20170519- 2nd Khutba - Shaykh Arsalan

Opening Supplication & Khutbah Introduction

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ تَعَالَى مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا مُحَمَّدًا صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَفِيُّهُ وَخَلِيلُهُ بَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ وَنَصَحَ الْأُمَّةَ وَجَاهَدَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ حَتَّى أَتَاهُ الْيَقِينُ اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ الطَّيِّبِينَ الطَّاهِرِينَ وَصَحَابَتِهِ الصَّالِحِينَ الْغُرِّ الْمَيَامِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ أَمَّا بَعْد فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

A Reminder About Jumu'ah Etiquette

Brothers and sisters, before I begin the khutbah I would like to mention something based on an observation. For those of us who don't know, we must know — and for those of us who know, we must remember — that once the adhan for Jumu'ah is called, that is, once the khateeb comes and sits on the mimbar and says السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ and the muezzin begins to call the adhan, all activities must stop.

Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ prohibited any talk after that point. In fact, he even said that if someone is talking you must not say to them "be quiet." He even prohibited playing with pebbles on the ground — in those days they used to sit on the bare earth and draw lines on the ground. According to some of the ulama, the one who does that, their entire Jumu'ah becomes invalidated and they have to pray Dhuhr afterwards. Other scholars did not go to that extent, but they said that it is a sinful activity to engage in anything that is distracting once the adhan for Salatul Jumu'ah begins.

And so my brothers and sisters, I remind you not to be busy with your cell phones once the adhan for Jumu'ah begins. Put it away and try to focus on Allah. It only comes once a week. May Allah help us all. Ameen ya Rabbal Alameen.

The Qalb Salim — The Sound Heart

Brothers and sisters, Allah says in the Quran that Ibrahim عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ made a du'a to Allah, and in that du'a he said:

"My Lord, do not disgrace me on the Day of Resurrection — that day when no wealth nor children will be of any benefit, except for the one who comes to Allah with a qalbun salim — with a sound heart."

This ayah teaches us — and other texts of the Quran and the Sunnah teach us — that our salvation depends on the condition of our heart. Our salvation in the hereafter depends on the condition of our qalb. So this is a very serious matter, brothers and sisters, that requires our attention.

What Does Qalbun Salim Mean?

Qalbun salim — a sound heart. Sound from what? A healthy heart. Healthy from what? Salim, or sound, from basically anything that Allah does not love. When the qalb has conditions, when the qalb has characteristics that Allah does not love, that is a qalb that is not sound yet. But a qalb that is emptied and cleansed from all those things that Allah does not love — then that is a qalb that is salim, that is sound.

Allah does not love shirk. So a person who holds someone other than Allah as an object of worship and reverence inside of his or her heart — his or her qalb is not salim. But a person who rids any other deity from his or her qalb — then that person reaches a qalb that is salim.

A person who harbors inside of his or her qalb diseases of the heart — diseases such as arrogance, conceitedness, delusion, envy, hatred, ostentation, excessive love for wealth or fame or worldly positions and so on and so forth — these are all diseases of the heart. And as long as these diseases remain inside of our hearts, that means that the qalb has yet to become salim.

A qalb salim — a sound heart — is a heart that is free of these diseases, that is cured from these diseases: cured from the disease of ostentation, that disease that makes us do acts of worship to please people; that disease that causes us to desire praise from people because we pray or because we fast or because we do certain acts of worship; the disease of arrogance, pride, that feeling of "me — I am better than someone else." That is a disease of the heart.

A qalbun salim has to be our objective in life. Our goal in life is to attain salvation in the afterlife, and our salvation in the afterlife depends on us coming to Allah with a sound heart — a qalb salim. And therefore, brothers and sisters, every day I have to strive to attain, or arrive closer and closer to, having a qalb that is salim. It is a lifelong journey. It is not something that you achieve in a day. It is a lifelong journey to overcome the diseases of arrogance and conceitedness and ostentation and envy and attachment to this world and love for reputation and fame and wealth. All of these are lifelong struggles. As long as we are struggling to attain a qalb salim, then insha'Allah we are moving towards our goal.

The Importance of the Heart — The Hadith of the Mudgha

The heart, brothers and sisters, is very important. Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says in a hadith related by Imam Muslim in his Sahih — a long hadith, the last part of which says:

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

He said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that indeed inside the body there is a mudgha — there is a small piece of flesh. Mudgha comes from madagha — madagha means to chew. When you chew on something it becomes a mudgha — something small, a bite that you have inside of your mouth and you chew on it. That's a mudgha. And a bite is something small and insignificant.

So the point that Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is trying to make is that there is this little, small lump of flesh inside of your body — small and looking very insignificant — but it is so significant that if that piece of flesh is rectified, if that piece of flesh is repaired, then the entire body is rectified. And if that piece of flesh is corrupted — or ignored to become corrupt — then the entire body will be corrupted. And that piece of flesh is the heart.

What does he mean by that صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ? What he means is that the way that I behave externally is an outcome of the state of my qalb internally. The way that I use my tongue is a reflection of the condition of my heart. The way that I use my eyes, the way that I use my ears, the way that I use my hands, my feet — my external faculties — is dictated and controlled by, and a consequence of, the condition of my qalb. That one lump of flesh is the king, and the rest of the body are his subjects.

So if I notice that I have certain behavioral problems — maybe I have an abusive tongue, or maybe I have a rebellious eye, or maybe I have disobedient hands that do not obey Allah, that harm others — then I need to turn back to my qalb, because that is where the root of the problem is.

The Four Types of Hearts

Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ also said about the heart, on the authority of Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ, in a hadith reported by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad:

(Musnad Imam Ahmad, Hadith 11720; reported on the authority of Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri)

He said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ according to this hadith that there are four kinds of hearts. If you look among people, you will find people have one of these four kinds of hearts.

The First Heart: Qalbun Ajrad — The Liberated Heart

The first one he said is qalbun ajrad — a heart that is ajrad. Ajrad from tajarrud. Tajarrud literally means to remove everything from one's body, to free the body of everything. The idea here is that this heart is a liberated heart — the heart is liberated from things that normally become attached to the heart, liberated from its attachments to material wealth, liberated from its attachments to those things that Allah does not love — freed.

He said that is the heart of a believer — that is the heart of the mu'min. He said in it there is a radiating light — in that qalb there is a light that radiates. What does that mean? In the physical world we use light to see clearly. If there is a radiating light inside of the heart, that means that we have insight into things, that we will be able to discern things clearly: what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad, what is beneficial and what is harmful, what is beautiful and what is ugly, what will Allah love and what will He hate. These are things that are not seen by the physical eyes — these are things that are seen by the inner eye, by the heart. And that heart needs light to be able to see properly.

So the believer's heart — the liberated heart — is a heart that has a radiating light inside of it. That's the first type of heart. May Allah give us all such a heart. Ameen ya Rabbal Alameen.

The Second Heart: Qalbun Aghlaf — The Covered Heart

The second heart he said is qalbun aghlaf — the covered heart. From ghilaf — a heart with a ghilaf on it, a covered heart. He said this is a heart that does not allow light to enter. It's covered; it doesn't allow light to enter inside. He said this is the heart of a disbeliever — qalb al-kafir. Such a person, when they are even presented with guidance, it doesn't affect their heart because the heart is covered. It doesn't allow the light of guidance, the light of proof, and even rational arguments to enter inside — the person remains a disbeliever.

The Third Heart: Qalbun Mankus — The Inverted Heart

The third heart he said is qalbun mankus — a heart that is inverted. This is a heart that knows and then denies. He said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ someone who knows the truth but denies it — outwardly they portray themselves as a believer but inside of themselves they have denied the truth. That is the qalb of a munafiq.

The Fourth Heart: Qalbun Musaffah — The Two-Sided Heart

And the fourth qalb he said is qalbun musaffah — the two-sided heart, a heart that has two sides to it, that has two states. This heart is a sick heart. And according to the ulama, most of the Muslims have this kind of heart. The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: "whichever of the two sides overcomes the other, that is what prevails over it." Sometimes one side of the heart overcomes the other, and other times the other side overcomes — sometimes this heart becomes beautiful and radiating light, and at other times it inverts and becomes the opposite of that.

This is the heart, brothers and sisters, that is sick — that needs attention, that needs treatment. It is not a hopeless case. It is not like the qalb of the disbeliever that is completely sealed. It is a heart about which there is hope, but that needs our attention.

A sick heart — this is a heart that, because it is sick, is not always able to see clearly. Sometimes it does, but sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it mistakes what is good for bad; sometimes it mistakes what is Sunnah as being bid'ah; sometimes it mistakes what Allah loves to be something that is harmful — because the qalb is sick, because it cannot see clearly.

That is why it is so important, brothers and sisters — especially in the times in which we live, when there are so many efforts to confuse us about the true teachings of our deen, so many efforts to make what is beautiful appear as ugly — it is so important for us to purify our hearts so that we can see truth as truth and falsehood as falsehood, and we don't mistake truth as falsehood and falsehood as truth.

What Makes the Heart Sick?

So what is it that makes the heart sick, so that we can treat it? Basically two things.

First: Sins (Dhunub)

Number one: dhunub — sins. When we use our limbs to deliberately disobey Allah, that's called a sin. When I use my tongue to deliberately behave in a way that Allah has prohibited — when I lie, when I cheat, when I backbite, when I verbally abuse someone, when I falsely accuse an innocent person — all of these are sins, brothers and sisters, that have an impact on the condition of my qalb. Every time I do that it leaves a mark on the qalb.

And the greatest consequence, brothers and sisters, of the dhunub that I commit in my life is that they distance my qalb from Allah. They distance my qalb from Allah, so that my qalb no longer longs for Allah — it longs for low things. My qalb no longer feels happy when the kalam of Allah is recited; it feels suffocated and agitated and bored. Because the qalb is covered with dhunub, until it is liberated from those dhunub it will not enjoy and delight in the presence of Allah and in the mention of Allah.

Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said in a hadith related by Imam al-Tirmidhi in his Jami' and others, that every time the servant of Allah commits a sin, a black spot appears on the heart of that person. And then if the person asks Allah for his forgiveness, then the qalb is cleansed — that black spot is removed. But if the person ignores it and persists in that sinful activity, then that dark spot begins to grow and grow and grow until it completely covers the qalb. And at that point the ran develops around the qalb that Allah talks about in the Quran:

"Nay, but on their hearts is the ran — the covering — because of what they used to do."

As a result of that ran, that veil, these people will be veiled from Allah — distanced from Allah — ultimately in the afterlife, but even in this life. So this is the consequence of using our limbs to deliberately disobey Allah, and this is what makes the heart sick.

So what's the way out? Why do we commit sins? Why is it that we disobey Allah? One reason, brothers and sisters, is because we don't realize the consequences of sins — we don't know, or we don't realize, that sins have consequences in this life, before the hereafter.

Some of the salaf used to say that sometimes when I disobey Allah, I see the effects of that in the behavior of my family and my animal — the way that my animal is not listening to me, I can't control my horse, and the way that my family reacts to me. Instead of blaming my family, I need to blame myself, because it is my sin that resulted in that. My sins have consequences in this life, in my surroundings.

Allah says in the Quran:

That fasaad — corruption and evil and mischief — has become widespread on earth. Why? Because of the actions of human beings. Our sins have impact, have consequences in this life before the hereafter, brothers and sisters. And I already mentioned how they impact the condition of our qulub — our hearts — and our relationship with Allah.

Second: Ghafla — Heedlessness

The second reason why we sin, brothers and sisters, is because of ghafla — because of heedlessness. And one thing that causes us to go into a state of ghafla is when we maintain bad company, when we are surrounded by a bad environment.

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4833; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2378 — on the authority of Abu Hurayrah)

"A man follows the religion of his close friend."

When there was a man who killed 99 people, the scholar told that man to leave that town and go to a different town — because as long as he lived in that condition, the influence of society was making him behave in that way.

Even Yusuf عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ — a Prophet of Allah — he made du'a to Allah and said:

"My Lord, prison is more beloved to me than that which they are calling me to. And if You do not remove this influence from around me, I will fall — I will incline towards them, and I will be from among the ignorant ones."

He would rather choose prison over that environment because he was afraid that the environment was going to make him slip — and he is a Prophet of Allah. What about us?

So if we want to overcome our sins, we have to change our company. We have to change our surroundings and find better company. May Allah help us overcome our sins, and may Allah help us reach qalbun salim.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ — فَيَا فَوْزَ الْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ

Second Part of the Khutbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَأَفْضَلُ الصَّلَاةِ وَأَتَمُّ التَّسْلِيمِ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

The Two Causes of a Sick Heart — Revisited

Brothers and sisters, there are two major things that cause our hearts to become sick. The first of them is sins, and the second of them is ghafla — being heedless of Allah, being unaware or forgetful of Allah. Because the shaytan, as Abdullah ibn Abbas said, is always vigilantly waiting for the opportunity. As soon as we forget Allah, he comes and whispers to us. But when we remember Allah, he leaves — and then again begins to wait.

So dhikr of Allah is the cure for ghafla — constant dhikr of Allah with the heart and with the tongue. The more that we remember Allah, like the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ taught us: the adhkar of the morning, the evening — what to say when we wake up, what to say when we go into the bathroom, what to say when we come out of the bathroom, what to say before we eat, what to say after we eat, what to say when we leave the home, what to say when we get into our car, what to say on the way to the masjid, what to say when we enter the masjid — and then in the evening. Why? To teach us to be in constant dhikr of Allah.

If we do that, that will help us cleanse our heart, and that will help us attain qalbun salim.

Preparing for Ramadan

Ramadan is coming, brothers and sisters — and it is a wonderful opportunity to get into a habit of dhikr, to get into a habit of having a wird in the morning and the evening, to learn the adhkar of the day. I encourage myself and you, brothers and sisters, to do that — to develop that habit, insha'Allah ta'ala.

Closing Du'a

قُومُوا إِلَى صَلَاتِكُمْ