that silver lining or the benefits of the difficulty you're going through in this world. You may have to wait till the end. You may have to even wait till the next life. But most definitely it shall become apparent that the suffering of a believer never goes in vain. A believer never suffers in vain. Whatever type of difficulty goes through, it is there for a wisdom that only Allah knows. And sometimes Allah chooses to expose and express and manifest that wisdom for people if He may wish so. But the trust is always there.

The Battle of Badr Example

Allah mentions that when the shaytan and the kuffar saw in the battle of Badr, back to back, the two armies saw each other:

The two armies met each other eye to eye in Badr. Shaytan, he ran. He ran and fled the field and he said, "I see what you don't see. I see angels, obviously, descending, which you don't see. And I realized that we are gonna be in big trouble today." So although he's the one who instigated them to come there, but he showed his true colors, and he ran away.

Because he knew that today is gonna be a very bad day for the disbelievers, for the kuffar, for his army, for Hizb-ul Shaytan, for the army of shaytan. Every day is a bad day for Hizb-ul Shaytan. But it's just that some days Allah makes it apparent, and some days He doesn't make it apparent, remember that. Every day is a bad day.

Every Day is Good for a Believer

And on the flip side of it, every single day is a great day for a believer. Although it may become apparent to you, it may not become apparent. But there's no such thing as a bad day.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 42, Hadith 7138)

How strange is the affair of a believer. Indeed, all his affairs are always good. And that is only for a believer, not for anyone else. A believer and only a believer will always have a bright day, will always have a good day. There's always something good in it that others may not see it. But he may see it if he's a true believer. And that's only a gift of Allah to a believer.

If it's the apparent goodness that you expect, prosperity, health, wealth, family and children, things of that sort which are very obvious, well, then he is grateful to Allah, and he will get reward for enjoying the luxuries he has. Just simply be grateful.

Reward in Every Action

Like Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned in a hadith, that a person when he fulfills his own needs, or he fulfills the needs of his spouse, that there is reward in it. The sahaba were very surprised. How does a person who fulfills his biological need with his spouse get reward for it? And the Prophet ﷺ said, "Well, if you fulfill that need outside of the marriage, would he not get sin for that?" He said, "Yes." "Well, then the flip side of it also is true. That now fulfilling your basic necessities of life, but you do it in a halal manner, you're actually getting reward for it."

And if giving a morsel of food to our spouse is called sadaqah, then what is not sadaqah for a believer? What is not sadaqah? Every single aspect of our life has reward in it, as long as we do it with the proper intention, as long as we do it إيمانًا واحتسابًا, with belief and expectations of a reward from Allah.

The Deception of Worldly Success for Disbelievers

So for a disbeliever on the other hand, every single day is a tough bad day. However some days it becomes apparent, some days it doesn't become apparent. Some days it's punishment in the dunya, and some days it's punishment in the hereafter. But the dunya that in blessings he's enjoying, it's not blessings, it's called استدراج. These are called punishments in the form of blessings.

Because the person who's enjoying wealth, prosperity, power, he doesn't feel the need to humble himself. And he becomes even more arrogant, and even more stuck in his ways, and even more flamboyant, and even more outrageously disobedient against Allah. So those so-called blessings, power, might, connections, and wealth, in reality they are nails in the coffin for him.

Because if Allah may have tested him with some sort of defeat in this world, or some sort of poverty, or some other sort of loss, he may have humbled him. But now then you see the oppressor doesn't ever get humbled. The oppressor continues to grow in strength and might. With every day, grows even stronger. With every day, amasses more wealth, amasses more power, amasses more strength. And the weaklings get weaker by the day.

But that strengthening of the oppressor in reality is not strengthening. It's not a source of happiness. Wallahi this will become the greatest regret in the hereafter. The aqiba, the end result will be horrible. But in order for that end result to be extremely horrible, there has to be extreme strength here, extreme power here, extreme opportunities to flex their muscles in the wrong manner.

The Concept of Istidraaj

Allah from the very beginning of times has shown us that when these positions and these materialistic things come into the hands of a disbeliever or kuffar, what happens? This is not any good for them. This is in reality a horrible thing for them. Because through this, as Allah says:

Indeed, those who disbelieve in our signs, those who deny our verses, step by step We pull them down. So like you have to coax a child down from a flight of stairs or from a dangerous place. If you yank him, he's gonna cry, he's gonna make a big fuss. So you slowly, slowly ease him, bring him down. You slowly say, hey come here, this, this, this, this. And before you know it, now he's in your hand off of a dangerous place that he was sitting on. This is called istidraaj. You bring them in without them realizing where they're coming. Allah uses this word in the Qur'an for the disbelievers. That those who disbelieve, He does istidraaj them. He reels them in through what? Through blessings, so-called blessings.

Allah says in Surah Al-Muminoon: Do they really think that we are assisting them? إمداد means assistance. Do they really think we are assisting them with wealth and sons? With young men joining their ranks and wealth? Do they think we are looking out for them? Even though they are disbelievers, hypocrites, people who hate Allah, but they say wealth is continuously increasing, arms are continuously increasing, recruits are continuously increasing, the population of young men joining is continuously increasing. Does more mean better for them?

Allah says, "Do they think we are rushing to open the doors of goodness for them? No, that's not the case. They don't recognize. They don't realize what's happening." Allah is not running towards their rescue, running towards equipping them for the sake of their enjoyment and benefit. No, that's not the case. Instead, this is all part of Allah's plan. That when the higher you go, when you fall, you fall harder. And that's exactly what's happening over here.

That the oppressors continue to become more powerful and more energetic and more apparently united. But for a believer, we need to understand, every day is a day of loss in the life of a disbeliever. And every day is a day of profit and benefit and winning for a believer. There's no concept of losing for us.

The Different Nature of Pain for Believers and Disbelievers

Allah mentions this in so many different beautiful places in the Qur'an. For example, He says in one place:

This is another beautiful ayah in the fifth juz, Surah An-Nisa. Allah says, if you are in pain in battle or elsewhere, if you're monetarily, physically, feel drained out, or you're actually injured, you're bleeding, you've lost a limb, family members have been lost, don't think you are alone. They are also in pain just like you are. But there's a huge difference. You have expectations of reward from Allah while they have nothing to expect besides the hellfire that awaits them.

There's no such thing as body counts, let's count the body counts. You cannot count the bodies. You cannot count the deceased. You cannot count the injured. You cannot count the number of houses that are demolished. It doesn't work like that. Because there's one aspect on this side of the scale that just throws this into a whole different arena. That's called Iman. When Iman is found there, then there is no comparison. There's no comparison. Because that death is not death.

The Reality of Martyrdom

Allah says: Do not think those who have been killed in Allah's path to be dead. Subhanallah, Allah is saying, don't say they're dead, don't think of them to be dead. Rather they are alive. And they are being provided sustenance. They may not have had food here, but they have food over there. A food that shall never end. A food that is the tastiest.

Allah is actually telling us to say, when you have these body counts, don't think of them as dead bodies. Their soul is alive before their blood reaches the ground. Their soul has already arrived in some of the lamps of Jannah. In the beautiful places of Jannah, they are roaming around. They go around in Jannah wherever they want. Allahu Akbar.

What does that tell us? That this world for a perspective of a Muslim is 100% different from everyone else. And that is why when Khalid ibn Waleed would go to a battle, invite people towards the deen. He said, "Listen, I'm just letting you know, I have a small group of people."

The Power of Faith in Times of Trial

It might be a thousand, it might be 60,000, it might be 50,000, whatever it may be. But I have a group of people, يُحِبُّونَ الْمَوْتَ كَمَا تُحِبُّونَ الْخَمْرَ - They love death more than you love your wine. Done, story finished right here. How do you mess with a group of people? That's exactly, where do you get that type of jazbah, that desire? Where do you get that strength? It comes from iman.

Anyone, the door is open. Anyone listening to me who is not a believer, the door is open, brother. You accept Islam, you have the same thing. You have the same thing. For anyone that you walk out, as a non-Muslim today from here, you walk out saying Islam, on the way out, it took you an extra minute to find your slippers, guess what? The clock is... Your meter is moving, you're getting ajr for that. Because it took you an extra minute to find your slippers. You're leaving in the parking lot, you have to run somewhere for an appointment, but you're stuck behind traffic for 10 minutes, 5 minutes. And you're like, Ya Allah, what's going on? I came for Jummah, I'm stuck for an appointment. Don't worry, you're getting ajr for that. That's the benefit of being a believer. You're always clocked in. Always clocked in. No matter wherever you and I are.

Beloved friends, it is so important to understand that we are not just humans, we are believers in لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله. We're believers in the Akhirah. Hence everything we see, we have a different perspective than those around us. We must. If we don't have a different perspective, there's got to be a weakness in our iman.

Lessons from the Battle of Uhud

Uhud finished, 70 sahaba are shaheed, 70 or more are prisoners of war, and all of the whole army is bleeding. Even including Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has lost his teeth. He's very badly injured on his cheeks. And people thought he was dead, he had passed away. So they're spiritually, physically, completely, completely out. And then emotionally, when you are this close to losing the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, Allahu Akbar, that's worse than losing all your kids, your grandkids, your grandparents, your parents in your house. For a sahabi to lose the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, what is that? And so they were this close to losing him. The news that's false, news that's spread.

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala at that time says, Okay, as soon as you come back to Medina, Allah Azawajal orders the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, Jibreel Ameen comes down. You know, you've heard the story, powerful story, Hamra ul Asad story. Jibreel Ameen comes to see Rasulullah. Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is taking off his armor. Jibreel says, Ya Rasulullah, why are you taking off your armor? We have not taken off our armor yet.

First of all, listen to this. He says, what? We haven't taken off our armor. What does that mean? The angels of Badr were also present in Uhud. And they're wearing armor as well. Not that they need armor, but to show support of the Muslims. But Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, He allowed the Muslims to suffer an apparent defeat. Even though Rasulullah is present, and even though thousands of angels... Jibreel is saying, I've got my armor on. Allahu Akbar. Jibreel with his armor is in the field, and the Muslims suffer a defeat. What does that tell you? This is staged. This is staged by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. He wanted us to learn a lesson. And He wanted people to get ajr.

He wanted Hamza to... Hamza would not have become Asadullah. Hamza would not have become Sayyid al-Shuhada if it wasn't for Uhud, would he? Hamza would not have been the leader of Shuhada, if it wasn't for Uhud. Uhud had to happen for all those great things to happen. So many people entered Jannah that same day. Understand that. Don't think Allah has forsaken us. Don't think the angels are not present. The Rasulullah is present. Angels are present. But there was a mistake. Yes, Allah had willed. Some of the sahaba radhiallahu anhu majma'een misunderstood the command of the Prophet ﷺ. And they apparently did not follow his directions. And they descended from the mountain even though the Prophet ﷺ told them not to do so.

So Allah wanted all of us to learn the lesson. That even if the angels are present, if my Nabi is present, but if you don't follow my Nabi's orders, you will suffer a loss. So imagine when my Nabi is not around. And you have no idea what Jibril is there, or who else is there, or who else is not there. How will you ever plan to succeed if you don't have sunnah in your life? That was a powerful lesson. If you don't have obedience of the Nabi ﷺ, you can never succeed.

The March to Hamra ul-Asad

So now Rasulullah ﷺ said, what would you like me to do? He said, no, we have not taken off our armor. You need to keep your armor on. Where is next? Where you have to move to Hamra ul-Asad. The Meccans decided that they think that they have given you such a defeat now, they wanna come back and attack you again. Second round and finish you up for once and for all. So now tell your sahaba to move forward.

So now the munafiqun started spreading the news, that the kuffar are coming, the Meccans are coming, the Meccans are coming. You know, like how we do nowadays, message, one incident happened three years ago in a grocery store, people repost it now. One incident happened three weeks ago in another part of the country, they'll post it now. Create this hysteria, that all of your lives are in danger right now. Watch out, don't go for Jummah. Don't send your kids to school. Don't go for Salatul Isha, don't go for Fajr. Change your name, change the way you dress, remove your hijab, because they're coming. The army is marching not in Gaza, it's marching here. The world is coming to attack every one of you. And we're not safe in our schools, we're not safe in our masjids. We're not safe as long as we identify ourselves as a Muslim. That is the munafiqun spreading those news.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, The hypocrites began to say, إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ - All of them are amassing outside Medina. You heard that? Did you hear that? Did you hear that? They're creating a sense of hysteria. They're trying to create a sense of hysteria in Medina. You're all bleeding, you've lost relatives and friends. What's gonna happen if the kuffar come? It's game over, it's done.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, The munafiqun told the sahaba, we are asking you that you better be careful, you better be afraid, they're coming after you. Allah says, all of this chatter, what did it do to the Muslims? فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا - It only increased them in their faith. They said, oh, you're talking to us? We're not scared, you can say whatever you want. Allah azza wa jal was with us in Badr, was with us in Uhud, will be with us. If we gotta go, we gotta go. حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ - Allah is sufficient for us and He's the best of caretakers. We are not gonna get intimidated by this chatter. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had a plan.

Then Rasulullah said, no one who did not participate in Uhud can come here. No fresh blood, you'd say you'd expect fresh blood. Reinforcements, no fresh blood. No reinforcements. Only those people who went to Uhud are allowed to come. So all of these bleeding sahaba, one foot amputated, one eye gone, one leg gone. Subhanallah, limping their way, 8 kilometers or so, they moved towards Hamra ul-Asad.

Subhanallah, when the kuffar saw that these same group of people came, they could not believe that they haven't waited for us to come to them, but they have come out to us. They said these people must definitely have some other reinforcements that we're unaware of. They must have been armed with something that we have no idea about. It's like an army of zombies. How do they have the ability to come?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in the Qur'an, that disbelievers, when they saw the sahaba came, they literally dropped everything and ran. So the Muslims, what did they do? They went to the battlefield, come on, let's just collect everything. Just literally collected all the arms, all the horses, all the camels, all the pots and pans, whatever was there, they just collected everything, went back to Medina with truckloads of, or camel loads of goods, and لَّمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ - They did not get a single wound, not a single spear, arrow, or sword infliction, and they got the blessing of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being pleased with them.

This was a whole tactic, the way to separate the munafiqeen from the believers. If you didn't participate in the first battle, you're not allowed to come now. And guess what? The purpose was for Allah to give them ajr. Allah was saying, you didn't get a loot from Uhud, I've got a loot prepared for you a couple miles down. From the same people, but different circumstances. Allahu Akbar. But what did happen? If these Muslims stayed back in Medina, the world would have changed. They may have attacked Medina, and they really may have just lost, terribly.

They didn't fight, because physically speaking, they did not have the ability to fight. But it was the iman in Allah, and the iman in Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, that they said, we will not be afraid, we will not be intimidated, we'll go forward, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala let the enemy move away, run away. He's the one who put ru'ab and awe into their hearts.

Our Perspective as Believers

Beloved friends, there's so many beautiful lessons we can learn from this story. But the take home points from here is, as a believer, our perspective on the world's events must always be different. Has to be always different. Otherwise, ask yourself, what's the condition of your iman? We have the Qur'an to find these solutions. We have the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam to find the solution. How to understand and digest what are the latest events of the world? Turn back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's book and the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Understand that the silver lining behind that. Understand that this is a test from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Not only for our brothers and sisters across the globe, but for us as well. For them, of course, they have an option whether they are going to earn their jannah through shahada, or an option to earn their jannah by being patient in this world. They're gonna get one of the two, inshaAllah. Jannah either way. It's either from here or from there. Either they go there directly right now, or they stay put, having lost their homes, lost their family. InshaAllah, jannah for that sabr that they're gonna do.

On the other hand, we're also getting tested. How do we react? Do we start losing our deen? Do we start watering down our deen? Do we start backing away from our deen? Because we are scared that something may happen. Beloved friends, this is not the time to cower. This is the time when non-Muslims are gonna be looking towards Islam. They wouldn't know what is this religion that is the center of the world again. It is our job to display the best character, best akhlaq, and be available for them. To share with them the beauty of our deen.

Our Responsibility in Da'wah

At your workplace, at your son or daughter's school, college, wherever it is. As a parent, be involved. Explain to them that we are ready to talk about Islam. If you have any questions, we are ready to talk about our deen. And this is an opportunity that Allah is giving the Muslims in this country to improve on our da'wah. To share with others the akhlaq of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the deen of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. What are the true teachings? Not what is misrepresented on the airwaves. But what is the true deen? Let us make full use of this opportunity now.

Number two, along with that, beloved brothers and sisters, emotionally stay strong. Do not create fear-mongering amongst the community. Do not share messages that do not need to be shared. Of course, we need to be mindful of one or two people who are drunk, or people who are angry, at Muslims, so forth. We should always be, believers, always awake and alert, and ready, and strong. That's our job.

Community Safety and Spiritual Response

Men, women, children, all of us, whether in the masjid or outside. So 100%, we should be careful. All the time be careful and be extra careful now. That's there. Fortifying our homes and our masjid, and so forth. Keep your eyes and ears open every time you come for salah. Don't just come to pray. Be on the lookout. If you see anything suspicious, please report it, address it, whatever the case may be. Wherever you go, that's there. So we will use the means available for our protection.

Filling Our Masjids

Number three is the way we filled up for Jumu'ah. We need to start filling up our masjids for Fajr. We need to start filling up our masjids for Isha. We have to come. The help of Allah will only come naturally. You and I know this. The help of Allah will come when we come here. This is His house. This is where we present. You know how we say we got to protest in front of where? In front of the capital. We have to protest in front of the ambassador's home. Etc. Etc. Well, guess what? Because why? Because that's where the guy who writes the decisions is sitting. Well, the one who controls the world this is his house.

If you want to write a petition from home, how is that going to work? We have to come here and collectively send our petition to Allah. We have to come to the house of Allah and say, Ya Allah, we are a thousand strong here. We are two thousand strong here. We are a thousand for Salatul Fajr. Ya Allah, I've been coming for decades to the masjid. Now I'm here for Salatul Fajr. Ya Allah, please I ask you to grant us victory.

Call to Action

I ask and I implore all of you to make a point whatever level of connection you have to the masjid, whichever your local masjid is, please increase that. Salatul Fajr, every day since the past 10 days we have قنوت النازلة (Qunut Nazila), where we make du'a in the Salatul Fajr for our brothers and sisters across the globe who are going through suffering. We want you to join that inshaAllah on every single morning. 6:15 is Salatul Fajr. Additionally, 7:45 is Isha. Start coming to your local masjid for Salat and begging Allah for mercy.

These are very tough times and right now, those brothers and sisters across the globe they are looking forward to our du'a. Not just our posting of messages, our du'a. So along with whatever political involvement, tomorrow there's a rally. If you can participate in there, alhamdulillah. If you can write letters to your local congressmen, senators, this is definitely needed. We must do that as a community. We must work as a united force. But along with that, understand that our letters will not have the power it should have without us spending some time in the masjid. Without us spending some time on the musalla, shedding some tears.

Du'a for Our Ummah

I pray to almighty Allah that He allows myself and all of us to have the proper perspective no matter what the situation may be. Say ameen. I ask Allah out of His infinite mercy to end the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Gaza. I ask Allah to accept their martyrdom, to accept their tears, to listen to their pleas. I ask Allah to all those who have lost their loved ones, to grant them patience, who lost their homes, to grant them patience. And I ask Allah to allow our community to become stronger and to utilize all the means we have of political power and the ability to write letters and to voice your opinion. Allow us to use that to its fullest and allow us to use our masjid to present our case in front of Allah. Ameen.

Community Announcements

Let us inshaAllah stand up and move forward completely. Make sure every single row has been taken, every single space has been taken before we begin our sunnah. A few announcements inshaAllah. Please pass the donation boxes from the left to the right and donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah and the reward is most on the day of Jumu'ah. So kindly please pass those boxes and donate generously.

Additionally, there is Alhamdulillah Majlis Uthman is trying to complete its construction as soon as possible. The masjid right off of 355 in Roosevelt, as all of you are aware of. They have their benefit banquet tomorrow at 6:30pm at Shalimar. We request everyone to join with their family to support the construction. There are brothers in the lobby who are selling tickets. Kindly purchase your ticket or visit mubenefit.org. This is again for the benefit banquet for our local masjid in Lombard.

Additionally, we have one of our dear beloved brothers of the masjid and one of the pegs of the masjid, brother Hisham Qureshi. His father passed away last night.

Enhanced Security Measures

And tens of cameras securing the facility along with an 8-foot high wrought iron security fence which automatic gates which open before Salat al-Fajr and then close right after Isha as well. We have added some enhanced lighting around the entire building premises to eliminate any dark spots. And on Jummah, we always have two on-duty police officers with squad cars.

We are additionally now working on very soon, tonight, inshaAllah, we'll have a meeting as well on having a Masjid Security Jamaat group that will have volunteers with concealed carry permits that will be strategically placed throughout our community events to provide a maximum coverage during Salat times and other major events. We're collaborating with Amanah Security Group in providing security guards for our campus during the morning and evening drop-off and pick-up times throughout the day the way we do in Ramadan.

We also have requested the DuPage County Sheriff James Bendrick and Deputy Chief Guy Papa who visited Dar es Salaam last week and they met the leadership here on Jummah. We've requested them for extra security patrol vehicles throughout the day and the night here seven days a week. The Masjid doors will remain locked and automatically open only 15 minutes before and after Salat. And additionally, the gates now of the campus will close at 10:30 so all the renting out of the gym, etc., all will have to be completed before that.

Along with all of that, we are actively seeking a full-time security guard for campus security throughout the day. So if there's anyone interested in applying for that job or you know anyone who is available for that, please ask them to meet in the office as well. JazakumAllahu khairan for your patience. We ask Allah to continue to grant all of us security and peace in the house of Allah as well as in our homes. Ameen. Rabbil Alameen.

So we'll start with straighten the lines, fill up any gaps and please turn off your cellphones.