Sweetness of Iman - Semir Said

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

The Problem: We Don't Feel the Sweetness of Iman

We don't find the sweetness in the Iman that we have in our hearts. We find that it is a burden upon us. Certain acts of worship become difficult for us to perform. The fact is that in Ramadan we were hungry, and outside Ramadan we were not — some of us, this is the only difference.

Our Salah is just a set of movements. There is no substance. Our heart is not connected to the Salah. It is our body that does the movements, but our hearts are somewhere else. We don't find the pleasure in the Salah, as opposed to how it should be.

The Prophet ﷺ — what was his attitude towards the Salah? He used to say to Bilal: "O Bilal, give us peace and harmony through it — through the Salah." Whereas for many of us, it's: "Relieve me from it. Let's just do it. Get it out of the way." A tick-box exercise. We start, and we can't wait until we finish. We don't find the pleasure in the Salah the way that our Salaf found the pleasure in the Salah.

The Example of the Companions

Now why is this the case? Why is it that the Salaf, the companions of Rasulullah ﷺ, could do things that we can't even imagine — even though they are just human beings like me and you?

What is the difference? Why was Umar able to donate half his wealth? How could Abu Bakr come to Rasulullah ﷺ and donate all his wealth — everything that he owned? And what was his reply when Rasulullah ﷺ asked him, "What have you left?" He said: "I have left for my family Allah and His Prophet."

How is this the case? How could companions like Abu Dahdah donate his whole wealth — and for what? For one palm tree in paradise. For one palm tree in paradise, Abu Dahdah gave away all his wealth. And he was very well known in Medina, one of the richest people in Medina.

The Example of Bilal ibn Rabah

Listen to Bilal ibn Rabah. We all know who Bilal was, and we've all heard of the various types of torture that he went through. But narrations mention that later on, the companions came to Bilal and asked him: "O Bilal, how could you have patience through all this torture that you were facing?"

And listen to his answer. He said: "I mixed the pain of the torture that I was feeling with the sweetness of Iman that I had in my heart. I mixed them both — and the sweetness of Iman that I had in my heart was greater. So I didn't feel the pain anymore."

This is what we are talking about, my brothers and sisters. This is what we are talking about — the sweetness of Iman.

The Jannah of This World — Ibn Taymiyyah's Profound Statement

Ibn al-Qayyim mentions that his Sheikh, Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, said a very profound statement:

He says: "In the dunya, there is a jannah — a paradise. Whoever does not enter that paradise, will not enter the paradise in the hereafter." Whoever does not enter the jannah in this dunya, will not enter the jannah in paradise. So this is a very serious thing.

What is this paradise that we are talking about? What is this jannah that Ibn Taymiyyah is talking about? It is this belief — this Iman, the sweetness of Iman in the heart, and the certainty and the yaqeen with Allah.

The Three Conditions for Tasting the Sweetness of Iman

The Prophet ﷺ has also mentioned in a hadith collected by Imam al-Bukhari:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 16; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 43)

"Three things — whoever has these three things, he will feel and taste the sweetness of Iman."

Number One: That Allah and His Prophet are more beloved to him than anything else.

Number Two: That as brothers and sisters in Islam, we love one another for the sake of Allah alone and for nothing else — no worldly matters or any benefits — purely for the sake of Allah.

Number Three: That he hates to return to kufr, jahiliyyah, and shirk as much as he hates to be thrown into fire.

These are the three conditions that we need to fulfill if we want to reach this level — if we want to taste this sweetness of belief and the Iman that we have in our hearts.

This is the difference between us and the Salaf. They managed to reach this level. They knew what this was all about. They were tasting the sweetness of the Iman that they had in their hearts. Their hearts were filled with this sweetness — so much so that their bodies complied. Their bodies reacted to this. Their Iman had such sweetness that whatever happened to their bodies did not matter. They wouldn't feel it.

Ibn Taymiyyah, رحمه الله تعالى, used to say: "What can my enemies do to me? My paradise, my jannah, is in my chest. Wherever I go, it's with me."

This is what we're looking for — that it doesn't matter what happens to the body, as long as he has the sweetness of his Iman.

How to Reach This Level: Practical Steps

Step One: Mujahadt al-Nafs — Striving Against the Ego

The first step is mujahadat al-nafs — to strive and to struggle against your nafs. To constantly strive and struggle against the nafs, because the nafs is أَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ — it inclines towards evil. So by constantly struggling and striving against this nafs, we can insha'Allah reach this level.

By that, I mean to constantly try to be in acts of worship, wherever we are. Now that does not mean we are constantly in Salah — because the acts of worship vary. There is dhikr, there is du'a, and many various different things that we can do. But if we make sure that we are constantly in the worship of Allah, and constantly make sure that we are away from sins and places of sin as much as we can, that will insha'Allah help us in reaching this level.

Step Two: Steadfastness in Salah and Increasing in Nawafil

The second step is being steadfast with regards to the Salah — holding firm onto the Salah and increasing in the voluntary prayers, in nawafil.

And I will give you another very profound hadith, my brothers and sisters. It is collected in Sahih al-Bukhari. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah said — so this is a hadith Qudsi:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6502)

Allah says: "Whoever makes an enemy of my friend — a wali of Allah — then I promise him a war." Allah will go to war against this person.

And then Allah in this hadith describes what one can do in order to reach this level of wilayah. He says: "There is nothing more beloved to me that my servant can do in order to get closer to me than the obligatory acts of worship." That is the first thing — being steadfast and firm with regards to obligatory acts of worship.

And then He says: "And my servant will continue to draw nearer to me with the voluntary acts of worship until I love him." Until Allah loves you, my brothers and sisters.

Now it doesn't stop there. It carries on. "And if I was to love this servant of mine," Allah says, "I will be the hearing that he hears with, and his sight that he sees with, and the hand that he grasps with, and the feet that he walks with."

Now this, of course — and والعياذ بالله — does not mean in a literal way that Allah becomes the eyesight and so on. No. But it is to show us that whatever this person will be looking at will only be things that Allah loves. And he will not be able to see things that Allah does not love. And he will not be able to hear things that Allah does not like. He will only be able to hear things that Allah loves. And the same goes with the hand and the feet.

And again it does not stop there. At the end, Allah says: "And if he was to ask from me, I shall give him — with no hesitation. And if he was to seek refuge with me, I will protect him." This is a promise from Allah.

Now it goes back to show — at the beginning of the hadith, what did Allah mention? He mentioned the Awliya' of Allah. See the connection between the beginning and the end. If we were to reach this level and become the Awliya' of Allah, this is what Allah gives us: "If he was to ask me, I will give him. And if he was to seek refuge with me, I will protect him." This is the promise from Allah.

We ask Allah to give us the ability to gain the sweetness of Iman in our hearts. And we ask Him to allow us to become one of His Awliya'.

Where to Find Allah's Nur — The Importance of the Masjid

My dear brothers and sisters, before I end this khutbah, I would like to mention one more thing. Allah has mentioned in the Qur'an, in Surah an-Nur, a very famous ayah that many of us have heard many times — where He describes His Nur, this light. But after this ayah, Allah mentions another ayah, and many of us tend to focus only on the first one. I want you to pay attention to what follows.

Allah first says:

"Light upon light. And Allah guides towards His light whomever He wants. And He gives examples to the people. And Allah is all-knowing."

Now, what does Allah mention after this ayah? He mentions to us where we can find this Nur — this light of Allah. And He says:

He says: "In houses that Allah has allowed to be established, and in which His name is remembered. His name is glorified therein in the mornings and in the evenings — by men whom neither trade nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah, and from establishing the prayer, and from giving the zakah. They fear a day in which hearts and eyes will be overturned."

Bear in mind — He has talked about the guidance and the Nur and the light of Allah, and in the following ayah He talks about where we can find this guidance and this Nur. He says: in houses that Allah has allowed to be established — in it, Allah is remembered, the name of Allah is mentioned. And in it are men — no business or any worldly matters would distract them from the dhikr of Allah.

In the masajid of Allah, my brothers and sisters — here in the houses of Allah is where we can find this guidance and this Nur. You have to make the connection between these two ayahs. We cannot just focus on the previous ayah where He talks about the Nur. The following ayah tells us where we can find it — in the houses of Allah.

This is the importance of the masajid. If anything, this ayah proves to us the importance and the virtues of the masjid. And I will mention another hadith to clarify the importance and the virtues of the masjid.

The Seven Under Allah's Shade

A very famous hadith, collected by Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim in their Sahihs, that the Prophet ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031)

"Seven types of people that will be under the shade of Allah, on a day where there is no shade except for the shade of Allah." And one of these people is: "A man whose heart is attached to the masjid."

What does that mean? It means he prays Dhuhr in jama'ah, he goes back home — all he is thinking about is: I'm going back for Asr. That's all that goes on in his mind. He prays Asr, he goes home — he can't wait till Maghrib. Again he comes to the masjid, prays his jama'ah, goes home — he can't wait for Isha. His heart is in the masjid.

And for that, the Prophet ﷺ is promising that he will be under the shade of Allah on the Day of Judgment — where there is no other shade. And for what? Simply because he understood the virtue of the masjid. He understood the importance and the virtue of the houses of Allah.

Because in the houses of Allah, all the various types of ibadat are found therein. The Salah is here. The nawafil and things like that are in the masjid. Qur'an, du'a, dhikr — in the masjid. So all the things that we've mentioned, or most of the things that we've mentioned, can all be done in the masjid.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah to grant us the highest level of Iman. And we ask Him to give us and grant us the love for His houses.

O Allah, bless Muhammad and the people of Muhammad, as you blessed Ibrahim and the people of Ibrahim in the worlds — you are praiseworthy and glorified.

O servants of Allah, Allah commands justice, goodness, and giving to those who are near, and forbids immorality, evil, and transgression. He warns you, so that you may remember. So remember Allah, the Great, who remembers you. And give thanks to Him for His blessings, which will increase you. And the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows what you do. And establish prayer.