Remaining Grateful in Times of Hardship - Mufti Azeemuddin | Islamic Reminder | Jummah Khutbah

Opening Prayer and Reflection

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, and sufficient is the prayer and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our Master Muhammad and his family. Our Master Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. My Lord, open my heart and ease my affairs. Release the knot from my tongue and preserve my speech.

(Reported by Razin)

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah be pleased with him and grant him peace, said, "My Lord has commanded me nine things: The fear of Allah in secrecy and in public. The word of justice in anger and in contentment. And moderation in poverty and in wealth. And to maintain ties with those who have cut me off. And to give to those who have deprived me. And to pardon those who have wronged me. And that my silence be reflection, and my speech a reminder, and my gaze a lesson." Or as the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said.

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Lessons from Recent Hardships

We thank Allah for the blessing of iman, the blessing of health, the blessing of comfort and ease. And as we come out of the cold of the past few days, we are now so much more appreciative of the blessings of Allah, of warmth, of comfort, of having heaters, of having comforters, of having gloves, and warm homes, and warm cars, as we've seen the sad incidents of people passing away out of the cold in our area and beyond.

And it makes us realize and think how blessed we are that this may be a once in a lifetime level of cold that we are feeling here. But for many others in other parts of the world, maybe not exactly that temperature, but right around there, every winter of theirs goes by without having even a tenth of the luxurious items that we have at our disposal to keep us warm and protected from the bitter cold. And I hope that at least that made our heart, our hard heart took a beating, hopefully, when we saw all of this.

And number two, it also makes us realize how weak we are. Although we think ourselves to be very strong, but Allah releases just one wind from the North Pole. And what it does to us, look at the sense of emergency and the closure of buildings and offices and governmental offices and all sorts of schools and so forth. One small wind.

The Power of Allah's Creation

And then you think what Allah releases. When Allah mentions Surah Al-Haqqah, when He let the wind roll for eight days and seven nights, what must have been the condition of that nation when Allah let the wind play its course. And He made it subjugated upon them continuously. And you'd see these huge men and women, huge creations of Allah that were massive in nature. You can see their dwellings today in the world. Remnants of it in Petra in Jordan. Look at pictures of it, what type of homes they created and carved into the mountains.

Allah says, you would see them as tall as they are. But when this wind left, everything demolished, destroyed. And these massive human beings who would say, "Who is stronger than us? There is no God besides us. We are the strongest. We are everything. There is no reason for us to be afraid of any mighty power."

Allah says, that you saw them completely flattened out after the wind left. As though they were tall date palm trees that have been uprooted from the ground and thrown on the floor. This is how these men at the end after this storm were completely wiped out.

This is one small wind, my dear brothers and sisters, from the جُنُودِ رَبِّكَ - None knows the true might, strength and power of Allah's army but Allah Himself. And everything belongs to Allah. And this is all part of the army of Allah.

It is a reminder of what awaits the people of hellfire in the زَمْهَرِير of Jahannam as we've been taught and you've seen it in various places in the past few days. Brothers have been encouraging one another.

Seek refuge in Allah from زَمْهَرِير of Jahannam which is a punishment of bitter cold that will be sent out in the hellfire. Besides the punishment through fire and the punishment of heat, this is the punishment of cold, bitter cold. And you can see what that must be like.

So, we have to learn a lesson from things, otherwise we don't benefit from incidents. We have to take heed and learn lessons from this past week and generally speaking picking up lessons wherever we go. And that's how we grow stronger and learn.

The Nine Commands of the Prophet

First Command: Fear of Allah in Private and Public

I shared with you a hadith that Abu Huraira mentions that the Prophet said related in the book Ziyadat of Razin. He says that, "My Lord commanded me to do nine things."

Number one, خَشْيَةُ اللَّهِ فِي السِّرِّ وَالْعَلَانِيَةِ - To fear Allah فِي السِّرِّ وَالْعَلَانِيَةِ in seclusion and in public. To fear Allah in seclusion and public. It is at times easier to be afraid of Allah in public, but in seclusion definitely becomes challenging. And in order to remain consistent, because Allah is the same. We are the ones who change. We have to practice, we have to practice in seclusion in being afraid of Allah.

What does that mean? When we are tempted to break an order of Allah in seclusion and no one is around us, no one is watching if we cheat and we deceive someone. خَشْيَةُ اللَّهِ فِي السِّرِّ وَالْعَلَانِيَةِ At that time the fear of Allah dictates that we will not harm someone even though they may be unaware of it. The khashiyah of Allah in privacy dictates that we do not neglect any of the rights of Allah when others are going to be unaware of it. Whether we prayed, we didn't pray, how much we prayed, how we prayed. People are unaware of that. But the fear of Allah in seclusion, in privacy dictates that we act as though we are in public. Same level of concentration, devotion to our Lord Almighty.

Second Command: Speaking Truth in All Circumstances

كَلِمَةُ الْعَدْلِ فِي الْغَضَبِ وَالرِّضَا Number two. To speak the statement of truth, to speak the truth and justly, to speak justly, فِي الْغَضَبِ وَالرِّضَا Whether you are angry or happy and pleased with the situation. It is easy to speak the truth when a person's circumstances are favorable and you're in a good mood. At that time it's easy for us to say that this is right, this is a haq and so forth. But when a person is upset and angry, especially angry at someone, and now the justice and the right of law is with that person, to speak up and to say, although I'm very upset at this individual, however, I agree and acknowledge that the truth is with him, justice is with him, he has a right to receive the settlement in this issue, etc.

The Prophet is saying, Allah ordered me to speak the truth, whether it's related to us or anyone else, no matter the situation.

Allah, that's why it's in the Quran, "Remain just and stand firm and loyal to justice, even if you have to speak against your own relative, even if you have to speak in a manner that is going to conflict with your own needs, conflict with your own desires, conflict of what is so called in your best interest. But what deserves supremacy over everything is justice. What deserves supremacy over everything is the haq and the truth, even if it hurts."

That's difficult, my dear brothers and sisters. We know that. We have to ask Allah to give us strength. And the Prophet is a perfect example. That one day, he was mentioning something and one of his companions was writing. Every single thing he was mentioning. And then after some time, the Messenger of Allah became upset about something and started saying something else. So that companion who was writing, he stopped, he lifted his pen and he stopped writing. The Prophet noticed that and he said to him, the gist of the hadith is that, "I do not speak out of my whims and desires. I speak the truth, whether I am speaking in normal circumstances or I am speaking while I am upset and angry or enraged by something." Because his attachment and loyalty to the truth, that did not fluctuate.

Moods and emotions may fluctuate for all of us. But we have to create this personality within ourselves that what is right is right and my loyalty to that will always remain constant. There will definitely be times when you and I are frustrated about something. That can happen, that's natural. But what cannot happen and what we cannot accept from ourselves is deviation from the truth. Deviation from what is Haqq.

Third Command: Moderation in All Financial States

Then this third thing the Prophet said that Allah ordered him, وَالْقَصْدُ فِي الْفَقْرِ وَالْغِنَى To lead a life that is more towards the middle. Leading a life of moderation. Not being too extravagant of course and not being stingy either. فِي الْفَقْرِ وَالْغِنَى Regardless of your financial situation, if you are poor, obviously we understand that. But you know what, not necessarily. Some people, they say that, "I'm poor that's why I'm going to become stingy." We're being told that whether you're poor or rich, don't become stingy and don't become extravagant.

And at times a person says, that remaining within your own means and not overspending and not being extravagant is for someone who doesn't have much. "But I have so much. I have so much. So what about me?" Well, same thing. That when it comes to overspending, the prohibition is not only for people who are trying to manage their finances and they're having a difficult time. For someone who Allah opened up a lot of resources for him or her, that same rule applies. The Prophet is saying, Allah is ordering me to lead a life of moderation regardless of my financial condition, whether I'm leading a life of, whether Allah has blessed me with a lot of wealth or less.

Fourth Command: Maintaining Ties with Those Who Cut Us Off

Number four, وَأَنْ أَصِلَ مَنْ قَطَعَنِي And to engage in those relationships and to tie in the kinship with those who are trying to break off their ties with me. Anyone who tries, our relatives, who try to sever their ties with us, we make a move. Not that, well, tit for tat. Instead, especially since this relative did not invite me, especially since I feel that this relative is upset at me, especially since they look the other way, I'm going to make an extra effort to engage this person even more than others.

At a party, at an event, while everyone else is there greeting, I'm going to spend extra few minutes on this person. I'm going to give a larger gift to that person when I attend their gathering. Because that's something that needs to be worked upon. That person is trying to cut themselves away from me and our job is صِلْ مَنْ قَطَعَكَ - That whoever is trying to cut their ties with you, try to join their ties.

Fifth Command: Giving to Those Who Deprive Us

Number five, وَأُعْطِي مَنْ حَرَمَنِي And for me, Allah has ordered me to give those who have deprived me. When I ask them, they said, "No, we don't have for you." The Prophet says, "Give to them. Allah has ordered me to give to them." So what about the one who gives us all the time? Obviously we have to give. But if we are being ordered to give to those who deprived us, who said, "We don't have for you. We have for the world, but we don't have for you. We had yesterday, we'll have tomorrow, but weird, we just don't have it today. When you came to ask." Those are the people the Messenger of Allah is saying, that Allah has ordered me to give to, as well.

Sixth Command: Forgiving Those Who Wrong Us

Number six, وَأَعْفُو عَنْ مَنْ ظَلَمَنِي And to forgive the one who has oppressed me. Make it a habit, he's saying that the one who is, oppression is very general. Oppression by words, oppression by something else. The easiest is the words.

Nine Divine Commands to the Prophet ﷺ

If someone has said something, you hear about someone saying something, let's make a habit, before we go to bed, that Ya Allah whoever has backbited me, whoever has said something hurtful about me, privately, publicly, I forgive them for your sake. And Ya Allah so you forgive me, for the sins I have brought to you. This is something that we can make, a dua to Allah.

Seventh Command: Silent Contemplation

And He's ordered for me to remain, when I'm silent, my silence should be used for a time for me to ponder. When we're silent, we're not simply wasting our time. Our silence is powerful. We're using our silence to ponder, on many things, the power and the qudra of Allah, the relationship of Allah with me, my relationship with Allah, the condition of the ummah, Muslim, non-Muslim, of their iman, of their health, of their needs, both physical and spiritual.

Utilize the time that we are silent, you're in a bus, you're in a car, you're a passenger, you're sitting in bed, trying to fall asleep. Use this time also for ibadah. And that is fikr, thinking, thinking about something greater than ourselves. Thinking about how we can become a means of serving humanity.

Eighth Command: Speech as Remembrance

And He's ordered me that when I do speak, my speech should be a source of remembrance of Allah. Either I myself saying, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ and salawat ala nabi ﷺ. Or I'm saying such things, that when people listen to them, they are reminded of Allah, they're reminded of the hereafter, they're reminded of the ghayb and the unseen. So my speech is also a remembrance and a zikr.

Ninth Command: Seeing with Purpose

Goes back to how we started off today's talk. وَالنَّظَرُ عِبْرَةً is allow my seeing of things, and visualizing of things, and looking at things, a source of learning a lesson. Every time I'm looking, I'm using that as a case study to learn something from it. We don't simply look at things for the sake of looking at it. When you look at it, look at it with the intention, how can I take benefit from this? How can I take some lessons back?

Summary of the Nine Commands

So these are beautiful nine things the Prophet ﷺ said that Allah has ordered him to do.

Number one, is to see Allah in seclusion, privacy and in public. Number two, to speak the truth, speak statements of justice, stand by justice in moments of anger as well as happiness. Number three, وَالْقَصْدُ فِي الْفَقْرِ وَالْغِنَى to lead a life of moderation, whether we are leading a life of poverty, of richness and wealth.

Number four, وَأَنْ أَصِلَ مَنْ قَطَعَنِي to build ties of kinship with those who are trying to cut their ties of kinship with us. وَأُعْطِيَ مَنْ حَرَمَنِي to grant and give and bestow those who chose to deprive me. وَأَعْفُوَ عَمَّنْ ظَلَمَنِي to forgive those who have oppressed me.

And the last three things, وَيَكُونَ الصَّمْتُ فِكْرًا that make my silence a moment of contemplation and concern. وَنُطْقِي ذِكْرًا and make my speech a means of remembrance of Allah. وَنَظَرِي عِبْرَةً and make my view and seeing of things a means of learning a lesson.

Lessons from the Cold Weather

All the scenes that I see allow me to take back lessons from that, including the weather of this past week. As we looked at the forecast again and again multiple times a day, let that be an ibrah, as we said, that our heart should go out for those who have no means of protecting themselves from this cold, not only in the city but throughout the world. And understand how blessed and lucky we are that we have a warm home, a warm car, a warm masjid.

Ask those people who have traveled, including myself, for small amount of times, traveled in places where the masjid was not like this. The masjid was as cold as it was outside. And the wudu, you have to wait 45 minutes, half an hour, if you have the ability to do so, to just bring the water, it was like slush, icy slush, to do wudu. I mean, you can imagine, subhanAllah, doing istinja and going to the bathroom, how painful, painful, painful it would be for a person to use a restroom at that time.

These are times when you travel in the Muslim world. I've seen that in Jordan, I've seen that in Palestine, I've seen that in Syria, all these three countries I had an opportunity to visit during the winter time. And it was just unbelievable how cold in the masjid is like outside, as bundled up as you are. But still fajr is packed, normal people are attending salah, people are making long duas.

You can't tell that subhanAllah, you know the frenzy that we're into, what's gonna happen, so freezing cold. There's people living like this everyday. And they don't have anything that we have. It's not like we just need to get home. Home is freezing. I so vividly remember how I spent those nights at people's houses and with students of knowledge when I was visiting. And I'm thinking, Ya Allah, how did these guys handle this stuff? It was some of the most challenging nights I've spent.

Because it was so difficult to fall asleep, so cold, subhanAllah. And all the local kids, brothers were giving me whatever they had because they knew I couldn't handle the cold. And I'm wondering how are they gonna sleep? But frankly when you're in that condition, it's nafsi, nafsi. It's like, Ya Allah, I just need to protect myself, I can't handle that. This is just too cold.

Taking Lessons and Gratitude

So this is ibrah. Let's take a lesson from that. Thank Allah Azza wa Jal for the warmth and for all the comfort that we have. The masjid being so beautiful and comfortable for us. Let us utilize that. Let us reconnect with Allah.

And then number two, think about the zamharir of Jahannam as well. One of the means of punishing people for those who are headed towards hellfire. May Allah protect us all. Say ameen. But this means of also punishment in the hellfire is bitter cold.

We ask Allah to allow us to embody these beautiful teachings of Rasulullah ﷺ, these nine things that he shared with us. We ask Allah to make us embody those as well. Please stand up and perform our sunnah salah.