The Mercy Of Allah - Navaid Aziz

The Mercy of Allah

كُلُّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلُّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلُّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ، ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ.

Brothers and sisters, Allah created us as individuals who naturally reflect. But it is with great sadness that I say that us as human beings, we are a weak creation. And the objectives that Allah created us for, we often do not fulfill. So when Allah created us as a creation that reflects, we often reflect upon: how can I increase my status in this dunya? How can I increase my wealth in this dunya? How can I have a loftier position in this dunya? While all these things are permissible to reflect upon, these reflections should not take one away from reflecting upon those things that Allah commanded us to reflect upon.

Allah says in Surah Al-Hashr:

That indeed Allah has sent forth these parables so that indeed mankind may reflect.

Now the parables that Allah has sent down are many. Allah has revealed various stories and various lessons in the Qur'an that we may reflect upon. But a reflection that I want to recollect today is not a parable or a story that Allah has narrated in the Qur'an — but rather it is an attribute of Allah.

The Attribute of Rahmah — Mercy

In our history as Muslims, 1400 years and over, the salah has been the very same from beginning to end. Every musalli, every person that prays, starts his salah the exact same way. He does the takbeerat al-ihram and then he says:

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent and the Most Merciful. And likewise, 17 times a day, we will recite a surah that begins with بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. And then in the very third ayah of that surah, Allah says:

Now this attribute of Allah of rahmah is something so great and so magnificent that He began every single surah of the Qur'an with this remembrance — بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. It is so great that Allah named a surah after it. He said:

That He is Allah, the Most Beneficent, the one who taught you the Qur'an.

So this is a reflection that we need to recollect today, brothers and sisters. Allah says in the Qur'an:

That indeed, My mercy has encompassed all things.

And if we take a moment and reflect upon this, you will see that this is very, very true. The very eyes that you may see me with today are a mercy from Allah. The very ears that you hear me with are a mercy from Allah. But these are just basic things that we see, yet we do not appreciate.

Then there are more complex things. Think about the system that we breathe with. Each and every moment, we take several breaths. It is something that occurs naturally. We don't have to think about it. We don't have to make a conscious effort. Allah created our systems in such a way that they need to breathe and they naturally do it. And likewise, the blood that pumps through our veins — is it something that we have to do consciously? It is not. Allah through His infinite mercy created our systems in such a way.

And likewise, the feelings that we feel — the emotions. When we get happy, it is from the mercy of Allah. When we are sad, it is from the mercy of Allah. How is sadness a mercy? You would not appreciate your happiness if you did not have sadness at the other end. Allah created all of these things out of His mercy. And again, at the end of the day, it is mankind who is neglectful of these mercies and does not thank Allah for them.

Recognizing the Blessings Around Us

Having been in the city of Birmingham for only a few days, Allah has blessed each and every one of you with so many blessings that I wish I had in my city of Montreal. From those blessings, how many of us will take these into account? Being in Birmingham, Salatul Fajr kicks in at 6:50 and ends at 8:30. That means you can pray Qiyamul Layl from Salatul Isha up until 6:50 in the morning. If you were to sleep straight after Isha, from 7:30 or 8 o'clock up until Fajr time, you would have 10 hours of sleep. None of us needs 10 hours of sleep. Go to sleep early, wake up early, and Allah granted you that ability and that opportunity to pray to Him in the middle of the night, to raise your hands and ask Him of whatever you wish. Allah gave you this ample opportunity.

Likewise, one of the salahs that Muslims struggle the most with is Salatul Fajr. There are communities where Salatul Fajr used to start at 1 o'clock at times — imagine that. Over here, Salatul Fajr finishes at 8:30 or 8:20. You have no excuse to miss Salatul Fajr because most of you are up for work already, getting ready to go. What excuse do you have? This again is from the mercy of Allah that He facilitated Salatul Fajr for you.

And likewise, this very masjid that calls to the aqeedah of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah and calls the people to that which is good and is correct, and likewise facilitates activities for Muslims and non-Muslims, and likewise for new Muslims and facilitates activities in terms of sports for the brothers and the sisters, and for the youth as well. And likewise, you have regular halaqas in this masjid. And Allah facilitated for you speakers the likes of Abu Usama and Ahsan Hanif. These are from the mercies of Allah. How many Muslims across the United Kingdom and across the world wish that they had such speakers and such influences in their societies? Yet again, how many of you are thankful of this mercy of Allah?

The Words of Umar ibn Abdul Aziz

Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, rahimahullah ta'ala — he is often referred to as the fifth of the khulafa' al-rashideen, the rightly guided khalifahs — he used to say: "Indeed, I may not be deserving of Your mercy, O Allah. But Your mercy has encompassed everything. And I am a thing, so let Your mercy encompass me."

The salaf, radiyAllahu ta'ala anhum wa rahimahum, they recognized the greatness of the mercy of Allah. And it was something they regularly and constantly desired. And Allah still tested them with various things. And that is what made them stronger through their tests.

In our times, the Muslims have every luxury that they could possibly desire — from wealth, to cars, to houses, to good jobs. Allah has granted them comfort. And it is with great sadness that through all these mercies, instead of being thankful and using them for Allah's sake, we have used these mercies to get spun into the spider's web — and to become dissolved into this dunya where we only are concerned about our worldly lives. And this is what distinguished the salaf from us: that they were constantly remembering and seeking the mercy of Allah. Not for their own benefit in this life, but for their benefit in the akhira.

Bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, in the second part of the khutbah, I will discuss how this mercy of Allah should affect us and what we are to do with this.

The Second Khutbah: Acting Upon the Mercy of Allah

Talking about the mercies of Allah — the greatest of mercies that Allah has bestowed upon us is the very reason that we are collected here today. That which unites us. That which makes us stronger than blood, brothers and sisters. That which will take us to paradise. That which is the cause of tranquility and peace. That which is the cause of us entering Jannah and being away from the hellfire. The biggest mercy of all is Al-Islam. Allah has blessed you with Islam and that is what has caused you to be here today.

How many individuals are there out in the world today who do not know what their purpose in life is? They beat themselves day and night to find some recourse in their lives, to find tranquility, to find meaning to their lives. Yet Allah through His infinite mercy has blessed you with those answers already. This is from the greatest mercies and blessings of Allah.

How Merciful Is Allah? The Parable of the Mother

So now if you recognize this and you recognize the other great mercies that Allah has bestowed upon you — how are we supposed to act and react with the mercies of Allah?

Firstly, Allah is the Most Merciful. We know this and there is no doubt in it. But how merciful is Allah? Often as individuals it helps if there is a story or if there is an example to help us understand things. And this is through the wisdom of Allah that a lot of lessons are taught to us through stories and parables.

One of these parables comparing the mercy of Allah is a beautiful parable related by Umar radiyAllahu ta'ala anhu in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim: that one day the companions were with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and there was a woman who had lost her child. So she would go from child to child looking for it. And as soon as she would find a child she would put it against her chest and hold it tightly. And then she would realize that this is not her child and she would leave it. And she did this several times until she finally found her child. And then she held her child, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said something to his companions:

He said: "Do you think this woman would ever throw her child into the hellfire?" The companions radiyAllahu ta'ala anhum responded:

They said: "No, by Allah, she would never do so, ya Rasulullah." Then the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said these beautiful and noble words:

That indeed Allah is more compassionate and more merciful with His slaves than this woman with her child. This is the mercy of Allah. Allah does not want to send any one of us to the hellfire. He wants good for us at all times. But we as individuals need to seek that good as well.

The First Way: Making Tawbah

So one of the ways of seeking this good and seeking this mercy of Allah is through making tawbah. Making tawbah to Allah is an exact correlation with the mercy of Allah — that through the mercy of Allah we seek His forgiveness. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2499; Ibn Majah, Hadith 4251)

That indeed all of the children of Adam are sinners. Each and every one of us commits sins — from the small of them to the big of them. Yet the best of the sinners are those who make tawbah to Allah.

And Allah through His messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam has conveyed an important message to us: that indeed through the day Allah puts out His hand to forgive the sinners of the night, and indeed in the night Allah puts out His hand to forgive the sinners of the day. Allah wants to forgive us and is willing to forgive us — and we just have to seek His forgiveness.

Often as human beings we are weak-minded and have weak resolve, so we think that we have committed too much sin for Allah to forgive us. We think that we have been too disobedient that Allah is unable to forgive us. Hasha lillah — and Allah is above and beyond this.

Brothers and sisters, regardless of which sin you may have committed — whether it may have been shirk, whether you have killed, whether you have stolen, whether you have partaken in riba — Allah will forgive all sins as long as you seek repentance from Him. Allah says in Surah Az-Zumar:

"O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves — do not despair of the mercy of Allah. For indeed Allah forgives all sins."

So with our busy lives, brothers and sisters, take a moment to reflect upon the sins that we have committed. Take a moment to reflect on what you want your state in the akhira to be. Do you want to be of those people who receive their books in the right hand and are entered into paradise? Or do you want to be of those individuals who are destined for the hellfire — and we seek refuge in Allah for that. And it is only logical that we all want to be from the blessed of paradise. So make tawbah to Allah, reflect over your sins, and never despair of the mercy of Allah.

And keeping everything in perspective — knowing the mercy of Allah and how infinite it is — one should not take advantage of the mercy of Allah and take it for granted. Yes, indeed Allah is the Most Merciful and the Most Compassionate. But when you know something is wrong, do not persist in it. And when you have been warned against something which is evil, stay away from it. As this was the message of Allah and His messenger — that they told the slaves of Allah to always be between hope and mercy. And this is what Allah portrays in two noble ayahs when He says:

"Inform My slaves that indeed I am the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful, yet My punishment at the same time is the severest of punishments." So everything has to be taken into perspective.

The Second Way: Showing Mercy to Others

Now the second way in which the mercy of Allah should affect us is a way that the sharia of Allah explains better than I can, or anyone else can. Allah's messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam has said:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4941; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1924)

"Have mercy upon those individuals and those people upon the earth, and Allah, the one who is in the heavens, will have mercy upon you." And the messenger sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5997; Sahih Muslim, Book 30, Hadith 62)

"The one who does not have mercy will not be shown any mercy." So there is a principle established in the sharia — that the way you want to be treated by Allah is the way you should treat His creation. This is clear from these two hadith.

But there is another hadith where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 35, Hadith 6518)

"Indeed Allah is in the aid of His slave as long as His slave is in the aid of his brother." So every time we seek something from Allah, see how you fit into that attribute with the rest of mankind. You want to seek the mercy of Allah, you want to seek the blessings of Allah — yet how merciful are you to others?

In our societies we are taught that this period of time — the ending of December — is the season to be jolly and the season to be merciful. Yet as Muslims we are taught to be merciful at all times. Those who want to seek the mercy of Allah need to show mercy to others.

During this conference there are several brothers who are staying in the masjid. How many brothers have offered them food? How many brothers have offered them a place to stay? How many brothers have asked if there are any needs of theirs that need to be resolved? This is just one example. Likewise, your neighbors — how many of you have approached your neighbors and asked them if there is any way you could help them or benefit them? How many of you have been merciful to your neighbors?

Now this is just the outside. Start with your own household first. A lot of the brothers have wives — how many of the brothers actually wake up in the morning seeing if they can take care of anything for their wives before they head off to work? How many of us have parents that we still live with? How many of us take care of their needs before our own?

Brothers and sisters, we are all demanding the mercy of Allah and we are all seeking it. But know that Allah has two mercies: a general mercy which He gives to anyone and everyone, and another mercy that He will give to the believers — and especially those who are merciful to others.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Allah's mercy is great. It is something we are in need of at all times. We cannot survive without it. And it is something which we need to reflect upon so that we may thank Allah for the blessings that He has bestowed upon us, and we may seek His forgiveness for the sins that we have committed, and for the amount of times we are unthankful towards Him. For indeed Allah has been compassionate and He has been merciful to us and He will continue to do so.

Now it is our responsibility as the slaves of Allah — as the slaves of our Rahman — to try to pay back that favor by thanking Him and seeking His forgiveness.

Allah has sent a noble commandment in the Qur'an:

Indeed Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, send blessings upon him and send peace upon him.

O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You have sent blessings upon Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. Indeed You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious. And bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You have blessed Ibrahim and the family of Ibrahim. Indeed You are the Praiseworthy, the Glorious.

O Allah, forgive us — our living and our dying, our witness and our absent, our young and our old, our male and our female. O Allah, whomever among us You give life, give him life upon Islam, and whomever among us You cause to die, cause him to die upon faith.

O Allah, we seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your wrath, and in Your protection from Your punishment, and in You from Yourself. We do not encompass all praise of You — You are as You have praised Yourself.

And peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his companions. And establish the prayer. Al-Fatiha.