Juma'h Khutbah: Nader Elmarhoumi

Opening Praise and Testimony

Praise be to Allah. He is the One, the One. He is the Ever-Lasting, the Ever-Lasting.

He is the Creator of the human being in the womb. He is the One who fulfills His promise. He is the One who can do everything, and no one can do it. We praise Him, Blessed and Exalted be He, as He has praised Himself.

And we return to Him in the light of His noble countenance, from the evil that has occurred. And we ask Him for guidance, success, and support. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah — the One, the Ever-Lasting.

Amm ba'd.

Praise and thanks to Allah. We praise Him, we thank Him. And we seek His help, aid, and guidance. And we seek refuge in Him from the evils of our own souls, and from the evils of the bad deeds that we do, and we commit each and every single day.

Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray. And whoever He, glorified and most high be He, leads astray, none can guide. We bear witness and testify that there is no god except Allah — that there is no deity worthy to be worshipped except Allah. He is the one and only, the eternal, the absolute. He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none that is comparable to Him.

And we bear witness and testify that Muhammad is His slave and final messenger. Peace and blessings be upon him. Peace and blessings be upon the prophets and messengers before him. Peace and blessings be upon his household, his family, his companions. And peace and blessings be upon those of us who follow his righteous sunnah, his teachings and tradition, till the last day. Ameen.

The Verse of Taqwa and Truthful Speech

I proceed, my dear respected brothers and sisters. Allah says in the Holy Quran, in Surah Al-Ahzab, the chapter of the confederates:

Ya ayyuha alladhina amanu — it's an exclusive call. Not the generic mainstream call of يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ — Ya ayyuhan nas, O people. And I always say, whatever comes after Ya ayyuha alladhina amanu, O you who believe, is a recipe that only works for the believers. It doesn't work for anybody else.

Ya ayyuha alladhina amanu — yes, O Lord. Ittaqu Allah — have taqwa with respect to Allah. Shield yourselves from His wrath and punishment. Fear Him. So many different definitions for taqwa, past and contemporary.

I personally like that of Sayyiduna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him — the cousin of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and the fourth rightly guided caliph of Islam. He used to say:

(Attributed to Sayyiduna Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him)

He used to say, taqwa is al-khawfu minal jaleel — the fear of the most majestic Allah. Wal-amalu bil-tanzeel — and to act upon what Allah descended upon His Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him — that is al-kitab, the book of Allah, and his teachings and tradition, peace and blessings be upon him. Wal-ridha bil-qaleel — and to be satisfied with what is little, whether health or wealth. Wal-isti'adadu li-yawmin raheel — and to be always ready and prepared for the day when you will depart from this world.

Ya ayyuha alladhina amanu ittaqu Allaha wa qulu qawlan sadida — not only have taqwa with respect to Allah, but also, wa qulu qawlan sadida — and say the truth. Be straightforward. Be forthright. Do not beat around the bush, as they say.

And the result of the combination of the taqwa of Allah and being forthright — al-qawlan sadida — results in some really good results. And that is, yuslih lakum a'malakum — number one, Allah will rectify our a'mal, our deeds, and make it salih, make it good, make it pleasing to Him. Wa yaghfir lakum dhunubakum — and He will forgive our sins, our shortcomings, because we're nothing but human, and we make mistakes all the time. And then Allah ends the ayah with, wa man yuti'illaha wa rasulahu faqad faza fawzan azima — and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger — no one can say, "I will only follow the Qur'an." No one can say, "Give me an ayah in the Qur'an that tells me if this is haram or halal or not." Wa man yuti'illaha wa rasulahu faqad faza fawzan azima — then that person indeed has achieved the greatest achievement ever, has won the greatest prize ever, and that is jannah, paradise.

I ask Allah to admit us into paradise, into jannah, in the highest rank, in al-firdaws al-a'la, with Prophet Muhammad, alayhi salatu wa salam, the righteous and the martyrs. Ameen.

The Story of Mu'adh ibn Jabal

My dear respected brothers and sisters, the topic of this very khutbah — and I'll try to make it as short as possible — is of great importance.

There was a young man, a kid, in the city of Yathrib — and that was the old name of the city before the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, migrated to it; then it became al-Madinah. And that kid — I'll not reveal his name, maybe at the end of the khutbah — was a genius in his own right: very intelligent, very bright, very smart, black eyes, curly hair, impressed whoever he met.

And he accepted Islam at the hands of Sayyiduna Mus'ab ibn Umair, who was the ambassador or the emissary of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, before the migration, before the hijrah, to Yathrib. He accepted Islam at his hands. And then about a year or so before the migration of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, from Mecca to Madinah, he journeyed with about 70 people from Yathrib — we can call them Yathribites.

And they were not journeying from Yathrib to Mecca for a road trip. And it wasn't to meet family and friends. And it wasn't to go shopping — people fly by airplanes to go shopping at malls; we have the Galleria here, and we have various hotels around it for that purpose. They did not journey for any of these reasons.

They journeyed for one reason: to meet with the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, in the outskirts of Mecca in a valley called Mina — we all know where Mina is if you went to Hajj before, and if you didn't, I pray that you will go soon — and just to do one thing: to pledge allegiance to the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam. That was it. To give bay'ah to the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam. And that is to support and defend this deen, this message and the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, at any cost. That was it.

And they had some women also with them that journeyed at that time. And for those who talk about women's rights in Islam and all that jazz — women in this country got their right to vote in 1920; it was ratified by Congress in 1920, if you don't believe me, look it up. They got their right for bay'ah, to pledge allegiance, which is much more than a simple vote. As the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, says in the hadith about bay'ah: you give the fruit of your heart to the person that you're giving bay'ah to — pledge of allegiance. They had the right to pledge allegiance one year before the hijrah of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, from Mecca to Medina. That is 1439 years ago.

This young man that we're talking about — after the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, migrated to Medina — imagine what he did, being bright and smart and knowing what is most important: he stayed in the company of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, like glue, as they say. He was with him all the time. Learning Quran, learning hadith, learning fiqh, jurisprudence, halal and haram. He became one of the most well-versed among the companions of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, in fiqh, in halal and haram, at that very young age. Older companions of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, used to refer to him for legal judgments at that very young age.

And the reason why he did that — you see, if I told you the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, is coming to Valley Ranch, hypothetically, what would you do? Take him to lunch? Show him around? Take him to the lake? What would you do? And this kid knew exactly what he would do: he would stay in his company and learn and get that education from the best teacher ever to walk on the planet.

To the point that the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, said about him in the sound hadith:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 154; also recorded by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad)

"The most knowledgeable of my ummah in matters of halal and haram" — and I'm about to reveal his name — "is Mu'adh ibn Jabal."

He died in the Sham area during the reign, or the caliphate, of Sayyiduna Umar, at about 33 years old. So at that time, you can imagine, he was a teenager when the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, said that about him. He understood that khayrul huda huda Muhammad, alayhi salatu wa salam — that the best and only guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, alayhi salatu wa salam.

The Distinction of the Pioneers

Those pioneers, my dear respected brothers and sisters, among the companions of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam — the reason why they have that distinction from even the rest of the companions of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, is because they chose to lift this deen up on their shoulders when Muslims were not established, when Muslims were not empowered, when things were not nice and dandy.

Allah says about them in the Quran:

Allah is talking to the companions of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, in this ayah: "You are not the same." La yastawi minkum — you're not the same. Man anfaqa min qabli al-fathi wa qatal — whoever spent and fought before the establishment, before the fath. And the fath here in this ayah is not fath Makkah — it is sulh al-Hudaybiyah, it is the Treaty of Hudaybiyah.

So Allah is saying to the companions of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam: La yastawi minkum — you're not the same. Man anfaqa min qabli al-fathi wa qatal — whoever spent and fought before the establishment, before the empowerment. Ula'ika a'adham darajatan mina alladhina anfaqu min ba'di wa qatalu — those are of greater ranks and greater levels than those who spent and fought afterwards, after the establishment, after the empowerment, after things became nice and dandy. And then Allah says, wa kullan wa'adallahu al-husna — both categories, Allah promised al-husna — that is jannah, yes. But the rank is different. The level is different.

When the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, said about Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him — no one has that but Abu Bakr, no one, until the Day of Judgment. When the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam, said about Sayyiduna Umar — "If there was a Prophet to come after me, it would be Umar" — no one has that but Umar. And it wasn't because they prayed all the time, or they fasted all the time, or they memorized the whole Quran — not necessarily. It was because of something that they had in their hearts, and a choice that they made.

This kid that we're talking about, Mu'adh ibn Jabal — he's the most knowledgeable of this ummah, of this entire ummah, and he will be on the Day of Judgment, as mentioned in the hadith, the leader, the imam of all scholars. No one has that but Mu'adh ibn Jabal, until the Day of Judgment, because of a choice that he made.

Allah's Promise of Victory

Dear respected brothers and sisters, if we can please move forward a little bit to allow for those who are coming, inshallah.

Allah says in the Quran:

Allah wrote — meaning decided — "Me and my messengers will prevail. Me and my messengers will win. Me and my messengers will be victorious." And if I tell you the amount of emphasis in this ayah, for those who like Arabic and the Arabic language, you'll be amazed.

Kataba Allahu — past tense. And past tense in Arabic can mean something that happened in the past, or something that will happen in the future, but it's so guaranteed to happen. When Allah starts Surah An-Nahl, the Chapter of the Bees, with:

"The command of Allah came, so do not rush to get it." Matter of fact, the command of Allah did not come yet — but it's so guaranteed to come. This is a form of emphasis.

La-aghlibanna ana wa rusuli — the extra lam at the beginning, and the extra nun at the end, are forms of emphasis. The tying of His name in the word ana, and His messengers, is a form of emphasis, because Allah does not lose. And whoever challenges Allah loses.

When really Allah could have said asa — asa means "maybe." And asa in the Qur'an — the scholars say if it comes from Allah, it is guaranteed. If I say asa, if I say "I may show up tonight, I may not show up," it means it's a 50-50 chance — I may, I may not. But when Allah says "maybe," asa, it is guaranteed.

But dear respected brothers and sisters, those companions of the Prophet, and that kid, Sayyiduna Mu'adh ibn Jabal, may Allah be pleased with them all — the pioneers amongst them — believed in that. That was part of what was in their hearts. And that's why they made these choices.

The Importance of Education

And I was talking about that young man, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, for one reason — because of education, a good education. Ta'leem. You know, they say the more ignorant you are, the more arrogant you become — we have a lot of those running high positions in this country right now. The more knowledgeable and educated you are, the more humble you become. Good education means a lot.

Now I come to you today on behalf of an organization that tries to do that. We realize that we are not going to prepare the school of the Prophet, alayhi salatu wa salam — we cannot do that. Mu'adh ibn Jabal studied in that school; he became the most well-versed because he made a choice. We cannot make that school — we suffer no illusions.

But Syria Relief and Development (SRD), that I'm speaking on its behalf today, believes that relief by itself doesn't work — it's not sustainable. So we need sustainable development in the form of education. So they acquired a campus.