Being Grateful For Health, Safety, And Sustenance While Helping Others

Jumu'ah Khutbah — Mufti Saad Haque

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى الْمَبْعُوثِ رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا مَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ. أَمَّا بَعْد.

My dear brothers and sisters, friends and elders, alhamdulillah, it's a great blessing of Allah Ta'ala that alhamdulillah, thumma alhamdulillah, Allah has gathered us once again for this Jumu'ah.

Allah has allowed us to not only witness the beginning of this Gregorian year, but also alhamdulillah, near the end of this Gregorian year as well, alhamdulillah. There are many others that joined us, that are with us this year, but they are not here with us to witness the end of the year. And there's no guarantee that you or I will witness the end of the year as well.

And so alhamdulillah, we're extremely grateful to Allah Ta'ala that Allah Ta'ala has given us health, and Allah Ta'ala has given us life to witness this end of the year.

The Three Core Blessings

In one hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ summarizes the core blessings that you and I, we have. He says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2346)

He says that those who wake up in the morning, healthy in relation to their body, safe in their homes, and they have one day worth of food — for that person, فَكَأَنَّمَا حِيزَتْ لَهُ الدُّنْيَا — it's as if the entire dunya has been presented before this individual. Meaning you have all of the opportunities of the world if you have these three blessings. You're healthy, you're safe, and you have one day worth of food.

Alhamdulillah, all of us sitting here, we have these blessings. Alhamdulillah, we are healthy. Yes, health differs from person to person. You may say one person is healthier than the other. But the fact is that us being here proves that we are healthy enough. Alhamdulillah. There are many others who despite wanting to come to the masjid, they're unable to be here. So for that, we're grateful, alhamdulillah.

Then we are safe, alhamdulillah. We're able to come to the masjid very freely, we're able to go home, we're able to go to our workplaces without fear of anything, alhamdulillah. So this is also a great blessing of Allah Ta'ala. Having this freedom of religion, it's a blessing of Allah Ta'ala. And we must be grateful to Allah Ta'ala for this, first and foremost.

And then we have one day worth of food. Alhamdulillah, you and I, we have many days worth of food. Not just one day worth of food, we have weeks, and possibly months worth of food, alhamdulillah. As I say that, it's not about if we'll eat the next meal, it's where we'll have the next meal. Either we'll have it at this restaurant, or that restaurant, or we'll have it at home. Despite having food at home, we'll go outside. So we have many options, alhamdulillah. It's a blessing of Allah Ta'ala.

Recognizing Our Privilege

And thereafter, we must recognize that there are many others globally that don't share the same blessings that you and I, we have. We look around — our brothers and sisters in different parts of the globe. Remember, our Muslims, our brothers and sisters, are not just those that are related to us by blood. Rasulullah ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 481; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2585)

He says that the believer to the believer is like a building — they must support one another. You and I, we must support our brothers and sisters. When we see our brothers and sisters suffering in different parts of the globe, it must affect us. When we see our children scraping food off of the ground, that should affect us. How can it be that my brothers and sisters — my children — are starving in different parts of the globe, and I'm not concerned? I'm not worried? I'm not even thinking about them? That's not possible.

See, the fact is that Muslims, we are not selfish people. We cannot be selfish people. Part of our deen is zakat. Part of our deen is that if Allah has blessed you with some money, some wealth, beyond your basic necessities, you must help others. This is the obligation of the deen.

I'll give you a simple example. Alhamdulillah, we're very blessed in many different ways — living in this city, in this society, in this country. You know, I say this very often: the only time when you realize how blessed you truly are is when you travel outside of this country. Many of us, either we're immigrants or we're children of immigrants. And when we go back to our countries, we see the difference in our lives and other people's lives.

And this was not a coincidence. It didn't just happen — that you got a ticket, or you were able to go, or you got a really good job in America. This was the design of Allah Ta'ala. Allah Ta'ala brought us here. Not because of my intelligence, not because of who I am, but because the planning of Allah Ta'ala was such. Because Allah wants goodness for us. I've spoken to many people and many of my musallis, they say the same thing: I became closer to Islam after moving to America. From a Muslim country, I moved to America, and I came closer to Islam. Which is amazing.

So alhamdulillah, all of us, we must realize how privileged we truly are. I'll give you an example. I studied in South Africa for some period of my life. And while I was studying there, one of the institutions I was studying in, we did not have access to hot water. So there was no hot water. You wake up — I mean it's cold outside, I was standing outside for the past half an hour, mashallah, it's kind of cold — but imagine, the South African winters are brutal, really really cold. And so when you wake up for Fajr, you have to make wudhu with freezing cold water.

Us, we come alhamdulillah, we have hot water, we have air conditioning, we have heat, and so on. There, you're freezing. You make wudhu with freezing cold water, and then walk to the masjid, alhamdulillah. So it was a beautiful experience, don't get me wrong. And if you had to take ghusl, it was more difficult. What we would do is boil hot water, mix it with the freezing cold water, and take bucket showers. We didn't have the faucets either. And so this was a portion of my life, a period of my life, that's how I lived it.

And then we came back, alhamdulillah. Some of you are smiling — maybe at some point in your life you did it too, maybe a long time ago. But now you turn on the faucet, and automatically you expect hot water to come. And if hot water is not coming within a few seconds, you're like, what's going on? And so we don't even think about hot water as a blessing. We don't think about heat as a blessing. We don't think about all of these things. But the fact is that there are many others globally — billions of others globally — for whom that is their normal life. They don't have access to hot water. They don't have access to heat, and so on.

So we must realize that we're privileged, we're blessed. And then, once we realize that we're blessed, we must recognize that we must look after others. If Allah Ta'ala has given us blessing, we look after others. And this is the beauty of the deen — that Allah Ta'ala commands us to give zakat, Allah commands us to take care of others, and then He rewards us for taking care of them. It's the beauty of the deen. He tells you, you must give your zakat — but then Allah will reward you for giving your zakat. It's amazing.

The Promise: Help Others and Allah Will Help You

And so therefore, we look out for others, we take care of others, and the promise of the Prophet ﷺ is that Allah Ta'ala will take care of us. We find in the hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ says:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2699)

Allah Ta'ala alleviates the problems of others — Allah Ta'ala will alleviate your problems of the akhira. So you help someone. نَفَّسَ — it comes from the word like breathing, or from your soul. Imagine you're able to help someone breathe — because when someone is constricted, someone is experiencing difficulty, if you're able to help them breathe, Allah will help you breathe comfortably in the akhira.

And then he says: the one who makes someone's life easy in this world, Allah will make your life easy in this world and in the next world. The one who conceals the faults of others, Allah will conceal your faults in this world and in the akhira.

And lastly — this is my favorite part of this hadith — Rasulullah ﷺ says: وَاللَّهُ فِي عَوْنِ الْعَبْدِ مَا كَانَ الْعَبْدُ فِي عَوْنِ أَخِيهِ — Allah will continue to help you so long as you help one another. This is the guarantee of the Prophet ﷺ. So long as you help one another, Allah will take care of you. Allah will help you. You help someone with their groceries, for example, and Allah will help you, some way or the other.

Sadaqah Does Not Decrease Wealth

You know the famous hadith — Rasulullah ﷺ says:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2029; also referenced in Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2588)

The wealth of a person does not decrease when they give sadaqah. So you and I, we look at it and we're thinking — how is that possible? Because I see my bank account coming down, how is it possible that wealth does not decrease? Actually, in that hadith, the Prophet ﷺ begins by saying: ثَلَاثٌ أُقْسِمُ عَلَيْهِنَّ — he says three things, I swear by those three things. And one of them is that wealth does not decrease when you give sadaqah.

So the scholars, they explain — because if the Prophet ﷺ is saying it, it must be true — how is it true that wealth does not decrease when you give sadaqah? The scholars explain in two ways. One is that Allah Ta'ala gives you that money back. Allah gives you that money back.

So for example, someone donates here. I'll give you an example from my community. Once, one of our community members — we were collecting some money for one sister, she had breast cancer. So we were collecting some money for her. And as we were raising funds, I thought I'd send a message on WhatsApp. I was not very optimistic, but I thought I'd send the message, maybe someone will make dua for her. So I sent the message, and subhanAllah, to my amazement, one of the brothers responded — this was on a group — he responded privately, the same minute I sent the message. He was probably on WhatsApp. He sent a private message saying he wanted to donate a thousand dollars. I was very happy, I made dua for him and moved on. Later on, when he gave me the money, he said, "You remember that day when I said I would help out that sister?" I said yes, I remember. He said, "That same day, Allah Ta'ala gave me ten times that amount in my business. That same exact day."

So when the Prophet ﷺ says that wealth does not decrease when you donate, this is the guarantee. Now, at the same time, you and I, we can't donate with that intention — you can't donate thinking, I'll donate now, and by the time I get home, I should see that money back in my account. Doesn't work like that. You donate with sincerity, and Allah will take care of you.

The second way the scholars explain is that Allah divinely protects you from problems. So for example, let's say someone here was supposed to leave and get into a car accident — may Allah protect and save all of us, ameen. But that person, what they did is they donated, they gave some sadaqah. What happens is Allah Ta'ala divinely protects that person from those problems. Now that person doesn't know it, but Allah is divinely protecting them — like a force field, like a bubble. Allah is protecting that person.

So again, coming back to the realization: if we take care of others, Allah will take care of us. We find many examples of this.

Our Brothers and Sisters Around the World

And we find that there are many others globally that need our help. Nationwide, definitely, people need our help. Locally, people need our help. Globally, people need our help. But the fact is that typically many people globally don't have access to help from the government, for example, or help from others. So typically, if someone starves, they do starve. There are many people who are starving, and who are dying due to lack of clothing, and food, and shelter, and so on. And this is the truth.

And so you and I, when we look at our brothers and sisters in Gaza, in Sudan, in Yemen, in Syria, in other parts of the globe — when we see our brothers and sisters, when we see our children suffering, when we see them dying because of lack of food, when we see them scraping food off of the ground, flour off of the ground — this should affect us. This should genuinely affect us. How can it be that I'm living my life normally, everything is remaining the same, yet there are people in different parts of the globe who don't know where their next meal will come from? How can it be that I live my life normally without any concern for others?

That cannot be. As Muslims, we must be concerned for others. We are not selfish people. Muslims cannot be selfish people. We are not people that just think of myself, my car, my house, my 401k, my children — and that's it, no one else. That cannot be. Muslims are people who are considerate of others. We must be cognizant of others. If I see someone else suffering, I must be the first one to help.

There's a hadith — Rasulullah ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2444)

You must help your brother, whether he is a zalim or mazloom — whether he is the oppressor or the oppressed. So the Sahaba, they said, "Ya Rasulullah, we understand if someone is oppressed, we know how to help them. But how can we help the oppressor?" So Rasulullah ﷺ said that you help the oppressor by stopping the zulm, by stopping the oppression. That's how you help the oppressor.

The Special Status of Orphans

Now, my dear brothers and sisters, there are many people globally that need our help, and yes, we may not be able to help everyone. But the fact is, you and I, we can do something to help change at least one person's life. And if each one of us thinks like that — that I will change one person's life — then that will be another few hundred people's lives that we've changed.

So who should you help? In one hadith, Rasulullah ﷺ says:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3678)

"O Allah, I hand over the case of these two vulnerable parties — women and orphans." Typically, especially in our day and age — and throughout history — orphans have been the most neglected. And that's why Rasulullah ﷺ emphasized taking care of orphans so much. Because most of us, we grew up with parental supervision. We grew up with the love, and the nurture, and the care of our parents. So many of us cannot even imagine how life would be without parental support. But Rasulullah ﷺ understood. He knew.

We know that the Prophet ﷺ's father passed away before he was born. So the Prophet ﷺ was born as an orphan. And that's why he emphasized taking care of orphans so much. And he incentivizes it. He says:

"I and the caretaker of the orphan will be like this in Jannah." — and he indicated with his two fingers. Can you imagine? This is his actual guarantee. If you take care of an orphan, you'll be with him in Jannah.

Ibn Battal, a commentator of hadith — a commentator of Bukhari — he says, under the commentary of this hadith:

He says: it is a right upon every single mu'min who hears this hadith that they must practice upon it. Because if you want to be with Rasulullah ﷺ in Jannah — which I assume all of us do — then you must do whatever he is commanding us. You must take care of the orphans.

An Announcement: Human Appeal — Sponsoring Orphans

And so therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, as a quick announcement — there's a beautiful organization called Human Appeal, mashallah, taking care of more than 50,000 orphans globally, in many countries: in Gaza, in Sudan, in the West Bank of Palestine, in Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, and so many different countries, mashallah. More than 50,000 orphans, alhamdulillah, Human Appeal is taking care of.

And what's amazing is that for just one meal's worth of money — essentially for $60 a month — you can take care of an orphan for the entire month. For their shelter, their food, whatever they need. And especially those orphans in Gaza and Palestine — typically, relatives, extended family, sometimes the mother may be alive. In Islam, we know that if the father passes away, then that child is classified as an orphan. And so sometimes the mother is alive and takes the responsibility of helping. And other times, in Gaza — and I don't know if you're aware of this — on average, more than 50 children have been killed every single day in the past two years. On average, more than 50 children killed in Gaza, every single day. So there are cases where the orphan is killed — drone strikes, whatever may be. And we are forced to contact the donor and say, "Your orphan has been killed. Would you like to replace that orphan with another orphan?" But this is the fact of life.

And so therefore, you and I, we must do whatever we can. We can't just watch these videos — and sometimes it's very difficult to even watch those videos, extremely difficult. So we do whatever we can to help and assist our brothers and sisters, our children in different parts of the globe. If you can, consider sponsoring at least one orphan. Many of us, alhamdulillah, have the capability to sponsor at least 10 orphans, mashallah. If Allah has blessed you, consider sponsoring a few orphans.

It's only $60 a month for at least 12 months — you must sponsor an orphan and take on the responsibility for at least one year. So sponsor an orphan for $60 a month, or $720 for the entire year. And that, for many of us, is not a large amount. Many of us go on vacation — you go for one or two days anywhere in the US, you'll spend hundreds of dollars. Imagine — that's the amount to sponsor one orphan for the entire year.

So if you can, my dear respected brothers and sisters, my humble request would be to consider sponsoring at least one orphan. If you can, sponsor more.

The Example of Uwais al-Qarni

I'll conclude on this. Uwais al-Qarni. He was a tabi'i — meaning he did not see the Prophet ﷺ. Yet Rasulullah ﷺ spoke about Uwais. He said to Umar ibn al-Khattab: if you see Uwais, ask him to make dua for you. Which is amazing.

So who was this Uwais? He was, mashallah, very kind and dutiful to his mother. But another thing the scholars note regarding him:

Uwais al-Qarni, at the end of every single day, he would give away everything that was in his house — all the extra food, all the extra clothing. And then he would make dua:

"O Allah, those who died due to starvation — don't hold me accountable. And those who died due to lack of clothing — don't hold me accountable."

Now, the fact is, you and I, we cannot make that dua — this is a fact, we cannot make that dua. But at the very least, we do whatever we can to help our orphans globally. In whichever part of the world you like, consider sponsoring at least some orphans, and you'll see a big change in your life. One of my musallis — I'll conclude — he said that he was going through a lot of problems. And he said, "I swear, the only thing I can think of that is actually helping me, and that actually saved me from those problems, is because I was taking care of some orphans."

May Allah Ta'ala allow us to be a means of change. May Allah Ta'ala allow us to help change at least one orphan's life. Jazakumullah khairan.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.

Announcements

Time for sunnah, inshallah. Please pass the donation boxes from left to right. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah. The Prophet ﷺ said that charity given on the day of Jumu'ah is more rewarded than any other day.

Additionally, the Tahfim Week and adult classes are going to be starting in January, inshallah. We have multiple options — online classes, in-person classes, and also classes for females only, led by female-only scholars. Classes will be held on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. till 1:15 p.m. The Saturday class will cover the Fiqh of Purification, Islamic Etiquette, and Aqidah Part 2. On Sunday: Fiqh of Salah Part 2 and Seerah of the Meccan Period. For more information, visit masjiddeas.org/tahfim.

And finally, please make dua for all the Muslims suffering in Gaza and all other parts of the world.

Du'a

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ. فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ، وَاشْكُرُوهُ عَلَى نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ، وَلَا تَكْفُرُوا. اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ.