Jumuah Khutbah | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

The Wisdom Behind Divine Guidance

Make your life difficult. I know kids say that. Mom, why are you telling me to do that? Dad, why are you telling me to do that? We say, beta, I love you. I want you to study because I want you to be successful. I want you to join this thing so you can be well in school. I want you to be good in sports because it'll help you with your self-confidence. Kids will say, no, I don't want to. But as mom and dads, what do we keep on saying? There's nothing more than I... what I want more than your success. You don't understand it now, but I want your success. Stop eating those candies. Stop eating those sugars. No, I want to. No, it's not... I'm not saying it because I don't like you. I say it because I love you. Don't ruin your teeth. Don't make yourself sick by overeating on all these things.

So children may not understand the wisdom behind what we as parents tell them. But we say that we know, we know how this works. This is harmful for you. Imagine Allah Al-Alim, Khabir, Latif, how much he knows about us and the future. And he knows how he has kept this world. Whatever advice he gives us, it's for our own benefit.

Allah's Command to Stay Away from Fornication

My beloved friends, from the pieces of... many pieces of advice Allah has given us is to stay away far from fornication. Allah clearly says:

Don't even come close to fornication. إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً Because this is a lewd act of great lewdness. وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًا And it's a horrible path. Once a person starts misusing his eyes, his ears, hands, and feet, and mind, and tongue, he will fall into major and major sins until it becomes a path of haram, of fuhsh, of lewdness, of fornication, of zina, of adultery, and so forth. سَاءَ سَبِيلًا It becomes a lifestyle. سَبِيلًا An entire lifestyle of sin. And once a person falls into that lifestyle, then unfortunately many other horrible things start happening.

Surah An-Nur and Its Clear Commands

My beloved brothers and sisters, the key thing I want you to listen to me attentively for the next few minutes here. Allah revealed a surah called Surah An-Nur. All of you know this, you've heard of this surah, Surah An-Nur. How does the surah begin? Surah An-Nur:

This is a surah, we revealed it. وَفَرَضْنَاهَا We have made it. We have made its obligations clear. Obligations, ahkam, commandments of this surah. وَأَنزَلْنَا فِيهَا آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ And we have revealed in it clear verses. لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ So that you may reflect and ponder.

The Punishment for Fornication

What's the first command of Surah An-Nur? All of you have heard of Ayat An-Nur, اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ. That ayah is part of Surah An-Nur. But what's the first ayah? I translated to you the first ayah. Second ayah, the first command. Allah says:

That most merciful, most gracious, most loving Allah who put our love into the hearts of our parents and who loves us more than our mom and dad. He says, الزَّانِيَةُ وَالزَّانِي Bring the fornicating woman and the fornicating man. Bring them over here. My brothers, I'm giving you verse of the Qur'an. Someone who has committed zina anywhere, outside, in college, in high school, in public, in workplace, wherever. You don't know, I don't know, who's sitting, who did what, where, when, today. Because the Islamic sharia system is not even there. And if it's there, you're not gonna be able to find who did what until they come in. Confess. To find four people to have witnessed it is nearly impossible. So how many acts of zina are taking place across the globe, across the city, across the street, we don't know.

But I want you to understand what this most merciful Allah is ordering us and His Prophet to do. He says, catch if these guys come to you, the fornicating man and woman. فَاجْلِدُوا كُلَّ وَاحِدٍ مِّنْهُمَا مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ And both of them, each one of them, I want you to flog them, whip them 100 times. This is not a whip which your mom and dad may have given you with a broom or something. We're talking about executioner's whip, pure leather. That if you and I were to get hit, most definitely after 4 to 5, we'd lose our conscious. We'd lose our conscious. Allah says, مِائَةَ جَلْدَةٍ 100 whips. 100 whips for that girl, for that boy, for that grandma, granddad, whoever they are, it doesn't make a difference. If they did zina, take them out.

But now you're gonna say, they're gonna scream, they're gonna yell. The most merciful is telling the judge, the executioner, and the people around, وَلَا تَأْخُذْكُم بِهِمَا رَأْفَةٌ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ Do not become overcome by mercy and compassion now. Do not allow compassion and mercy to overtake you when it comes to the command of Allah. إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ If you truly believe in Allah and the Day of Judgment, then you better not show compassion now. Most merciful Allah is telling us, this is not the time to show compassion.

The Medical Analogy

How? It's like a surgery taking place. It's a person who's got cancer and a surgery needs to take place. Or a person who's lost his senses, subhanAllah, gangrene or something else has happened, and his foot is now lost all its senses, lost all its nerves. And then his foot or leg or hand has to be amputated. Imagine how painful. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, you and I have heard how many thousands of amputations have been taking place in Gaza without anesthesia. My dear friends, of kids, they're saying there's thousands of amputated kids right now in Gaza. Allahu Akbar. Can you imagine amputating a four-year-old without anesthesia? A two-year-old? Oh my God. And imagine the scream of that kid. But are these surgeons or these doctors or these parents merciless as they amputate him? What's the answer? Are they merciless? Of course not. They have to do that because if you don't do it, it's gonna be a worse problem. The kid won't survive. So as painful as amputation is, even without anesthesia, it's something you have to do to be able to preserve the rest of the body.

Think about it as well. That Allah is regarding zina as a cancer. As a horrible disease in society. And that if you don't cut it at its roots, when this spreads, the entire social structure of society will fall apart. The home environment will fall apart. Marriages will fall apart. You will have thousands and hundreds of illegitimate children. You have single moms and single dads. And we cannot imagine you have lose your barakah in sustenance. You will have new diseases like AIDS that are mentioned in hadith. AIDS not mentioned but hadith mentions when zina becomes common, Allah will send down such diseases that your forefathers had never seen and heard of. All sorts of new things will start happening because of this one horrible sin.

So Allah the Most Merciful says, this must be amputated. You gotta catch it when it's small. You gotta whip them both a hundred times. And then, وَلْيَشْهَدْ عَذَابَهُمَا طَائِفَةٌ مِّنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ A group of the Muslims and the believers needs to be present watching this. The news must spread. And the fear must be real. That anytime a person ever thinks to fornicate, then immediately that vision of a hundred flogging, and the boy and the girl screaming, and the things not stopping, that should ring in your ears. That vision should be in your eyes. And you say, today I'm able to hide from my wife, my son, my daughter, or my sibling, or my mom and dad. But, يَعْلَمُ خَائِنَةَ الْأَعْيُنِ That one and only one Allah, He knows everything. He knows even the treachery of my eye. He knows the secrets of my heart. The darkness may cover me but how can the darkness cover me from the one who's created the darkness itself.

Nothing can be hidden from Allah in the heavens or the earth.

The Punishment for Married Adulterers

My beloved brothers and sisters, this is for the unmarried people. But those who are married, Allah has commanded for that. As you are aware, it's not even flogging. This is a cancer that needs to be truly eradicated fully. And it is فَارْجُمُوهُمَا and that is from Allah. This is the teachings of the deen that they need to be pelted with stones. Pelted with stones until they pass away. There's no point in these people living. They have committed being married if you've cheated on your wife. And if you cheated on your husband, Allah says, you don't deserve to live on this earth. It's better for you to be under. Because this is a cancer, dead body is gonna spread disease. This disease body does not deserve to live on this earth who has fornicated and committed adultery and has deceived and cheated on his or her spouse. This is the command of the Qur'an in the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Reflecting on Divine Justice

We're not implementing this in the world. And I'm not asking here to implement anything. I want you to simply ponder on these verses and to say, just imagine every act of zina in the world, how it enrages Allah. How it enrages Allah. We wonder why the Muslims are suffering across the globe. And what's happening in this country. And what is happening in UK, in India, in Bangladesh, you name it. Where are we not in trouble besides Syria and Yemen, in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza. And then you wonder, if you've angered Allah, what can you expect anyway? And you think about all the different ways as a ummah we're angering Allah. How often do we discuss this massive, massive major sin of zina?

The Modern Challenge: Technology and Temptation

And ever since the cell phone and social media and apps have come into access to all of us, what has happened? The doors of this haram have opened up beyond what we can imagine. It has opened up not only to our youngsters who are unmarried, but also to married couples. Both men and women. The dirty laundry is right there. Any imam who works in the community, as like myself, we know 1% of what's out there. But the 1% is bad enough. That I know. And what we know, it means there's so much more happening.

When you have young 30-year-olds coming, telling me, I caught my dad. SubhanAllah, my mom had no idea about this. When you have moms being involved, إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ What in the world have we moms involved? Married 60-year-olds committing zina. It's available, readily available. And people are watching pornography nonstop, haram, on their phones. So now that amazing husband or amazing wife is no longer amazing. They look like something that is repugnant.

And this is what shaytan does, زَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ Shaytan has the ability to polish and make haram look beautiful. And what is readily halal and available, like mom cooks biryani or whatever food, and the kid pulls out a box of cereal and eats. Doesn't that happen? Mom made the whole food, says, No, I don't want this. What are you talking about? Why are you eating this? That's what shaytan... We have a lawfully married husband or wife in front of us, but shaytan says, No, let's go somewhere else.

The Call to Action: Protecting Our Hearts and Homes

My dear brothers and sisters, we don't speak about this issue. But this is full-fledged happening in our communities across the world, across this country, across all first world, third world, you name it, Muslim, non-Muslim countries. And we have to number one, take care of our own house. We have to take care of our own heart.

Where does zina start from? Allah never said, وَلَا تَزْنُوا Because once you get into the door, you're not coming out. Allah says, don't even look at the board. Don't even look at the sign board. Don't even look at the sign. Don't even go in that alley. Don't even look for the directions. Because once a person starts going that direction, once a person downloads an app, once a person starts searching for something, my dear friends, it's over. It's a slippery slope. And today with phones in everyone's hands, it is so important for us dads and moms and our sons and daughters to be honest with ourselves how close we are falling into this sin. Zina doesn't start with the actual sin of the private part. It starts with the sin of the eyes.

Building Strong Family Relationships

If we, the one who cannot control his gaze today from watching haram, from listening to haram, from reading haram, from communicating with people we're not allowed to communicate with, then it's just a matter of time that we'll, Allah forbid, fall into the actual major zina.

My brothers and sisters, let us utilize this summer opportunity, starting off from what I said earlier, to build that relationship between parents and children. Time is up. So much I want to share with you.

A Message to Fathers

As a father, father sitting here, if your son and daughter does not love you, then you have failed as a father. The amount of young men and women who come and share with me how they hate their parents, it hurts me. And because of that, they are hating Islam now. Because of their father, who comes for jama'at, comes for his daily salah, grows out a beard, whatnot, but he does not know how to be with his kids. So the hatred towards parents has changed into hatred towards Islam.

Please, I beg you, that work on your relationship with your kids. Work on your relationship with your kids. Spend quality time with them. Leave the old style of parenting. It doesn't work. Otherwise, you're never gonna see your kids again. Become their friend. Listen to what they want to talk about. Discuss with things that are important and relevant to them. Spend individual time with each one of them. Take them to a park. Go out to eat ice cream with them. Whatever it is, but show them that you care about them more than just grades and money and chores. That you care about them as a human being.

The Impact of Father-Child Relationships

The New York Times had an article. It said, the number one sign of whether a person is gonna remain following the religion of his parents is not the church, mosque or synagogue they attended, not the school that they attended, but the relationship with their father. The stronger the relationship with the father, the higher the chance that they will remain on the religion of their parents. And the weaker the relationship with the father, the higher the chance that they will leave the religion of their parents.

So this summer is an opportune time for us to travel with our kids. Whatever it is, you don't have to spend a lot of money. You could just be a mile down in a park. But spend quality time with your children and show them love. And it's not a big problem to say, I'm sorry. Because many of us, we have to say I'm sorry to our kids. And do our children have to say I'm sorry? Of course. But we gotta be the father. We gotta lead. Say, my son, I'm sorry about what I've done in the past. And naturally when the son sees that, of course, why not? Or the daughter, he will say I'm sorry as well. We have to work on this relationship.

Number two, when that relationship is strong, then إن شاء الله we can talk about bigger issues that I just discussed, about zina, about the use of phones and so forth. But you can't have that discussion until the relationship between parents and children is strong.

Du'a for Our Families

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He protects our families. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to put muhabba in every single child, the love of Allah, His Rasul and His parents. And I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to teach every one of us as dads and moms how to raise our kids. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to close the doors of zina in our homes. And open up the doors of halal nikah for all of us. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to remove our worries of this world and the next. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant victory to the Muslims in wherever they are across the globe in every difficulty that they're facing.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, "O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims."

And the Prophet ﷺ said, "No father has given birth to a son better than a good man." Or as he ﷺ said, "Say this and Allah will forgive me and you, and the rest of the Muslims from every sin. So ask His forgiveness. Indeed, He is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

All praise is due to Allah. And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, "Allah and His angels are praying for the Prophet."

Announcements

إن شاء الله please fill up the gaps. Stand up. إن شاء الله, stand shoulder to shoulder and ensure there's no gaps in between. Make space for the brothers in the back. There's a lot of space on the left side as well.

Youth I'tikaf Program

As we're lining up, I want to quickly make a couple of announcements إن شاء الله here. Tomorrow evening, myself and many of the senior scholars, mashallah Mufti Mujib, Qari Ridwan, Mufti Asim, and mashallah other ulama, Mufti Rafiq, etc. will be joining together for a joint youth i'tikaf program. Tomorrow night, right here in New York, in Long Island, in Baldwin, in Masjid al-Rashid, in Long Island, إن شاء الله, we'll have a youth 18 plus program, free for all, الحمد لله, with great food from some of the most famous restaurants, desserts, kahwa house tea, and so forth, all provided for free.

With SQ, إن شاء الله, we'll be hosting the program with me, and we're going to be speaking about real-life issues that youth are facing, whether it's pornography, whether it's relationships, whether it's marriage, divorce, addictions. I encourage all of you young men, إن شاء الله, fathers as well, please join us at Masjid al-Rashid in Baldwin tomorrow night, Saturday, Maghrib, and the program will be open for i'tikaf. You can come, there'll be dhikr and du'a, we'll be sleeping over, we'll have small circles with the ulama there as well, till Fajr. Sunday, Fajr, إن شاء الله, the program will end at breakfast. So I encourage all of you to attend, إن شاء الله, with your sons, tomorrow evening, 17 plus, at Masjid al-Rashid, Saturday, Maghrib, till Sunday, Fajr.

On the way out, there is a QR code, you can take a picture of that, and you'll join the WhatsApp group that you'll get updates to all the programs that we're doing. My name is Azimuddin Ahmed, as was introduced, visiting from Dar-ul-Salam Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. So, الحمد لله, we have summer intensives, the one-year program, all of those things. If you want to stay connected with my talks or the programs that our ulama at Dar-ul-Salam do, please, on the way out, just take a picture of the QR code, scan that, and you'll stay connected to all of our programs.

We ask Allah SWT to grant us all ikhlas and sincerity and acceptance. آمين يا رب العالمين.