Glorifying Allah and Overcoming the Soul's Desires

Khutbah al-Ula — First Sermon

All praise is due to Allah, the creator of existence from non-existence, and the maker of light from darkness, and the bringer of patience from pain. We thank Him for the calamities as we thank Him for the blessings. And we send salutations and peace upon His noble Messenger, with the honor of the Asham and the light of the Atam, and the perfection of the Prophets and the perfect Book — the Master of the Children of Adam, who was given glad tidings by Jesus the son of Mary, and he prayed for the mission of Ibrahim peace be upon him, when he was raising the foundations of the Sacred House of Allah. And Allah blessed all the people with it, Arabs and non-Arabs. Glory be to Allah who did not take a son, and He did not have a partner in the kingdom, and He did not have a guardian from humiliation — and glorify Him greatly.

Then Allah says in His Book, after we seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan:

I swear by the Day of Resurrection, and I swear by the self-reproaching soul.

And he said, peace be upon him:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2616; also recorded in Mishkat al-Masabih)

"Shall I not inform you of a deed that will keep you away from the Fire and will enter you into Paradise? You worship Allah, you do not associate anything with Him, and you perform the prescribed prayer, and you perform the obligatory zakat" — or as he said, peace be upon him.

The Glorification of Allah

Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters, we start off with the glorification of Allah:

O Allah that the eyes cannot see, and the thoughts cannot fathom — He knows the weight of the weightiest mountains and the depths of the deepest oceans.

Say, O Muhammad ﷺ: "If you were to turn the waters of the oceans into ink, and all the trees of the world into pens, and they start off with writing the glorification of Allah — the ocean waters will finish, the ink will diminish, and the trees and the pens will finish before the glorification of Allah can finish." This is the greatness of Allah.

Understanding the Nafs

Respected brothers and sisters, each one of us we come into this world with having our nafs intact, and our nafs attached to us. As Allah mentioned in the Qur'an — this was the statement of Yusuf alayhi salam:

When he said that he cannot set his nafs aside — verily the nafs is to blame for many of the things that occur in the life of the son of Adam.

And then Allah mentioned:

This is another type of nafs which is attached to the human being.

When we notice the life that we live in, and specifically the environment — when the human being is encouraged to pursue his desires. When you look at it: life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. So we go off pursuing whatever makes us happy, and the lesson that we're taught from a very young age is that you pursue the things which make you happy so that you can be happy in this worldly life, regardless of the ethics of the thing that we're going to commit — whether it's halal or it's haram, whether it causes the pleasure of Allah or whether it adheres to the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. No, we have cast all of those things aside and we blindly follow our desires. And a lot of this has to do with the attachment of the nafs.

The Role of Shaytan

Yes, Allah has deputed Shaytan. Shaytan is something that exists, and from the very beginning he happened to be from amongst those who were very close in the court of Allah — so much so that he used to frequent the gatherings of the angels. And he was also a follower of his desires. When Allah ordered everyone to prostrate before Adam alayhi salam, everyone went down in prostration except for Iblis, who remained standing, saying: "I am better than him." This was also coming from the aspect of nafs itself.

Verily there is the existence of Shaytan — there is no doubt whatsoever. And the pact that Shaytan made — and this is the answer of Allah to him — when he said that he shall take each and every single one of them to the fire of hell, that he shall misguide them, Allah said that He shall fill the fire of hell, the void of the fire of hell will be filled with the followers of Shaytan himself.

Why Do We Still Sin During Ramadan?

There are many things which cause or drive us towards the aspect of sinning or even the aspect of pursuing our desires. The number one factor happens to be Shaytan. And a question which is frequently asked — and most of you are familiar with it — is: we know that during the month of Ramadan the shayatin are imprisoned and they are taken away, and yet many people complain of still being attracted towards sins. And that is the aspect of the nafs which is attached to us.

The nafs is such a thing which grows stronger with each and every single practice. If you were to define nafs — it's something that exists inside the body of the human being. Many people think that nafs is the essence of the insan himself, and some people go on to say that it's the soul itself, which is incorrect — which we are unable to comprehend in this worldly life. Just like the aspect of the soul itself — no one has ever been able to define the soul. Even in the Qur'an it has been mentioned:

It is the command of your Lord, and your knowledge is but limited — you don't have the knowledge to comprehend the essence of the soul. Similarly, the nafs itself — what exactly is it? Yes, it does exist within the body of the son of Adam, and it pushes him towards the aspect of sinning, but what is its mahiya — its reality — that is unknown.

The Types of Nafs

1. Nafs al-Lawwama — The Self-Reproaching Soul

When it comes to the nafs itself, there are many types of nufus. Number one being the nafs al-lawwama, and the nafs al-lawwama is the aspect that comes in when we have sinned. Many a times we notice that when a sin is committed, we feel guilty afterwards. And this also happens to be a positive factor, because there are many people who commit sin after sin and it has no effect whatsoever upon them — and for them it's just like, as mentioned in the mafhum of the hadith, it's just like a fly which you swatted away. It doesn't make a difference whatsoever. And this type of condition comes when the heart is completely blackened and devoid of all types of khayr. May Allah protect all of us.

So the nafs al-lawwama happens to be a positive aspect — that when the sin is committed, the person feels guilty. There's lawm, there's rebuke from inside yourself, there's a war which happens within the son of Adam, and eventually, hopefully, it leads you towards positivity, where you come out with the firm conviction that the sin will never be repeated. And that also happens to be one of the criteria for the acceptance of tawbah laid down by Allah — that when a sin is committed, one of the criteria for its acceptance is remorse. And the other being that the path which led you down that sin should also be abstained from.

2. Nafs al-Ammara — The Soul That Commands Evil

And then the second type of nafs happens to be the nafs al-ammara bi al-su'. And that's what was mentioned in the Qur'an:

This is the type of nafs which we cultivate within ourselves, and this is the nafs which gathers strength during months of sinning. And this is why the frequently asked question during the month of Ramadan is: "Why am I still attracted towards sin?" — because all year round we have been investing in this nafs, and it has been growing stronger and stronger, so much so that it gains complete strength over your mind. And even though now Shaytan has been detached from the body, this nafs had been growing stronger and stronger, and that's why it controls you and takes you into the disobedience of Allah.

How to Gain Control Over the Nafs

So how do we gain control over this aspect of nafs? It is by engaging in a'mal al-saliha and a'mal al-hasana. There is a hadith in Mishkat al-Masabih — the hadith that was narrated in the beginning of the khutbah — in which Rasulullah ﷺ is having a conversation with Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with him. It is a lengthy hadith, but at the end of it Rasulullah ﷺ mentions that fasting serves as a shield.

The muhaddithun have mentioned in the sharh of the hadith that you can liken it to an aspect inside the body of the son of Adam which grows stronger and stronger with the aspect of sinning, but the way to diminish it and weaken it is to engage in obedience to Allah through the aspect of the fast.

Now, why has fasting been highlighted here? Because when you're fasting, you're gaining control over your body. You're restricting the things which otherwise are considered halal — you're restricting yourself from eating halal food, from drinking halal drinks, and you're restricting yourself from looking at haram and indulging in haram. So you are somewhat gaining control over yourself. And when you gain control over yourself and you try to restrict yourself for the sake of Allah in the late hours of the night, that completely diminishes the fire of the nafs.

The Analogy of Water

Many of the salaf al-salihin have likened the nafs to smoke in a fire — if you were to blow on it, the fire is further kindled. And that's what happens to us: the more we blow over the smoke of our nafs, the further it is kindled. And the more we suppress it for the sake of Allah.

Imam al-Shafi'i rahimahullah mentions: "I have noticed that when the water is stagnant — when it's not moving — even if we use it to attain purification, what happens to that stagnant water? It goes bad." He says: "If it continues flowing, it is clean, it is free of all contaminants. But if it stops, if it becomes stagnant, then it becomes impure and you cannot attain tahara through that water."

So we notice that we are more likely and more prone to have our nafs gaining an upper hand over us if we are not invested in gaining nearness to Allah through the things which make us closer to Him. Some of the things we just mentioned: the aspect of standing up in qiyam al-layl, extensive nawafil, sawm, giving out sadaqah for the sake of Allah, and engaging in all other aspects of ibadah which make us closer to Allah — and gaining an upper hand over your nafs.

And the last aspect of it: giving sadaqah for the sake of Allah.

And I say this first and foremost for myself, and then for anyone else. May Allah give us the tawfiq to control our nafs and to suppress the carnal desires of our nafs. I say this and I ask Allah for forgiveness for you and for the rest of the Muslims. So ask His forgiveness — indeed He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

Khutbah al-Thaniya — Second Sermon

All praise is due to Allah alone, and peace be upon those after whom there is no prophet. O people, indeed Allah the Exalted has commanded you with a great matter — He began with Himself and ended with His angels glorifying Him. And He said:

Indeed Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and send peace in abundance.

O Allah, we ask You for the best of what Your servant and Your Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked You for, and we seek refuge in You from the evil of what Your servant and Your Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sought refuge from. And You are the One who is sought, and upon You is the conveyance. And there is no power nor strength except with Allah.

O Allah, guide us and make us a means for those who are guided. O Allah, we seek refuge in You from the displeasure and from the Fire.

O servants of Allah, may Allah have mercy on you — fear Allah. Indeed Allah commands justice and goodness and giving to relatives, and forbids immorality and evil and transgression. He warns you that you may remember.

O you who believe! When the call is made for prayer on the day of Jumu'ah, then hasten to the remembrance of Allah and leave all business. That is best for you, if you only knew. And when the prayer is concluded, then disperse in the land and seek from the bounty of Allah and remember Allah much, that you may succeed.

O you who believe! Do not let your wealth distract you, nor your children, from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that — it is they who are the losers. And spend from what We have provided you before death comes to any of you and he says: "O my Lord! Why did You not delay me for a near term so that I may give charity and be of the righteous?" And Allah does not delay a soul when its term comes, and Allah is Aware of what you do.