20170512- 1st Khutba - Shaykh Hassan Lachheb

Opening Praise and Prayer

Alhamdulillah al-kareem fadluh, al-wasi ajuduh, al-saha'i yadah, al-kareemati aqayah. Ahmadu ala fadlihi wa ashkuruhu ala ayadih. Wa ashhadu annahu Allah la ilaha illa hu wahdahu la sharika lah.

Hakama fa adal, wa a'taa fa ajzal, wa idha aznabna wa asa'na ghafara wa amhal. Wa ashhadu anna sayyidana wa mawlana, wa habibana wa azeemana, Sayyidana Muhammadan sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Abduhu, wa rasuluhu, wa mustafahu, wa mujtabahu, wa khaliluh. Faqal ula bi jamalihi. Sabaqal ula bi kamalihi. Hasunat jamee'u khisalihi. Sallu alayhi wa alihi.

Ala wa inna asdaqal hadithi kalamullahi ta'ala. Wa khairal hadyi hadyu rasulillahi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Wa sharra al-umuri muhdathatuha. Wa kulla muhdathatin bid'ah. Wa kulla bid'atin dhalalah. Wa kulla dhalalatin fin naar. Allahumma ajirna min al-naar.

All praise and thanks are due to God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate, and peace upon His Messenger, and His family, and His companions, and His followers, and all messengers of Allah, and all good people.

Let us raise the hand of our heart before we raise our physical hand to Allah to make this moment a moment of acceptance. Let us ask Allah deeply and sincerely to sublimate our souls, to elevate our aspirations, to eradicate our sins, to overlook our shortcomings. We ask Allah that if we are not good, to make us good. We ask Allah that if we are not worthy, that He would make us worthy out of His outmost generosity. Allahumma ameen.

The Disease Within the Ummah

My dear brothers and sisters, all the ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is striving to revive that model — the model that is prophetic. And we're all looking for that model, the beauty of that model, the depth of that model, the transformative characteristics of that model. And we're all looking left and right. And we can only rebuild that model if we know exactly where the disease crept into the ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

And without delay or beating around the bushes, I'll go directly to the point. And the point is, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam described in a hadith, is here — it is right in here. It's not in the world around us. It is a hadith that is overlooked, but it's one of the major ahadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that tells us about how things are going to be after him. A major hadith in understanding that which is going to happen to the ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Because if we don't accept the diagnosis of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, then we're going to be lost. Then we're going to be in complete darkness.

The Hadith of the Raising of Knowledge

This hadith is narrated by Imam al-Hakim, Imam al-Tabarani, Imam al-Tirmidhi, and Imam Ahmad, may Allah be pleased with them all. This is the narration of Imam Ahmad. And Jubair ibn Nufayr — this is a tabi'i. His name is Jubair ibn Nufayr. He's a tabi'i from Yemen who embraced Islam at the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam but did not see him. He came to Medina after the passing of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He narrated from Sayyidina Abu al-Darda. And this hadith is narrated by Sayyidina Abu al-Darda, and Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Umar, and Sayyidina Mu'adh, and Sayyidina Abu Malik al-Ash'ari, and many many other Sahaba.

Which means that it was well-known to the Sahaba. It was extremely well-known to the Sahaba. This is not an individual hadith or something known by few. This is extremely well-known. Why? Because it describes, it diagnoses the issues that are going to come after the passing of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — some of which are the reasons why we are in the situation that we are in as a community of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Sayyidina Abu al-Darda and His Station

Jubair ibn Nufayr said: we were sitting with Abu al-Darda. And Abu al-Darda — those who are followers of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam should all know about Sayyidina Abu al-Darda. We should all know about the friends and companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, because they are mirroring the light of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Each one of them is a mirror raised to reflect that beauty. And each one of them is different from the other.

And if you want to know the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam without learning about the Sahaba of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, then good luck. They are the reflection of the greatness of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Do your iman a service, and your love to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam a service, by learning on a daily basis about the Sahaba, by connecting to them on a deep level.

Sayyidina Abu al-Darda, radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, used to be called the wise of the ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. When the Prophet came into Medina, Abu al-Darda was worshipping an idol. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam looked at him and said: his intellect would prevent him from this. This is not a man to be doing something like that.

And as is the habit of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, whenever he saw a talented person, he would want that person to be with him. The Prophet was the best person to recognize talent, and when he recognized talent in somebody, he would rush to bring that person among his followers and give him precedence. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would go out of his way to get the talented people. And what is Sayyidina Umar, radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, other than the result of the recruiting, the da'wah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? He said: O Allah, I want Umar. This da'wah needs somebody like Umar. I need one of the two Umars.

Similarly with Sayyidina Abu al-Darda. He looked at him and said: Allahumma a'tini Abu al-Darda — O Allah, give me Abu al-Darda. I want that person. And indeed, after Badr, Sayyidina Abu al-Darda came, submitting to the beauty of Islam and giving his allegiance to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And since then, he became one of the scholars of the Ummah and one of the qurra' of the Ummah, radiAllahu ta'ala anhu.

The Prophet's Gaze Toward Heaven

So this is what Sayyidina Abu al-Darda narrated. He said: we were with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam once at the end of his life.

So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam raised his gaze to heaven. What's the deal about that? Why is the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam raising his gaze to heaven a momentous event? Indeed, it was an event, because most of the time sallallahu alayhi wa sallam his gaze would be on the ground — out of humility to Allah ta'ala, out of feeling the majesty of Allah, not just feeling it but witnessing it, and out of worry for his Ummah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

And if we go back to the Shama'il of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — that should be on the nightstand of every lover of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, because it contains his description, and if we are lovers we would love to have his description so close to us — in the Shama'il, Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Abbas, radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, said:

(Shama'il al-Muhammadiyyah of Imam al-Tirmidhi)

His gaze to the ground used to be way more than his gaze to heaven. He seldom raised his gaze to heaven. And when it happened, it was an event in Medina. This is one of those events.

So when they saw the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam looking toward the heavens like this, something was going to happen. He was going to say something unique. And everything he said sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is unique. This was his way to raise the inquisitiveness of the Sahaba — he did something exceptional that he doesn't do all the time. Now all of them are aware. Now all of them are ears. All of their hearts are open. And now he is going to tell them that which he wants to tell them sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

He told them a statement that was shocking. Extremely shocking to them. He said, after he raised his gaze to heaven:

(Musnad Imam Ahmad; also narrated by Imam al-Hakim, Imam al-Tabarani, and Imam al-Tirmidhi)

He said to them: this is the time in which knowledge is going to be raised away — sneaked away. Knowledge is going to be secretly seized away from people, and they can't do anything about it.

Now, let me remind everybody that this is the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam saying that while he's still living with them, while the wahi is still being sent, while the traces of Sayyidina Jibreel are all there, while the Qur'an is still fresh. But he says: this is the time when knowledge is going to be raised. And that was extremely shocking to the Sahaba. Some of them were shocked and dumbfounded. And some others objected respectfully.

Sayyidina Ziyad ibn Labid's Objection

One of the people who objected respectfully — unfortunately we don't know much about him, while we should know a lot about this Sahabi — his name is Ziyad ibn Labid. Ziyad ibn Labid, radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, was a very young man. But he was known by one thing among the Sahaba: he used to be called Ansariyul Muhajir — he used to be called an Ansari and a Muhajir at the same time.

Because in the year of the second pledge of Aqabah — twelve years after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had been given prophethood — the Ansar came to give the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam allegiance the second time. He was among those seventy-some Sahaba who went and gave their allegiance to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. But while the Ansar came back, Sayyidina Ziyad ibn Labid did not come back. He stayed with the Prophet in Makkah.

He said: how could I? I found the treasure of all treasures. I found the guidance to God. I found the Messenger of Allah. Do you want me to go back? To go back to what? He is my motherland. He is my family. He is every single thing to me.

And that is love. Love is when we put the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam above every single thing. When the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam becomes dearer to us than anything else. Then seeing the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam becomes more dear to us than anything in the world, more fulfilling than anything else in the world. So he stayed with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam for the entirety of the 13th year. When the Prophet migrated, he migrated after him. He used to be called Ansariyul Muhajir. He was known to be extremely smart and extremely knowledgeable among the Ansar.

Unfortunately, his biography is thin — like that of many of the Ansar. Sayyidina Ziyad ibn Labid said: O Messenger of Allah, how can knowledge be seized away while you are still among us and the Qur'an is still with us, and we memorize it and our hearts are still fresh, recognizing it, contemplating it? How could that happen? By Allah, we're not going to let that happen. We're going to make our children memorize it. We're going to make our wives memorize it. And we're going to pass it on to the next generation.

And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam looked at him and smiled. And he said: Ziyad —

(Musnad Imam Ahmad; also narrated by Imam al-Hakim and Imam al-Tabarani)

He said: May your mother be bereaved of you, O Ziyad — this is just an expression — I used to consider you one of the greatest fuqaha' of Medina. This is the Torah and the Gospels in the hands of the Christians and the Jews. How did that help them?

Confirmation from Sayyidina 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit

So Jubair ibn Nufayr looked at this hadith and said: this is strange. Abu al-Darda must have forgotten something about this hadith. It's extremely strange. So he went to Sayyidina 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit and told him: look at what your brother Abu al-Darda used to say. Look at what he's saying — that knowledge has been raised, or is in the process of being raised.

He said: don't even finish. We were all there when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that. And that's true. And actually the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam even told us: what is the first knowledge to be raised?

And Sayyidina 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit said: the first knowledge to be raised away from the ummah is khushu'. He called it knowledge — khushu'. Humility and humbleness in front of Allah. Not only in the state of prayer. You will come to the masjid of a great gathering, of a great community, and you will not find anybody in a state of khushu'. Because khushu' at the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was a visible thing. It was not an internal thing only. It was a visible thing.

The Ummah Knew the Deen Would Decline

The first thing that is extremely important to unpack from this hadith is that the Sahaba knew that the deen is going down. They knew that. Because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is telling them. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam emphasized this meaning with them in multiple ahadith.

Imam al-Hakim and al-Tabarani, through our master Abu Umamah al-Bahili, may Allah be pleased with him — the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, and this hadith is authenticated by Imam al-Hakim: the ties of Islam — the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is giving an example here of Islam as a rope that is tightened and strengthened by many ties — he said, the ties of Islam that strengthen Islam are going to be untied, one after one, after one, after one. The first one to be untied is good governance and justice. The last one to be untied is prayer.

So they knew — the Sahaba knew — that the deen is not going to go even higher than the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. That is the peak. And since that moment, it is going to go down step by step by step. Now you look at our history and you see all of this dissemination of knowledge and all of these conquests — the futuh — and you think otherwise. But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam called that intiqad al-'urwah — the untying of the knots of Islam.

So they were in a protective mode with regard to the deen. And that's why if you look at usul al-fiqh and the maqasid al-shari'ah, they're all formulated in expressions of hifz — protect, protect, protect. Hifz al-din, hifz al-mal, hifz al-'ird, hifz al-nafs. Protect the religion, protect wealth, protect honor, protect life, and so on and so forth. Because the scholars knew that their mission is a protective mission. Because the scholars knew that their mission is a protective mission.

Now there is nothing left to protect. You go to the Muslim world and the adhan is called and people are in the restaurants and in the coffee shops. Intaqadat — the whole rope had been untied. So how do we regain that? If we have to go back to the first thing that was raised away first — if you want to rebuild the prophetic community, one ought to go back to the first thing that was taken away and work on that. And ask Allah ta'ala to bring that back, because that is what is going to build the community.

The Prophetic Method: Hearts Before Laws

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam remained 13 years in Makkah not concerned about the legalities, not concerned about the law, not concerned about any of the regulations and obligations. He was concerned about the hearts of the believers. That's how the foundation of the Muslim community — the foundation of the prophetic community — was built: work on the heart for 13 years.

Why would we wonder about what was going on in the house of Al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam? It was Qiyam al-Layl.

Qiyam al-Layl was an obligation upon all of them. They used to pray in the house of Al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was extracting them from their world — the world of injustice, and the world of worshipping other than Allah, the immoral world — extracting them from all of that by building a beautiful, intimate relationship with Allah through dhikr and through Qiyam al-Layl. That was it for 13 years.

Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said: it was only 6 years after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam became a prophet that Allah said:

It was only 6 years after Allah sent the message, and Allah was sending to the Sahaba: is it about time that your hearts should feel the presence of Allah? Only 6 years.

The Crisis of the Prayer

The first thing, my brothers and my sisters, the foundational thing, is our prayer. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said in a hadith narrated by Imam Muslim and Imam al-Bukhari:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 796; referenced in Musnad Imam Ahmad)

He said: a man will stand up and pray — or a woman — and only half of their prayer will be counted. Only one-third, only one-fourth, only one-eighth — until he went to one-tenth, until he went to nothing. Because they are not present in their prayers.

When I feel the presence of Allah:

The closest a human being could be to his Lord is when they are prostrating. The whole world comes to us when we are prostrating. We solve the problems of the world when we are prostrating. While Allah is there. Allah is there.

Iman Before Qur'an: The Prophetic Pedagogical Method

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 61)

He said: we were young men — fatā ḥazawwar in the Arabic language refers to a youth who has not yet reached puberty, or has just reached it. Around the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not surround himself only with older men. He was around young men as well. We don't delegate young men only to peers like themselves, because an incomplete personality cannot educate an incomplete personality. He was around them sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and that was the education of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

We were taught faith and iman before we were taught the Qur'an. And when we learned the Qur'an, we became so strong in our faith with it.

And that is exactly the statement of Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Umar. He said — narrated by Imam al-Hakim — that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: we were given iman before we were given Qur'an. And you — speaking to the tabi'een — you have been given Qur'an before iman. You didn't work on yourself before you started memorizing and coding and going to tafsir and this and that. You didn't work on yourself.

The sense with which you can read the Qur'an, with which you can feel the Qur'an — because the Qur'an is not an academic journey when you start with it. It is a relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if we don't feel that relationship, the book did not convey its secrets to you. It didn't work.

How to Regain Khushu': Practical Guidance

So, briefly insha'Allah, I will mention a few things that help us gain this khushu', regain this khushu' — institutionalizing it and establishing it in our community, not just as an individual endeavor but as a communal endeavor.

Sayyidina 'Ubadah ibn al-Samit said:

When you come to a great community, there is nobody who is in a state of khushu'.

Matters of the heart are the most important matters in our deen. The most important matters in our deen, because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not look to anything other than what is in our hearts. And unless we clean those hearts and purify them, none of the obligations, none of the ibadat will give their secrets to us and their fruits to us. Because every ibadah has a fruit. Every ibadah has a fruit.

And if we don't gain the fruit of the prayer, and the fruit of the fasting, and the fruit of giving — the spiritual fruits that should show in us on a daily basis, in our character, in our view of the world — then the whole thing is void. Then the whole thing is a mechanical exercise.

Khushu' is not a state in the prayer only. Khushu' is shuhudu 'azamatillahi azza wa jalla fi kulli anin wa waqt — Khushu' is witnessing and testifying to the majesty of God in every single moment. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the Manifest. Nothing can veil Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Whatever veils are ourselves, and our egos, and our passions and desires. He is the Manifest.

He is manifest in every single thing we do. He is manifest in us. Khushu' is when we work on that sense to witness and testify to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because without that, life is only actions — mechanical actions. There is no soul to it. There is no beauty to it. Because whoever does not know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala experientially does not know anything. Man fatahallahu fatahu kullu shay'in — whoever does not reach that, nothing will fulfill him or fulfill her.

First: Dhikr at All Times

So the first thing is to attach ourselves to Allah. Attach ourselves to Allah through His dhikr. A believer should always be in a state of dhikr — especially as we prepare for Ramadan.

When the poet said: when the 20th of Sha'ban has come, then start drinking with great vessels. And don't drink with small vessels, because time is not for the small. And indeed time is not for the small. This is the time the ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam needs each one of us to work on themselves, to work on the transformation — the spiritual transformation. That is how the ummah changes. That is how our state changes. The only and the only way is the prophetic way.

So dhikr all the time. La ilaha illallah — all the time. All the time. There is no time in the Qur'an that dhikr is mentioned except in a state of abundance. So la ilaha illallah — while you're sitting down right now, closing your mouth, la ilaha illallah doesn't demand more than that you move your tongue. As much as you move that tongue, Allah ta'ala is with you.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7405; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2675 — Hadith Qudsi)

I am with My servant, Allah is saying, as long as he invokes My name and his lips move with My name. Dhikr all the time. All the time — dhikr while driving. If you catch yourself not in a state of dhikr, then you are in a state of ghafla. La ilaha illallah.

Second: Prepare for the Prayer

The second thing, briefly insha'Allah, is to prepare for the prayers. Don't come from the world directly to the prayer. You come from the world to the prayer and all you're going to be thinking about is that which you were doing — regurgitating the world. And the prayer should be a break from the world.

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4985)

Give us ease and rest with it. So get to sit down before the prayer. Get to sit down for a few moments before the prayer. Start thinking of al-Akhirah. The thinking of al-Akhirah extracts you quickly from the dunya. Whatever you've been doing — you start thinking of al-Akhirah and your meeting with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and all of that becomes small. All of that, whatever shenanigans you were involved in in the world — you start thinking of al-Akhirah and that becomes so small. Extremely small.

And the second and the last thing is salat fi waqtiha — honor the call of Allah ta'ala. Honor that call as much as you can.

Third: Keep the Companionship of the Righteous

And keep the companionship of the dhakirin. Keep the companionship of the khashi'in. Keep the companionship of those who want to be close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, those who strive to have that intimate relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the prayer and otherwise. Without companionship, Wallahi, there is nothing accessible. Wallahi, they say — and our ulama say — and they don't swear by Allah all the time, but this is extremely important:

By Allah, no one has succeeded except by keeping the companionship of somebody who succeeded. Look for them. Ask Allah ta'ala to give you that type of companionship. Ask Allah ta'ala for them. O Allah, I need those people in my life. And Allah will provide them for you.

Fourth: Make Du'a for Khushu'

And the last thing is du'a. Khushu' is in the treasures of Allah ta'ala. He can give it to you. He can give it to all of us — so make du'a for it. If it is important to you, then make du'a for it. Every single prayer: O Allah, grant it to me. O Allah, I don't want to be a ghafil in the prayer. I don't want to be making du'a while thinking of the world. O Allah, deliver me from this situation. O Allah, deliver me from the prison of being away from You.

We ask Allah ta'ala to grant us that. We ask Allah ta'ala to grant us that and to make us from those companions.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us worthy of His mercy. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us worthy of His closeness. O Allah, deliver us from the desert of ghafla — forgetfulness and carelessness — and guide us to the gardens of being close to You. O Allah, guide us to being close to You. O Allah, give us meaning in being close to You. O Allah, give us solace in being close to You.

O Allah, be with our brothers and our sisters who are going through calamities in Syria, and in Palestine, and in Burma, and in Central Africa, and everybody who is downtrodden. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to deliver them from the darkness that they are going through. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to elevate the ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, to forgive the ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, to utilize the ummah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in serving the world and delivering the world from its agonies and from its sad state. Allahumma ameen. Allahumma ameen.

وَصَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَىٰ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَآلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلِّمْ. إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ، وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ.