Allah’s Blueprint for Giving Da’wah | Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan

يقول الله عز وجل في كتابه الكريم بعد أن أقول أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم:

Understanding Surah Al-Muddathir

In today's khutbah we'd like to contemplate only two small ayat of Surah Al-Muddathir and those ayat are towards the end of the ayat that I recited وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ. But in order to understand them we have to get some introduction to what's happening in the beginning of this surah because these are ayat number four and five and there are three ayats before and it's a continuous conversation and so just like in any speech, if you take the middle of the speech you won't understand the purpose until you connect it to the beginning of the speech, there's a continuity.

The Meaning of "Al-Muddathir"

To start that off very briefly, the word دَثَرَ in Arabic is used in covering something. So when the sword gets covered with rust because it was out in the rain they say دَثَرَ السَّيْفُ - the sword got covered with rust. When a tree, they describe a tree, they say دَثَرَ الشَّجَرُ or دَثَرَتِ الشَّجَرَةُ when a tree is covered with leaves, you don't even see any branches anymore. Then that covering is called دَثَرٌ also.

When a house is covered in dust, the Arabs used to have sand storms. So the whole house is covered in sand, you can barely see any roof anymore. This is دَثْرُ الْبَيْتِ. From this word we get a description of the Prophet ﷺ يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّثِّرُ. That same word is used to describe the Prophet ﷺ.

This word was used normally when someone went out in Arabia. They went out in the desert, they're covered in clothes. But because of the sand and the wind and the weather they are covered in dust, they're covered in dirt. They're covered in the weather, they're covered in sweat. And then they come home and they have to detox, they have to clean up.

So this word is very loaded. It's describing not just the Prophet ﷺ covered up in a blanket - because دِثَارٌ is also a blanket. It's also describing that when the Prophet ﷺ goes out to perform his mission, that he is just like when you go out and you see extreme weather.

The Weather of Da'wah

In the work of da'wah, in the work of standing up for the message of Islam, you experience extreme weather. You experience the dirty language of people. You experience the way they look at you, the way they push you away, the way they resist you. You're constantly met with different kinds of negativity.

Just like when you go out in the desert, the sun never becomes calm. It's constantly hitting you. Or the sandstorm is constantly hitting you. The Prophet ﷺ has to perform this mission, but he's constantly being hit. And he's covered, he's completely covered in these attacks.

So the word دَثَرَ isn't just about him being covered. It's also he's actually being told you're going to be constantly covered in attacks. And just like the weather and the dust and the sand, it affects you. It takes a toll on you. The same way it's going to take a toll on the Prophet ﷺ.

Now what happens if there's too much wind, too much rain, too much snow, too much sand, and somebody runs inside? Because I don't want to be out in the sun, it's too extreme. Rasulullah ﷺ is told, قُمْ فَأَنذِرْ - go stand up and warn. Do the opposite. The weather is really bad. Normally when you say the weather is really bad, it means go inside. The Prophet ﷺ is being told, the weather is really bad, go outside.

Go stand up and warn, get up and warn. You have to face this. You have to experience even more of it. And why should you do this?

Declare the greatness of your Rabb, only your Rabb. My Rabb is too great for me to stay at home, be afraid of the weather. I have to go face the outside.

The Separation of Message from Personality

And when he goes outside, even though this is a very heavy ayah by itself, just a few things about that: Sometimes you're speaking to someone who's making fun of Islam. Rasulullah ﷺ is speaking to someone who's calling him insane, calling him a liar, calling him a poet, etc.

When you and I have a disagreement, it's easy that I will become upset. You'll become upset. And when you become upset, you start getting a little angry. And then your voice changes. And because now you're not just debating ideas now, you are clashing personalities. The clash of ideas is something else. The clash of personalities is something else.

When you start clashing personalities, I need to feel victorious. I need to raise my voice or I need to give you an argument that will shut you up. It will put you in your place. And then I will feel bigger. Your argument made me feel smaller. Now I have to win the argument. And then I will feel bigger.

Rasulullah ﷺ is told: You have the most powerful argument that ever existed. You have the Qur'an. And you will always win the argument. No matter how much they try to attack you, their attack is just like dust. You can wash it off. There's nothing. It won't make you bleed. And their attacks, they have no real attack that can penetrate your defenses. But you have the word of Allah.

So you will always win. But that victory should never become a victory of your personal self, your nafs. It will always be to make the greatness of Allah happen. وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ. This is not about you, this is about your Rabb. Separate your personality from the message, from the message.

You know sometimes you imagine there's a debate happening between a Muslim and an atheist. For example, there's a debate happening and there's a huge crowd of Muslims. And the atheist speaks and everybody's booing him. And then the Muslim speaks and gives a counter argument. Everybody says, تَكْبِيرُ اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ. And the speaker smiles. For that one second, this was not about Allah. This was about his victory. That's not okay. This is وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ.

Purifying Your Clothes

Now, after teaching the Prophet all of this, then Allah says he says to Rasulullah ﷺ:

Keep purifying your clothes. Keep purifying your clothes. Obviously the image was when you go outside and you get hit with the dirt and the dust and things get dirty and you come and you have to purify your clothes. But now we know the ayah is saying a lot more than just purify your clothes. This is actually imagery to describe a concept.

And the concept is: Every time you engage in this work, you will meet two kinds of people. When the Prophet does da'wah, you will meet two kinds of people. One kind of people will oppose him. The other kind of people will agree with him.

And every time someone opposes you, it affects you. And every time someone agrees with you, it also affects you. It affects you, right?

So I'm here giving a khutbah. You're listening to me. You're agreeing with me. You might come and say salam to me. I'm a human being, it will affect me. One of you gets up and starts yelling at me, starts throwing, you know, finds a shoe out there and starts throwing it at me. It will affect me. I'm a human being. The good will affect me and the bad will affect me.

But this da'wah - this da'wah is not public speaking. This da'wah is not a social exercise. This da'wah is an act of ibadah. It's an act of ibadah. And in ibadah, you have to make wudu. And you have to stand in front of Allah. And if there's a million people praying behind you or nobody's praying behind you, it doesn't affect your salah. Because it's only for Allah. Because you purified yourself only for Allah. You purified yourself from thinking about people.

Even in the work of da'wah, the Prophet ﷺ is being told: Once you come from the outside and you're dealing with people all this time, you have to make sure you undo the effect of your opposition and you undo the effect of your followers. You're not doing this for your followers and you're not doing this against your opposition. You're only doing this for Allah.

Keep purifying yourself. Keep purifying your clothes. Your clothes will keep getting the effect of the people and you'll keep washing the effect of the people off. وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ.

It's so incredible that the Prophet ﷺ is being given a lesson that he doesn't even need. We're the ones who need it. But the Prophet ﷺ is being given this lesson so we learn that even if Allah is telling him that the Prophet can be affected and he has to purify his clothes, he has to let go of the effect of people, and I and you and everyone else has to let go of the effect of people. We have to cleanse ourselves. We have to think about ourselves. This is what وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ.

Abandoning the Heavy Burdens

But then the ayah that I really want to focus on today with you and take some time to explain:

رُجْزٌ in Arabic - رَجَزَتِ النَّاقَةُ - they used to have a camel that is sitting for a long time. And when you sit for a long time, sometimes your muscles go to sleep. And so when the camel is trying to get up, it's not able to get up. Its muscles are locked up and it takes two, three times before it can actually stand up. This was called نَاقَةٌ رَجْزٌ. Meaning its legs felt heavy. It couldn't move and finally it was able to move.

This is the same word that's used for example قِدْرٌ رَجْزٌ or رُجْزٌ when you have a suitcase or a bag or a container, but it's too heavy. You try to lift it, you can barely lift it. Then its extreme heaviness is called رُجْزٌ.

So this word has to do with heavy weight. It has to do with what a doctor might call muscle atrophy. Your muscle stops working properly. You're not able to move or you're not able to walk. This is how it's used.

And this is also used when for example they used to have these things they put on top of the camel - the howdahs they put on top of the camel for the king or the queen or the princess to ride inside. But sometimes it would break and it's falling on one side. So they would hang rocks on the other side so it gets balanced with a heavy weight.

So this word always has to do with heavy weight. And the Prophet ﷺ is being told: In the previous ayah he was told purify your clothes, let go of the influence, keep cleansing yourself, which will come back to it. Now he's being told that the heavy burdens, the heavy burdens that come, you have to keep letting them go. You have to keep letting them go.

The Weight of Past Hurt

You know, you remember I remember many years ago someone I used to think he was my friend. He said something very cruel to me. It deeply hurt me. Every time I see him, what do I remember? What he said 5 years ago. What he said 7 years ago. He didn't say it after that. He even said he's sorry. Everything changed. But the burden of those words is still there. It's still there. I can't forget.

The Prophet ﷺ is going to go do da'wah. Abu Jahl will make fun of him. Abu Lahab will make fun of him. Abu Sufyan will curse him. All these things are going to happen in front of him. When he comes the next day and he sees them, he will remember yesterday. You're human. You will remember what you said yesterday. It hurts still.

If you remember what they said, if I remember what you said yesterday, will that affect my behavior towards you today? Yes. Will I be as kind with you today? Or am I as motivated to speak to you? Or am I trying to get away from you or keep a little bit of distance from you? Because I know you're dangerous. Your tongue is very sharp. You're not a safe person to be around. I can't trust you. I have to move away from you.

But Allah is telling the Prophet ﷺ: Just because these people were cruel with you yesterday and that put a burden on you, you cannot carry that burden today and go back and do da'wah. You will not be able to do it. You will have too much baggage. Literally, too much baggage. You won't be able to do it.

You have to keep letting the burden go. You have to let the impurity go. You have to let the burden go and speak to them as if this is the first time you're speaking to them. Give da'wah like it's the first time. This is an extremely high standard Allah set for Rasulullah ﷺ that he has to deliver this message in a way that truly it is only and only for Allah.

A Practical Example

I'll give you a comparison. You're standing in salah, in jama'ah. Maghrib began. You joined the imam and you had a legal problem with somebody and they took you to court. You took them to court. You're fighting in court for five years. And then you realize the person next to you in salah is the guy that took you to court. But salah already started.

Now the rest of the salah, I don't know if you're doing سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيمِ or you're trying to stretch your elbows out a little extra, get some revenge. But actually you are in salah. Which means if your best friend is next to you or your worst enemy is next to you makes no difference because you're here for Allah. And none of that - the court we'll deal with court when salah is done. But in salah you're my brother. I'm standing next to you shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot. And you're gonna say to him in the court you say I hope you burn in Jahannam etc. No, no, no. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.

Your personality had to disappear. Your baggage had to be let go because you're in salah. You can't carry it over. This was the expectation from Rasulullah ﷺ when he was delivering his message.

Allah's Blueprint for Da'wah

The ayat aren't just about the purity of our clothes when we make salah and when we make wudu and when we stand in front of Allah. This is about what it means purely to do da'wah. Purely. How you have to not be influenced by the praise of people or the attacks of people. How you have to let go of past experiences.

This is actually this one place in the Qur'an - if somebody says I want to do da'wah, I want to call people to Allah, I want to call my family to Allah, I want to call my friends to Allah, I want to start a YouTube channel where I do da'wah etc - my advice to them is study the opening of Surah Al-Muddathir. The Prophet was just starting his mission ﷺ and everything he needed to prepare himself as a da'i, as a da'i, is in Surah Al-Muddathir starting with قُمْ فَأَنذِرْ وَرَبَّكَ فَكَبِّرْ وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ. And it keeps going. It actually keeps going.

The Effect on Your Enemies

So in these two statements وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ, I'll leave you with one more reflection. There are so many more lessons in these few ayat, but we have to be selective in the khutbah. So I'll give you one more lesson here.

When you're wearing pure clothes, when you wear clean clothes, you know what that means? Imagine you came - you saw me yesterday. I came in from outside. Clothes were dirty because of the weather. And then you saw me the next day but my clothes were clean. My clothes were clean. It means that I washed up. I recharged. I refreshed myself and then I came back.

If I go out with the same dirty clothes, then you say, man, he still hasn't changed from yesterday. He was very impacted by yesterday and he is still in the same situation.

Somebody comes to the Prophet ﷺ and attacks him and insults him and humiliates him, which is a kind of dirtying his clothes. The Prophet ﷺ cleans his clothes, comes fresh again. And the one who was attacking him gets frustrated. I thought I made him dirty. I thought I attacked him. Why is he clean again? Why is he acting... why is he looking like nothing happened? Why is he looking his best?

The worst thing you can do to your enemies is not show them that you were impacted by them. That's the worst thing you can do. They hate it.

وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ. They'll keep throwing mud on you. You keep washing it off and going back. They'll start thinking, my attacks have no effect. I called him مَجْنُونٌ. It didn't work. Then I called him سَاحِرٌ. It didn't work. I told him كَذَّابٌ. It didn't work. I called him شَاعِرٌ. It didn't work. What do I do now?

He keeps washing it off. He keeps staying clean. SubhanAllah. This actually shows you the way we have to carry ourselves. The way I have to carry - if I'm a da'ee, if I'm following the sunnah of my messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, then just because somebody threw dirt at me, I do not throw dirt back or show that I'm dirty. I actually clean myself up and act like I'm not impacted.

I have to develop the strength of that personality, that composure, that I'm not reacting. I'm not yelling and screaming.

The Power of Composure

Anybody from a distance will see someone wearing dirty clothes and someone wearing clean clothes. Yes or no? You can see from a distance. Clean clothes, dirty clothes. The same way when someone is carrying themselves with maturity and somebody else is yelling and screaming and raising their voice, even if you're 50 feet away you're seeing it from a distance. You can see which one is acting like an animal and which one is acting like a human being.

So even if you didn't see, you didn't hear the da'wah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, but you saw all these people yelling and throwing rocks and screaming, and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is composed and speaking calmly, you're from a distance you'll say, man, what is this man saying? He's so calm and everybody else is shaken up. He must have something very powerful to say and these guys are losing their minds. I wanna hear what he has to say.

The fact that he can keep his clothes pure, keep his composure, not be impacted by the outside, actually makes the da'wah even more powerful. وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ.

Letting Go of Burdens to Move Forward

And that's why وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ. The attacks will come. The burden will come. You will say - and again this is the last reflection of the next ayah, the fifth ayah وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ.

When you have a lot of burdens, if I'm walking right now I can walk at a certain speed. If I have a bag, slow me down 1%. If I have a very heavy bag, slow me down 20, 30, 40%. If I have an extremely heavy bag, it might slow me down when I'm barely walking because the heavier the burden, the less I can move. Yes.

So Rasulullah ﷺ is being told: If you carry the burdens of the pain that has been caused to you, you will not be able to move. You need to let go of these burdens because you have an important mission. Don't live in the past. Don't live in what happened before.

Look at everything they did to him. They did to him, to his family, for so many years. Wars. Expelling him from his home. Wars. Killing his loved ones. And then he's standing in front of them at Fath Makkah and he lets all of those burdens go and says that لَا تَثْرِيبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ. There's no harm on you today. He could do that. He lived وَالرُّجْزَ فَاهْجُرْ.

We cannot move forward in life if we don't let go of the burdens of the past. We can't. And especially if we're looking to serve the beautiful, powerful message of this deen, we cannot do so without internalizing this wisdom that Allah Azza wa Jalla has given us.