Jumu’ah Khutbah | Safeguard Your Emaan - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ وَلَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا

أَمَّا بَعْد، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

The Preciousness and Fragility of Iman

If you were to study the lives of the Salaf — عليهم رحمة الله — the companions رضي الله عنهم جميعًا and their students the Tabi'een, and those early generations of Muslims, you would see that one of the things that is very apparent about their lives, about the way that they behaved, from their statements, from their actions, from their words, is that they understood the preciousness of Iman. They understood the value of faith. They understood how precious it is to be given that gift from Allah — that you are from the believers, that Allah bestows upon you Iman.

But at the same time they would also understand that that gift, as precious and as valuable as it is, is also extremely fragile. It's something which can be taken away or lost because of our own negligence — a lack of Iman, a lack of worship, a lack of Yaqeen and certainty in Allah. It is something which is extremely fragile.

The Companions' Fear of Hypocrisy

From that which shows this attitude and this understanding from amongst the Salaf is the statement that Al-Bukhari رحمه الله تعالى mentions in his Sahih from the scholar of the Tabi'een, Abdullah ibn Abi Mulaika رحمه الله تعالى, who died in the year 117 of the Hijrah. Ibn Abi Mulaika met companions like Aisha, and Abdullah ibn Umar, and Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهم جميعًا. He says, as Al-Bukhari mentions:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Faith — reported as an athar of Ibn Abi Mulaika)

He says: I met 30 of the companions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم — 30; even to meet one of them, to sit with one of them, would give you that status of being from amongst the Tabi'een. He says that I met 30 of them, studied with them, heard from them narrations of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. Not one of them — he said from the 30 that I met — not one of them did I find who didn't fear for himself nifaq and hypocrisy. None of them claimed that they had the faith and the Iman of Jibreel and Mika'il.

First Benefit: Iman Fluctuates

There are a number of benefits from this statement, and Al-Bukhari mentions it for a purpose in As-Sahih, but two primary benefits I want to mention before you. The first of them is an issue of Aqidah, an issue of belief in theology and creed, and that is that the Aqidah of the Salaf was that Iman fluctuates — it increases with good deeds, it decreases with evil deeds.

We don't believe, as the Murji'ah say, that if someone accepts Islam or they have Iman then their Iman is automatically perfect and complete, no sin will harm it, it doesn't matter what you do, nothing will impact it. That's not the belief that is correct. The correct belief, as is shown in the Quran and the Sunnah, is that your Iman is impacted by your deeds. A lack of deeds, a lack of righteousness, a lack of worship decreases your faith — it makes you weaker and weaker — and an increase in deeds and righteousness in worship strengthens Iman.

And so the companions were never of the opinion that just because they saw the Prophet, or they believed in him and they believed in Allah, and they performed Jihad, and they did all of those acts of Islam and worship, that their Iman was going to be perfect and complete and nothing would ever harm it. Rather, as Ibn Abi Mulaika says, they feared for themselves hypocrisy.

Second Benefit: Never Take Iman for Granted

The second benefit is this: that from the mindset of the Muslim is that they never take anything for granted — least of all the blessing of Iman. The companions and the Tabi'een did fear for themselves that perhaps one time, perchance in the future, a moment may come upon them when their Iman is lost, when their Iman changes into nifaq and hypocrisy, when they no longer have the certainty. Just because you have it today doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to last even till this evening, let alone tomorrow.

And that is something that you will find across many of their narrations. There are narrations of Abu Darda the companion رضي الله عنه that he was praying and in his tashahhud before the salam he would often make a du'a in which he would seek Allah's protection from nifaq and hypocrisy. On one occasion one of his students was sitting close by and he heard him make this du'a, so he said to Abu Darda: you are a companion of Allah's messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, the people about whom Allah says in the Quran رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ — Allah is pleased with them, they are pleased with Him — you fear for yourself nifaq? He said: Yes. He said yes, because just because I have Iman today doesn't mean that I will have it tomorrow. Times come upon you when you don't even feel the slightest amount of nifaq in your heart, but other times come upon you and you feel like you have no Iman left in you.

And that's why Al-Hasan Al-Basri رحمه الله تعالى used to say:

No one fears hypocrisy except that it is a sign of belief, and no one thinks that they are safe from it except that it is a sign of hypocrisy.

And that's why you find from amongst the companions a number of them that they feared that for themselves. And that's something which we've lost today. Many of us think that because we are born Muslims, we grew up Muslims, we have Muslim names, we came from Muslim ethnicities and backgrounds — that Iman is therefore guaranteed for us, for our children, for our offspring. But Islam is extremely precious. If people who met the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, sat with him, travelled with him, fought alongside him, struggled and strived with him رضي الله عنهم — if they don't think that their Iman is guaranteed unless Allah preserves it for them, then what about you and I? What about those of us who have a lack of Iman in any way, who struggle with our acts of worship and fulfilling the rights of Allah, let alone the rights of others?

Umar ibn al-Khattab and the Fear of Hypocrisy

It is related in the Musnad of Al-Bazzar that the companion, the Khalifa, Umar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه, when he was the Khalifa of the Muslims, one day he was told of a janazah, a funeral prayer. So he got up to lead the janazah as the leader of the Muslims, and alongside him was the companion Hudhayfa ibn al-Yaman رضي الله عنه. So he pulled him back and said: No, O Umar, he is from amongst them — meaning from amongst the hypocrites — because the only companion who knew the names of all of them during the lifetime of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was this companion Hudhayfa. He was known as the secret keeper of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. No other companion — not Abu Bakr, not Umar, not Uthman, not Ali — none of them were told their names in detail except him.

So he pulled him back and said: No, he's from amongst them — meaning those named by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم — don't pray over him. So when Umar heard this he said to him:

I ask you, I implore you by Allah's name — am I from amongst those people? Was I in that list? Did Allah's messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم mention my name? He said:

No — your name was not mentioned — and I will never absolve anyone after you; meaning it was a secret given to me and I'm not going to expose the secret of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Even Umar — and he is Umar, and everyone knows the virtues of Umar and what he gave to this religion and what he sacrificed for the sake of Allah, and the many virtues that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم spoke of concerning this companion — yet even he feared for himself. And that's because Allah dedicates whole passages, whole surahs in the Quran to this issue of nifaq and hypocrisy, to make the Muslims aware, to warn them, so that they are on alert that perhaps that nifaq may creep into the hearts of one of us.

From amongst the people are those who claim that they believe in Allah and the Last Day — and they are not from the believers.

They seek thereby to deceive Allah and those who believe, and they deceive none but themselves, though they do not perceive it. The scholars said that there is not a description concerning the Munafiqeen that is clearer than these verses of Surah Al-Baqarah.

The Two Levels of Hypocrisy

And that is why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in a number of ahadith warned us against the traits of hypocrisy. Because there are two levels of hypocrisy: one is the greater form, which takes a person outside of the fold of Islam — it's the one where a person doesn't really believe, they disbelieve in Allah outwardly. But then there's a lesser form, and that is the one that is extremely dangerous, because it is called "lesser" because it leads to the greater and major form. That lesser form is traits and characteristics of nifaq and hypocrisy that, if one of them creeps into you and one of them becomes part of your nature, your character, your personality, then it becomes bigger and bigger and it grows, until that part of you becomes like the person of nifaq.

The Prophet told us صلى الله عليه وسلم, as an example of this, in the hadith of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 33; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 59)

Three of the signs of the hypocrite, of hypocrisy: when they speak, they lie; and when they promise, they break their promises; and when they are entrusted, they are deceptive — they are treacherous. That is a sign of hypocrisy.

Because hypocrisy — in the Arabic language, this word nifaq — comes from the tunnel that is borrowed by the mole, the animal, the rodent that burrows a hole within the ground. It has two exits, because if a predator comes from one exit it will escape from the other. And from that term we have nifaq, because that is how Allah describes them in the Quran:

Wavering between this and that — belonging neither to these nor to those. They run this way when it suits them, they run that way when it suits them. When they're with the believers they profess Iman, but when they're with the enemies of the Muslims they profess kufr and shirk.

And so Allah warned us against this, as the Prophet did صلى الله عليه وسلم: the one who lies, the one who breaks his promises, the one who is treacherous when he is entrusted with something. They know that what they're speaking isn't true. They know that when they're making a promise they're going to break it. They know that when someone gives them an amanah, a trust, or tells them something which is confidential and private, that they're going to go and spread it — they already know it, it's already part of their intention. That's a sign of nifaq.

And in the wording of Sahih Muslim, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم then added and said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 59)

Even if that person prays and fasts and claims to be a Muslim — still a sign of nifaq.

The Prayer of the Hypocrite

From the signs of nifaq are those people with a characteristic of not worshipping Allah with the due attention, concern, attentiveness, concentration, and focus that it deserves — those people who delay the acts of worship like the salah, and then when it comes to the prayer they pray so quickly, with so little concentration and effort, that it's as if they almost didn't pray. Anas رضي الله عنه mentions that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, in the hadith that is also collected in Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 622)

That is the prayer of the munafiq, the hypocrite. He sits at the time of Asr waiting for the sun to set, until there is hardly any time left for that prayer — meaning the prayer time is about to elapse — he stands and he does four quick rak'ahs, quickly up and down, up and down, and he remembers Allah very little within them.

Ibrahim al-Taymi رحمه الله تعالى, from the scholars also of the Tabi'een, used to say that he feared for himself because every time he compared his words to his actions, he thought that he was a liar — what he said and professed didn't match with his deeds and his actions. And so they used to fear this for themselves — that perhaps nifaq would come upon them in a way that would cause them to be diverted and misguided from the path of Allah.

And that is why the du'a of our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that he would often make, seeking Allah's help in keeping him steadfast and firm upon Iman, was:

O Turner of the hearts, O Stabiliser of the hearts — keep my heart firm and steadfast upon Your religion.

We ask Allah that He makes us from amongst those people and that Allah protects us from nifaq and from the diseases of the heart.

بَارَكَ اللَّهُ لِي وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ وَالسُّنَّةِ وَنَفَعَنِي وَإِيَّاكُمْ مِمَّا فِيهِمَا، أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِجَمِيعِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Part of the Khutbah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَمَنْ وَالَاهُ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا، أَمَّا بَعْد.

Purifying the Heart: The Cure for Nifaq

Allah in the Quran describes nifaq and hypocrisy as a disease from the diseases of the heart:

Allah says: In their hearts is a disease, and Allah only increased for them that disease. And therefore the way to combat nifaq is to purify the heart, to cleanse the heart. And it is cleansed when a person goes back to the verses of the Quran and the ahadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that speak about the issues of faith and Iman. They learn about their Lord and their Creator, they increase in Iman through the signs of Allah, as Allah says in the Quran describing the believers:

The signs of the believers is that they fear their Lord. You fear Allah by purifying your heart, by learning about that which Allah loves, and fearing that which will lead to the displeasure, the wrath, and the anger of Allah. And those who learn the signs of Allah so that they may believe in them — they read the Quran and the verses that speak about our Lord and Creator, and the verses that speak about Yawm al-Qiyamah and Paradise and Hellfire, and so they increase in Iman. And they stay away from anything which leads to shirk, anything which leads to the displeasure of Allah or leads to any act which will take them away from the straight path — they fear it and they stay away from it. They're alert, they're aware, they're cognizant of those things that will take them away from Allah.

And those who do what they do — they give what they give — and they are still fearful because they don't know if Allah will accept from them their deeds. And as the scholars of Tafsir said, what they give — meaning of good deeds — every time they pray, every time they fast, every time they give charity, every time they do a good deed, they are in a state of trepidation because they don't know whether Allah will accept that from them or not. So what do they do? It spurs them to do more good deeds. They increase in worship, increase in ibadah, increase in the remembrance of Allah, in du'a, increase in asking Allah for His protection from that which takes them away from His pleasure, His mercy, and His forgiveness.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah that He protects us from the diseases of the heart, that Allah safeguards us from hypocrisy, from arrogance and pride and jealousy and animosity and all of those things that weaken the resolve of the believer. We ask Allah that He strengthens our hearts, that He endows them with Iman, and that Allah fortifies them with His fortification, and that Allah gives to us His divine care and protection, that Allah forgives us and our fellow brothers and sisters and has mercy upon us and them, and that Allah keeps us steadfast upon this religion.