Paradise on Earth - Shaykh Abu Abdillah Yunus

Paradise on Earth

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and ask His forgiveness. We believe in Him and put our trust in Him.

We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

As for what follows, Allah Almighty said:

"Whoever does a good deed, whether male or female, and is a believer, We will surely give him a good life, and We will surely reward them according to the best of their deeds."

And Allah Almighty said:

"Verily, the righteous will be in pleasure."

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

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

"Three are those in whom will be found the sweetness of faith: that Allah and His Messenger would be more beloved to him than anything else; that he should love a person whom he loves only for the sake of Allah; and that he should hate to return to disbelief after Allah has saved him from it, as he hates to be thrown into the Fire."

The Story of Heraclius and Abu Sufyan

My dear brothers and sisters, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, after his message started off in Mecca, spent 13 years there, then migrated to Medina. During his 10 years in Medina, the first few years there were still some problems between the people of Mecca — meaning Quraish — and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Muslims in Medina. During a year where there was a truce, no war going on, no warfare or anything similar to that, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, sent a letter to the Emperor of Rome.

This is in Sahih al-Bukhari. The Emperor of Rome — Heraclius — wanted to know more about this man who had written this letter to him. So he asked for a person who knew the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and they found Abu Sufyan, who became a Muslim later, but at the time was a non-Muslim.

So they brought Abu Sufyan to Heraclius, and Heraclius had a list of questions to ask him. One of them — he asked: are his followers increasing in number or decreasing? So Abu Sufyan said, in fact, they're increasing in number. Then he asked: has any of his followers left the religion — meaning left Islam — out of displeasure for what the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, has brought? And Abu Sufyan replied: no.

There was a list of questions, but I want to stick to these two specifically. After asking his list of questions, Heraclius began to give the reasoning — the wisdom — behind why he asked those questions. And this is the main part that I want you to focus on, my dear brothers and sisters.

He said: "I asked you whether his followers are increasing or decreasing." Then after giving his answer to that, he said — and this is the key point — "I asked you whether any of his followers had left the religion, left Islam, discarded his religion, because they were displeased — and you said no." He then said: the same case is the case with true Iman, true faith — when its delight enters into the heart, and the heart tastes it, it mixes into the heart completely.

Paradise on Earth — The Sweetness of Iman

My dear brothers and sisters, a number of the scholars of the past used to say — among them Ibn Taymiyyah — they would say: in this world, this life that we're in, there is a paradise. One who doesn't enter into it will not enter into the paradise of the next life. Meaning they are saying that between the next life and this life, there is a thread — there is a connection.

It's not that a person just enjoys bliss in the next life, enjoys paradise. There's also a paradise that many people don't really know about. And now that holidays have pretty much started — or for some people they're about to start — specifically for our young brothers and sisters who have just finished primary school or secondary school, we find, my dear brothers and sisters, that one of the greatest gifts a parent can give to his child, son or daughter, or a sibling can give to their sibling, or even a neighbour can give to their neighbour — is this thing that Heraclius is talking about. And he was a non-Muslim speaking about this in Sahih al-Bukhari. He says: Iman — the sweetness of Iman.

If you are able to direct your child to the sweetness of Iman, do you know what will happen? With Allah's permission, this child will never leave faith ever. This child remains a Muslim until his final breath, even if it's 70 years later. Remains a Muslim. With Allah's permission — this is like, it's almost guaranteed. With Allah's permission, this person tastes the sweetness of Iman. He enters into paradise on earth.

That's the first benefit of the sweetness of Iman. The second benefit — and there are multiple benefits, I just want to mention a couple here — every single person that you speak to has this emptiness in their heart. Whether they admit it or not, they have an emptiness. Some people have started practising Islam. Some people are far away from faith. Regardless, most of the people that you speak to — I would say above 99% of the people that you actually meet — have this emptiness, this void. You can call it what you want. But the point is, there's something missing. And that's why a person is always trying to fill this void in, trying to work out: how do I fill this?

So some people go and have a good time. Some people go on holiday. Different people try different things to fill in that gap, that emptiness. They're trying to treat it. But most people never treat it. As in, it's left untreated until departure — meaning when it's time to leave this world, they still haven't treated it. Sometimes they treat it for a short space of time: for an hour, a day, a few days. But that's it. People who actually treat it for a long period — that's quite rare, my dear brothers and sisters.

So we're saying — and these are true stories, just a tip of the iceberg — are you praying because you think that if you pray, somehow Allah is just going to answer you, and that's the only reason? You pray, and once you get your good result, you stop praying. Once you get married, you stop praying. When a person prays with this intention, they haven't understood the prayer. That means for sure, with certainty — with yaqeen — this young brother or sister has never tasted the sweetness of Iman. Never.

It doesn't matter how the attire looks in terms of the sister or the brother — they didn't taste the sweetness of Iman. Part of Islam is the attire, but Islam is not restricted to the attire, my dear brothers and sisters. There's a lot more to Islam than just the attire. As Abu Hurairah would mention, and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 52; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1599)

"Verily, there is a piece of flesh in the body — if it is sound, the rest of the body is sound; but if it is corrupt, then the rest of the body is corrupt. Verily, it is the heart."

There is this part in the body — if it is sound, the rest of the body is sound. But if it is corrupt, then the rest of the body — sometimes the body outside looks amazing, but the inside is decayed, rotting away. And a person has never paid attention to it.

So what I'm saying, my dear brothers and sisters, is that right now, with the holiday having entered, what I want to invite all of us to — as adults, as well as our young brothers and sisters — is for us all to start the journey, to start to fill in that emptiness. And once we taste that sweetness of Iman...

A lot of brothers and sisters, you speak to them, they smile with their face. You ask them: is that the same — do you feel like that in your heart too? As in, are you smiling to save face, because you want people to say you're a happy person? Do you really feel like that inside? Most of them will tell you they don't feel like that inside. But do you want to smile with your face as well as your heart? This is the destination we are referring to. In Arabic, they call it: paradise on earth.

The Three Parts of the Sweetness of Iman

But a person may ask: how do I get to this paradise? The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, taught us in the narration that we shared right at the beginning. He said there are three parts to it — just three parts. You carry out those three parts and one leads to the other. If you've got the first one, it leads to the second one. The third one comes — it's like part of the package.

1. Loving Allah and His Messenger Above Everything Else

The first and main one, my dear brothers and sisters: for a person to love Allah and His Messenger above everything else. Many of us believe in Allah. Some of us are in our 20s, some younger, some in our 50s, some older. But how many of us have actually thought about loving Allah?

Proof that a person loves Allah is that you have a desire — you want to do a certain thing — but you know that Allah doesn't want you to do it, and you're able to take a step back. You say: Allah doesn't want me to do this, so let me leave it. Or you don't want to wake up for Fajr, for example, but Allah wants you to. So you say: I don't want to wake up, I would prefer sleeping in my bed — but Allah wants me to do this, so let me choose this over what I want. When a person starts to do this, they start their journey to paradise on earth.

It takes a lot of struggle, my dear brothers and sisters. We're not saying it happens overnight. But it is possible for all of us to get there. The first part is to start developing that love. And I would say there are two quick points that may help start that journey, insha'Allah.

First point: think about a person who, let's say, one of you went for Umrah. On the way to Mecca, the car broke down. Someone came and took all of your belongings — no debit cards, no cash, no passport, everything's gone. You're panicking, sweating, you don't know how to react. Then one person comes, says: what's happened, brother? You tell him everything's gone. He says: let's go search for it. You search, but nothing's in sight. Then he says: don't worry, I'll pay for your hotel, your living arrangements, I'll take you to the embassy, take care of all your affairs, take you for Umrah, and drop you to the airport — insha'Allah. And you said you lost £3,000? No problem — take £5,000.

Think about this: how are you going to feel towards this person? Any decent person would be remembering this person for a very long time, probably making du'a for them for years. Now, what about the One who has given you every single thing? Who actually allowed that person to come and treat you in such a beautiful way? He's the One who's given you every success in your life. Even when you made du'a and didn't get what you wanted — perhaps because Allah knew that if you had passed that exam, something bad would have happened to you. Perhaps if you had married that person, the children from that union would have caused harm. So it would have destroyed your life — but you couldn't see that. Only in hindsight, years later, do you realise: subhanAllah, I failed the exam, but 10 years later I'm so grateful. It brings tears to a person's eyes, overwhelmed with joy that Allah saved them.

That's one example that will start the journey to jannah. Because a person loves the one who gives them things — and Allah has given you every single thing you can possibly think of. In fact, just think of this: imagine how difficult life would be if the only things we had were the things we made du'a for. Most of the things we have, we didn't even make du'a for. Sometimes we have something at the back of our mind, and we got things way better than what we even imagined.

Second point: you know the nations before us? Like the nation of Musa, peace be upon him. Ibn Kathir tells us: when one of them would commit a sin, that same night, on their door — imagine your own door — it would be written publicly: this person has committed this sin, and this is how they can wipe it out.

We don't have that at all. A brother or sister may have committed sins for 10 years, and Allah has concealed it completely from the eyes of the creation. And then, on top of that, 10 years later — or even longer — that person makes tawbah, repents to Allah. Allah wipes it out completely: a clean slate. And on top of that, makes their sins into good deeds.

Imagine that — 10 years of sin, converted into good deeds. And then in the next life, they have nothing to worry about. Like the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says in Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2441; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2768)

"A man is brought close to Allah. Allah places a cover over him from the eyes of creation. Then the person is asked: 'Did you commit this sin on this day? Did you commit this sin on that day?' The person affirms every single sin. After all of that, Allah says: 'I concealed all of your sins in the world. Today I shall forgive all of them.'"

To this day, when I came across that narration about the nation of Musa, I still can't get my head around it. I'm just so overwhelmed by how much love there is from above. How much love there is from Allah the Almighty.

So we're saying, my dear brothers and sisters, the first thing is a person starts to give Allah precedence over their own desires. And after the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was sent, all of the doors, all of the pathways to get to Allah, they're all closed. There is only one pathway — the pathway of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

So a person — how do they know that they love the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him? They want to know: what did he use to say? What was beloved to him? How did he used to behave? What were his etiquettes? When they perform wudu, it's like they're imagining: how did the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, perform wudu? I want to do it the same way. When they perform salah, they ask: how did the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, perform salah? I want to do it the same way. If that is the case, then a person is on the right path. That's the first part covered — putting Allah and His Messenger first, loving them above every other thing.

I say this, and I ask Allah for forgiveness, and I ask you all to seek His forgiveness. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful.

2. Loving Others for the Sake of Allah

You might not even know a person. You may not even know them at all. But you know that all they do are actions that please Allah. So it is as if Allah plants a love in your heart for this brother or sister.

It's not that when a person is upset with you, you send them a text message saying: "but I love you for the sake of Allah." That's not love for the sake of Allah. Or when a person helps you out of something and you say: "I love you" — that's done for the dunya. You may love them genuinely, but saying that you love them for Allah's sake is something very different.

Loving for the sake of Allah is when they are doing acts of obedience, acts that are pleasing to Allah — and this develops love in your heart for them. And from the rights they have upon you, when you love someone for the sake of Allah, is that any time you see them falling short, you advise them in a polite way. You encourage them. You see a person used to do a good deed but has stopped — you remind them. But you always check your heart as well, in respect to both of these points.

3. Never Wanting to Return to Disbelief — No Complacency

The third one, my dear brothers and sisters — and there's a lot more to it, but the khutbah is only 30 minutes — is that after a person has been blessed with faith and true Iman, they never want to leave Islam. They never want to relapse. And you find this evident amongst the Sahabah. They were never complacent. They were always worried.

So the sign — the third sign — is that they are never satisfied with their current condition. They never feel: "now that I've reached this level, I'm sorted. I can never leave faith. I'll always remain close to Allah." You can't guarantee that. So a person is always worried, and so long as you're always concerned and making du'a, Allah will protect you.

Like you find Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, from the du'as he would make:

"O Allah, I ask You for Iman from which I do not return — I do not leave faith."

So these are the three points, my dear brothers and sisters. Let us try to start this journey. Check your weaknesses. Some of the brothers and sisters, mashallah, when they started practising, maybe they got their attire right very quickly. Others worked on something else — perhaps good manners, or their belief, or their heart. Allah knows best. Every single one of us may have worked on one part and has weaknesses in another area. We need to make sure, as Muslims, that we address all of the acts of obedience and try to liberate ourselves from everything that is displeasing to Allah — one at a time. Slowly, slowly, insha'Allah.

Practical Steps for the Holiday — For Ourselves and Our Children

If a person can at least start that journey during this holiday — for themselves, and specifically for the young children — because this is a worry that I hear from brothers and sisters across the country: "I'm a Muslim, but what guarantee do I have for my child?" And I think a person should be concerned about this. You should never become complacent — even if a person has learned some Islamic knowledge — nor should they be complacent regarding their children. You can't guarantee that somehow they will always remain Muslim. None of us has that guarantee. So so long as we're making du'a, trying, and truthful in our relationship with Allah, Allah will take care of it.

Secondly, my dear brothers and sisters, it would also be amazing if we can sit down with our younger brothers and sisters and start to educate them a little bit about their faith. So they're not just Muslim because their parents were Muslim — they are Muslim out of choice. They've chosen this for themselves. You can help shift them from being Muslim because their parents were Muslim, to being Muslim because I want to be Muslim. And if you don't know the answers to these questions, my dear brothers and sisters, then this is a good opportunity to learn them — to ask the imam of the masjid, to start looking into this — so you yourself can make that shift, if you haven't already, and you can help the next generation make that shift, with Allah's permission.

The third point: in an entitled world, where everyone feels entitled to everything, it would be amazing if we try to get our children to start thanking the creation. Any time a person smiles at you — thank them. Any time anyone does any good deed — you thank them. Even to a non-Muslim, you say thank you. And likewise, thanking Allah — daily, or every other day, regularly, morning and evening, whenever — a person starts to remember the blessings of Allah upon them. Start thinking about them. That way you develop a very healthy mindset in respect to Allah, and your mindset as a whole becomes healthy inside — because you always feel grateful.

And a person who always feels grateful — you always see them positive, always smiling, always in a good mood, always cheerful. Their heart always feels sound. The one who is grateful always feels like that, my dear brothers and sisters.

A Word for Those Going for Hajj

The last point I want to finish off with: I know that in the next week, many of our brothers and sisters are going for Hajj. Please, my dear brothers and sisters, regardless of which tour group you're going with — ensure that your Hajj is not spoiled. When you're going there, Allah has gifted you to take you there.

I have a relative — a couple, a generation above me. The aunt and her husband both wanted to go for Hajj together. As they booked their tickets and paid for the package, she was diagnosed with cancer. They couldn't go. Treatment for the next year or two. After that, they were ready and excited to go again. This time her husband had a lethal heart attack. Second time they were unable to go. And then eventually, about five years later, they were blessed to go. Just because a person has paid for the package, they have no guarantee of even getting there. So the fact that you make it there is a gift from Allah.

Secondly, ensure that the short space of time you have there, my dear brothers and sisters, you try your utmost best. Make this a clean slate. There were many people from the past and the present — and I know many of them personally — when they went for Hajj, it wasn't just life-changing. Even those who had an amazing practising life beforehand found that the Hajj journey upgraded their life maybe 10 times, sometimes 20 times. If you saw how they were before Hajj and how they were after Hajj, it was unbelievable.

Like Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, would say — he would mention a large number of people performing Hajj, and then ask: but how many of them are really performing Hajj? So there's going for Hajj, and there's actually performing Hajj. They are two separate things. Just like when we pray salah — there's performing the prayer, and there's connecting with the prayer. The one who connects with the prayer, even if it's a 2–3 minute prayer, feels completely spiritually nourished afterwards. The other person may perform a 10-minute prayer, five times, seven times — and at the end feels almost nothing, something very minor.

So I'm saying, my dear brothers and sisters, those of us going for Hajj — make sure our hearts are connected the entire time, insha'Allah.

The Greatest Ten Days of the Year

And for those of us who are not going for Hajj — I'm sure the next khutbah next week will be on this topic, so I don't want too much overlap — but as we know, in just over 10 days, my dear brothers and sisters, it's going to be the greatest 10 days in the entire year. In Ramadan, the last 10 nights are the greatest nights — nights meaning from Maghrib to Fajr. But as for the greatest days in the entire year, they are looming. A week and a half away, insha'Allah.

So let us make some preparation for that, insha'Allah. Even if we haven't made the most of these days in the past — this time, any good deed you want to do, do it in that time, insha'Allah. It's only 10 days. It's only 10 days.

Closing Du'a

"O Allah, protect the Muslims, the believers, the living and the dead. You are the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing."