Jum'ah Khutbah by Sh Hafeezullah Khan

Khutbah: When to Rush and When to Be Patient in Islam

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا وَمَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

Introduction: Not All Rushing is Bad

Dear brothers and sisters, in our society we don't see rushing into things and matters as a good thing. Although rushing into things is a natural thing from Allah. Even the prophets of Allah were not saved from this issue of rushing. So, saying that rushing into matters is totally wrong will not be a right statement.

There are some things and matters where rushing into them is commendable, and there are matters where rushing is not acceptable. There are some matters where we have been ordered to rush into them — like doing good deeds. As Allah says: march forward in the way which leads to forgiveness from your Lord and to a paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the al-muttaqoon.

Rush Towards Good Deeds Before the Fitan Arrive

In a hadith as well, the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم says:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 213)

Rush to do good deeds before the rise of the fitan which will be like the darkness of the night — in which a mu'min will wake up in a state of iman and will be a kafir by night. And likewise, a mu'min who is in a state of iman in the evening will be a kafir by the morning — and he will sell his iman for a very small worldly price.

Brothers and sisters, the fitan referred to in this hadith are such that one will not know which path to take — which is the right path and which is the wrong path. It refers to two types of fitan:

First: The fitnah of doubts in our deen, in which it is hard to differentiate between right and wrong, between truth and falsehood, halal and haram, between sunnah and bid'ah. People will start to practise their bid'ah as sunnah. They will use haram thinking it to be halal.

Second: The fitnah of desires — in this, one becomes a slave of their own desires. He will do whatever he feels like doing and he doesn't bother what Islam says, what the Islamic ruling says.

Therefore, before such fitan arise, we should gather as many good deeds as possible. Make no excuse that you will do good deeds tomorrow or later on. Whether the deeds are good or bad, their benefit or loss starts from the moment we enter the grave. A person who used to rush towards good deeds in his life — his deeds will be with him in his grave.

As mentioned in a sahih hadith, the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said: after the three questions in the grave, the one who used to do good deeds will see his good deeds in the form of a beautiful person who will say to him, "Don't you recognise me? I am your good deeds. By Allah, since I have known you, you always made haste to do good deeds and to be obedient to Allah. You were always hesitant to commit bad deeds. So I will stay with you." And the one who has been doing bad deeds in his life, he will be approached by his bad deeds in the form of a very unpleasant person who will say to him, "Since I have known you, you were always in a rush to commit sins and were very slow to do good deeds."

Specific Deeds to Rush Towards

1. Praying on Time

There are many good deeds, and the most important are those which are obligatory upon us. For example, praying on time. Some people do pray, mashaAllah, but unnecessarily delay their prayers without any reason. Whereas Allah says:

Prayer has been prescribed for you at certain times. And even within those certain times, it is more rewardable to pray at the earlier time of salah.

2. Performing Hajj Without Delay

It is also important to rush towards making hajj which is obligatory on you. As the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم says: Rush towards performing your hajj, because you do not know what your circumstances will be in the future. But our attitude towards hajj is that we want to finish off all of our worldly responsibilities and then go for hajj. Although none of us know when our time in this world will end.

3. Repentance (Tawbah)

Do not delay in doing tawbah — repenting and seeking forgiveness from Allah for our sins, our negligence, and our mistakes. If we delay, time will escape from us, and we will be in a situation where our tawbah will be rejected. As Allah says:

The repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do wrong in ignorance or carelessness and then repent soon after — it is those to whom Allah will turn in forgiveness. But repentance is not accepted of those who continue to do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now."

4. Giving in Charity (Sadaqah)

As well as rushing to spend in the way of Allah, from the wealth given to us by Allah — this is also something that should be done in haste. Once the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم was asked: "What sadaqah is most rewardable and liked by Allah?" So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم replied: "When you are healthy, and when you are wealthy, and you fear poverty, and you wish to increase your wealth — the sadaqah you give at that time is more rewardable and more beneficial than if you are on your deathbed and you say, 'Give my wealth to so-and-so.'"

5. Burying the Deceased Promptly

Likewise, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also told us that we should rush towards burying our dead. As he صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1315; Sahih Muslim, Book 11, Hadith 2059)

Bury your dead quickly. Because if he was pious, you will be sending him to his good destination quickly. And if he was not, then you will be getting rid of this burden quickly from your shoulders.

According to Sharia, where it is important to bury the deceased quickly, it is also recommended that we bury the deceased where they pass away. But we see that dead bodies are taken abroad to our motherlands, and we don't realise how much pain we are causing to that dead body by transporting it. The medical process through which a body is prepared in order to be transported abroad causes unnecessary harm and pain to the dead body, which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has forbidden us to do.

6. Making Up Missed Prayers

Some people who have missed a prayer think that it needs to be made up with the same prayer the next day. Whereas, brothers and sisters, this is totally wrong. If a prayer has been missed, it is sunnah to make it up as soon as possible and not delay it.

Deeds That Require Patience, Not Haste

There are some other actions, however, which we rush into when they should rather be done with patience — instead of regretting later.

1. Matrimonial Issues and Divorce

For example, matrimonial issues. Some couples who have disagreements rush into divorce quickly, even when it could have been avoided. The couple should first try to resolve their problems themselves. And if they fail, then a representative from each side should be involved to try and resolve the problem. And if still divorce seems to be the solution, they must still think it over and be patient in this regard.

They must know when they get married that as individuals they will have different thoughts, likes and dislikes, and they will need to adjust accordingly and compromise with their partner. They need to be patient in their matters. Otherwise, they will face regret, stress, and even depression after that. And sometimes we see that parents take drastic emotional actions in matters of their daughters and sons and make matters worse — whereas they should be the ones taking steps to resolve the issues.

2. Calling Family Members Back to the Deen

We also see some people who spent their past lives away from the deen, but Allah gave them guidance and they start practising. And when they do start practising, they start to invite family members to the deen — and indeed, mashaAllah, this is a good act. But the negative aspect of this is that they want their family members to bring immediate change in their lives. Every individual is different and takes a different amount of time to change. And when they see that a certain person hasn't changed as much as expected, they become extreme — and hence the other person shows negative reactions too. This can lead them away from the deen and deeper towards evil.

Yes, it is true we should preach goodness and refrain people from bad deeds. As the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 186)

If you see something bad or evil, you should try to stop it with your hands. If not, then with your tongue. And if not, then at least consider it as bad in your heart — and this is the sign of the weakest iman.

According to this hadith, it is the responsibility of every Muslim to forbid evil. But in doing that, one must be aware that it does not give rise to a bigger evil and a bigger fitna. And if there is a fear of a bigger fitna, then at least feel it as bad in your heart, and we can deal with it at a better time.

The Wisdom of the Prophet in Makkah

Look at what the sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم guides us in this regard. In Makkah, in the house of Allah — the Ka'bah — after the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم became a prophet, the Ka'bah was full of idols — not for one year, not for two years, but for the whole 21 years of his prophethood. But he did not try to remove them. He wanted to remove the idols from their hearts first. And if he had taken action to remove them at that time, it would have been a big fitna. And so, he removed them after the conquest of Makkah.

And there is another example from Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim: after the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم once said to Aisha رضي الله عنها that when your people rebuilt the Ka'bah, they made it slightly smaller than the actual foundation laid by Ibrahim عليه السلام. So she asked, "Can you not build it up to the foundation laid by Ibrahim عليه السلام now?" So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم replied: "If your people had not recently embraced Islam, I would have done it. But I fear that they may dislike it."

This is the hikmah, brothers. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "I fear that they may dislike it." This means: where removing an evil will create a bigger fitna and bigger evil, we must tackle it with patience and wisdom.

3. Seeking Provision (Rizq) Through Halal Means

Some people want to acquire everything of their livelihood in a short time, and if they don't achieve it, they start rushing and using haram methods to gain it. This kind of approach is totally wrong. In a hasan hadith, the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said about the seeking of rizq:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 2144; classified Hasan)

Jibril put into my heart that no human will die without receiving the provision that is written for him by Allah. So fear Allah and always try to get it through halal ways and halal methods. And if it has been delayed in coming to you, do not try to achieve it through disobedience to Allah.

Ali رضي الله عنه says: the people who want to get rizq through haram ways do not know that they cannot get more than what has been written for them by Allah. And in any case, haram rizq closes the doors of Allah's mercy for him. Maybe one will gain the rizq, but there will be no blessing or benefit in it. And this person also closes the doors to the acceptance of his du'as too. And this will be a great loss for him.

The Danger of Haram Income on Du'a

As the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says in a hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 2214)

A person who travels a long journey — his clothes and hair are all full of dust — he raises his hands towards the sky and says, "O my Rabb! O my Rabb!" Whereas his food that he eats is from haram sources, the food itself is haram. Then how can his du'a be accepted?

Brothers and sisters, this hadith tells us that even after having fulfilled all the requirements and all the asbab for the acceptance of du'a, still that du'a will be rejected. For example, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned in various ahadith that a traveller's du'a is accepted — and this person was a traveller. Likewise, he صلى الله عليه وسلم said that a person who raises his hands to the sky and asks from Allah, then Allah does not want to return his hands empty — and this person had raised his hands to the sky. And also, we are taught in ahadith that when making du'a, we should do so by the means and attributes of Allah and our du'a will be accepted — and this person did say, "Ya Rabb, Ya Rabb!" But his du'a will be rejected. So we should be careful in these matters.

4. Rushing in Du'a and Becoming Hopeless

Likewise, some people when they ask Allah for something in their du'as, they want Allah to accept it straight away. And if it's not accepted at that time, they become hopeless. People who rush in the matter of du'a and its acceptance face three kinds of loss:

One: they might stop making du'a. Secondly: they become hopeless. Thirdly: their du'as might not get accepted.

As the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم said: Allah accepts a person's du'a as long as he does not make du'a for a sinful act and as long as he does not rush. The companions asked what he meant by rushing. So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم replied: a person says, "I have made constant du'as but they are not accepted" — and hence he becomes hopeless and stops making du'a.

5. Rushing to Issue Religious Verdicts Without Sufficient Knowledge

Likewise, we see — mashaAllah — that our youngsters are coming towards the deen and learning about Islam. But we also see that only some of them start issuing fatawa and verdicts even with their little knowledge of the deen. And they take part in arguments about religious matters. This is also a fitna, brothers — a fitna for them.

One should be patient when learning about the deen and not start issuing verdicts just because they have read some booklets or heard a few talks. The Salaf have said that there are three stages to seeking knowledge. At the first stage, the student becomes slightly proud and overconfident. At the second stage, he becomes lenient and moderate. And when he comes to the third stage, he knows that he doesn't know anything.

I say this, and I ask Allah to forgive me and all the believers. So seek His forgiveness, for He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Second Part of the Khutbah

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the Prophet and his messengers, upon his family and all his companions.

Usually in our society — or any other society — hastiness is not seen with good eyes. But in Islam, as it is said in the Qur'an and hadith, Allah says in the Qur'an that Allah has created man upon the nature of hastiness. And this hastiness has sometimes been seen by the prophets and messengers as well. So the meaning is: not every hastiness is good, and not every hastiness is bad.

There are some things in which we must hasten — and that hastiness is praiseworthy. For example, good deeds. In good deeds, we should never think, "I will do it tomorrow." Because in the Qur'an and hadith, the words used in reference to good deeds are that you should do them hastily, while racing towards them. Allah says: those good deeds by which you can receive the forgiveness of Allah and through which you can reach Paradise — do not delay in doing those good deeds. Those good deeds by which you can save yourself from tribulations — do not delay in doing those good deeds.

The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم says: do good deeds hastily before those tribulations come. After those tribulations arrive — and those tribulations will be like the darkness of the night — the greatest danger will be to our faith. We will wake up in the morning as believers, and by the evening our faith will be lost. And in the evening we will be in a state of faith, and by the morning our faith will be lost. And we will sell our faith at the lowest price in the world.

What does this mean, my friends? It means that a time will come in which truth and falsehood, sunnah and bid'ah, sin and good deeds will become confused. No one will know what is the truth and what is the sunnah — what is evil and what is bid'ah. And there will be many people who will be following bid'ah as sunnah and following evil as good deeds.

The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم has pointed out in this hadith that those are the tribulations which will create doubts in the religion — meaning that every person will not have certain knowledge in matters of religion. He will start doing everything as religion. And similarly, those tribulations which are related to our nafs — every person will make his nafs his religion, rather than making his religion govern his nafs. There will be many things which are haram, but his nafs will say, "I have to do it." He will not look at religion. And there will be many things which are fardh, but he will look at what his nafs is saying and leave them.

These are the tribulations after which there will be many difficulties in doing good deeds. The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم says: before those tribulations come, you should collect your good deeds. And where it is important to bury the deceased quickly, the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم has also mentioned that we should not know how much pain we cause to the dead body by transporting it. Those who delay the funeral, or send the body to another country — we do not know how much they are hurting that body.

Just as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم stated about hajj — the hajj which is obligatory on you, you should do it as soon as possible. Not that all worldly responsibilities must be fulfilled first and then you will go for hajj. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says: whoever has decided to do hajj — meaning whoever has the ability — should not delay it. He should do hajj as soon as possible because he does not know the future. He does not know what will happen. He may be sick or poor, and there may be some obstacles. And the hajj which was obligatory on him, if he did not do it, he will be in debt to Allah.

And Allah says in the Qur'an that one should repent as soon as possible — because if one does not repent soon enough, when death is in front of you, that repentance will not be accepted. So before we reach that stage, we should ask Allah to forgive our sins.

Similarly, in the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, there were many instances where he saw something bad. Especially in Makkah, when Allah made him a Messenger — we all know the Ka'bah was filled with idols. But the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did not say to clean the Ka'bah of the idols immediately. In fact, for 21 years the Ka'bah was filled with idols. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم cleaned the Ka'bah after the conquest of Makkah. This means that if you want to end a bad thing, but because of that there could be great disorder, then we should try to end that bad thing with patience, wisdom, and tolerance. This is the approach that produces good results.