Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | Jummuah Khutbah | Nov 24, 2023

The Foundation of Success

Following Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's orders and implementation of Allah's orders will always take a person to success, and no matter how bleak the environment may be and no matter how the odds may be stacked against the believers. Remember that whatever is happening is happening by the will of Allah, by the permission of Allah, by the planning of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We need to ensure that we make the best and the most correct moves in handling any situation that we find at home, at work, and on the larger scheme of the world.

The Centrality of Salah

This starts off with Salah. It is not possible - not possible - for the ummah to succeed in any aspect, even though it may seem that they're successful. Wallahi, they will never succeed, and you all must of course agree with me on that. If Salah is not in our life and the Iman and Salah is not in our life, then even the apparent victory in reality is an ambush, which will turn into loss. It's all fake. It's a farce. It's seemingly success, but it's not. Behind that seeming mirage of material success will be the wrath of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Learning from Our Brothers and Sisters

We need to as a community now use this past six weeks to propel ourselves ever more than ever before to cultivate the faith in our hearts. The way we see our massacred brothers and sisters who are not simply cultivating, but rather manifesting the decades-long cultivated Iman. That Iman that I don't have, but looking at that, this is the moment for me to start cultivating this in my heart.

This is what you call faith - that no matter how much the odds may be stacked against you, you see what no one else can see. No reporter sees, no force of the world sees, no soldier sees what those who are going through that see. And it is that what they see that gives them the strength that seems to be almost unreal.

The Real Victory

That level of faith, unless and until we gain that in the comfort of our homes, then I must say here that wallahil azeem, they are the winners and we are the losers. They have gotten victory while we in the comfort of our homes are the most defeated community. This cannot happen - that we gain victory by turning our backs to the houses of Allah. Cannot happen that we gain victory by turning our backs to the musalla, to the Quran.

Beyond Lip Service

It is commonly said that "Brother, we need to do more than Salah. We need to do more than zikr and du'a," and I am one who hears this all the time. And I ask those people who say that: How much Salah have you done? By Allah, were you here for Fajr? By Allah, were you here for Isha last night? How many hours did you spend crying in tahajjud last night for your brothers before you make such a statement that "Please, we have to do more than zikr and du'a and Quran"? Let's be honest.

We are masajid - how many rows did we add in our prayer spaces across the globe? How many more khatm al-Quran have happened? How many discos have closed? How many nightclubbers have stopped going to the nightclubs? How many people who drink have stopped drinking? How many on vapes, e-cigarettes and cigarettes and crack cocaine and addicted to all sorts of painkillers have decided to give that up?

Self-Reflection and Inner Change

We know what we are dealing with in our own personal life. It is hypocritical to not look at our own messed up lives and look at how we have ruined our relationship not only with Allah but with our mom and dad, with our spouses, with our kids, and then to say "Brother, we have to not focus on ourselves. Let's do something outside." The enemy is within me. I am my own enemy. You are your own enemy. We are the enemy of the ummah ourselves by not changing our lives and not reflecting on how we have brought misery to the ummah by being sinful people.

The solution starts from home. The solution starts with me. I need to bring a change in the past six weeks and I haven't, but I need to ask myself: What will it take? What atrocity will it take to bring a change in me? What more am I asking Allah to pound upon me, to batter me with, to bring a change and awakening within me?

Signs of Hope

I want to say I've had the good pleasure of meeting a number of young men in this past month who alhamdulillah honestly did give up drugs. There are few who did reach out to me for further help. They did give up their alcohol habits. They did start praying Salah in the masjid. We want to make sure that these three or four begin to represent a larger community - that the larger community including myself all start our journey towards Allah.

Our Priority as Muslims

While we are doing our zikr and du'a, then most definitely all the other activities that I have given and you have given and heard about - making the phone calls, protesting and everything else that's there - needs to be there, must be there. But let's not brush off this most important aspect because we are not like any other faith community. We are Muslims. We are mu'mineen, and the very first thing and the very last thing that we resort to is Allah.

Until and unless we do not work on that relationship with our mighty Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the means that we are using will place us exactly in the position like anyone else and we will never win that. We will never win that battle if we are placing ourselves with the rest. No, the only way we can ever move forward is if we bring in that one Allah with us in our lives. Then even the small action that we do will become powerful and effective.

Du'a for the Ummah

I ask Almighty Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bring a major, massive awakening in the Muslim community across the globe, and may He allow us to fill up our masajid all across the globe. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to start leaving haram from our transactions, from our buying and selling, from our financial dealings, from our social dealings. May Allah allow the entire ummah to repent from every major and minor sin we are involved in. May Allah create the repugnance and hate of sin in our heart. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala create within us the love of Sunnah within our lives, the love of Deen within our lives. May we support one another and be united not only in these difficult times but moving forward in all times. May this bring a unity within the ummah on Quran and Sunnah.

Recitation from Surah Al-Kahf

Closing Remarks and Announcements

I want to thank Mufti Azeem for joining us and for the beautiful khutbah. May Allah reward him and honor him and his family, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continue to accept all the efforts and works presented by him. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless us all.

A couple of quick announcements inshallah: We have our weekly Quran recitation with Sheikh Nasser Friday nights after Isha. Also on December 8th and 9th we have a seerah immersion program here with Mufti Hussain Waheed and myself. For today itself there is a code IFS50 for 50 percent off the registration, so if you want today for all day there is this discount for the registration. We encourage all of you to participate inshallah.

We also have a community health awareness program this Sunday November 26 from 11:30 to 1:30. This is an opportunity to get some screening done for young and old. We encourage you all to participate. We also have our weekly youth programs Ignite and Spark which is on Wednesdays at 6 to 8 PM. We encourage all of you to join and participate in all of our weekly programs.

We ask you on this day to make du'a for our brothers and sisters in Palestine and Gaza and continue to make du'a for them and for the Muslims all around the world. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless them and give shifa to all of our loved ones who are sick and forgive all of our loved ones who have passed away. Please continue to donate and support Islamic foundations.