Importance of Faith - Shaykh Muhammad Ali

Opening: Praise and Testimony

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil 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. He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. He conveyed the message and fulfilled the trust and advised the Ummah. And he left us on the white path — its night is like its day. Nothing escapes it except destruction. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions, and whoever follows them in goodness until the Day of Recompense.

Indeed, the truest speech is the word of Allah. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations. And every innovation is a newly invented matter. And every newly invented matter is a misguidance. May Allah protect us from it.

O Allah, make us of the winners in this world and the Hereafter.

The Call to Friday Prayer

O you who believe, when the call to the Friday prayer comes — فَاسْعَوْا إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ — you run towards, you rush towards the remembrance of Allah, and you leave the buying and the selling, and whatever it is that you were busy with.

Alhamdulillah, here we have our brothers and sisters who have left behind everything that they were busy with before the time of Jumu'ah prayer. And alhamdulillah, here we are — all of us gathered in the masjid of Allah — to gather together, to be reminded of some of the words of Allah and also some of the words of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Prophetic Hadith: Amass These Words

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, I would like you to open your ears — and before your ears, open your hearts — for the words, for the wisdom that the Prophet ﷺ is about to share with us.

We live in a world which is so materialistic today. Every human being is running so much. Every human being is so preoccupied and so busy with making money, and trying to hold as much money, as much wealth as possible. But look at what the Prophet ﷺ has advised us with. And alhamdulillah, we are from the ummah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — a Prophet that can give you the best of advice.

We all know as human beings, if you want to seek advice in a particular matter, you try and find the best person — the person who can give you the best advice, the expert. But here, look — the Prophet ﷺ is going to give us advice that will be beneficial for us in this life, and the next life more importantly.

My dear brothers, the Prophet ﷺ has reminded us in this powerful hadith. The Prophet ﷺ has said:

(Reported by al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; attributed to the Prophet ﷺ)

When people amass, when people hold gold and silver — when people become preoccupied by making money and amassing as much wealth as possible — did the Prophet ﷺ say you just go and also amass as much wealth as possible? No. The Prophet ﷺ said: You need to amass the following statements, the following words.

And insha'Allah, if each and every one of us leaves from this Jumu'ah today having memorized the words that the Prophet ﷺ is teaching us right now, it will be sufficient.

Explanation of the Du'a

اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الثَّبَاتَ فِي الْأَمْرِ — O Allah, verily I ask of You strength and perseverance of obedience upon the deen.

وَالْعَزِيمَةَ عَلَى الرُّشْدِ — And determination in the practicing of the deen and goodness.

وَأَسْأَلُكَ شُكْرَ نِعْمَتِكَ وَحُسْنَ عِبَادَتِكَ — And I ask of You the capability to be thankful for Your blessings, and to worship You in a correct and good way.

وَأَسْأَلُكَ قَلْبًا سَلِيمًا وَلِسَانًا صَادِقًا — And I ask of You a heart which is purified in belief, free from desires, and a truthful tongue.

وَأَسْأَلُكَ مِنْ خَيْرِ مَا تَعْلَمُ — And I ask of You for the best of what You know.

وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا تَعْلَمُ — And I seek refuge with You from the evil of what You know.

وَأَسْتَغْفِرُكَ لِمَا تَعْلَمُ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ — And I seek forgiveness for that which You know. Indeed, You are the One Who knows the unseen.

A very powerful hadith. A very powerful du'a. A du'a that we all need to memorize. I will repeat this du'a one more time so those of you who have not memorized it can go back to this khutbah, bi idhnillah, and learn from it.

Wealth Versus Righteous Deeds

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, Allah has said in the Quran:

Allah reminded us: الْمَالُ وَالْبَنُونَ — wealth and children — they are the adornments of this worldly life. But what is better? وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا — the good deeds. The salah that you pray, the dhikr of Allah, the remembrance of Allah is far better.

And then also Allah has said in the Quran:

Whatever that is with you — whatever that you have — will perish. But whatever that is with Allah, that is what will remain.

The Story of Sulayman and the Farmer

It was said that Sulayman ibn Dawud, peace be upon them both, once passed by a farmer while travelling in his procession with the jinn and the humans. The farmer looked at him and said: "The son of Dawud has been given a great kingdom." And when Sulayman heard that, he came to the farmer and said to him:

تَسْبِيحَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِنْ مُلْكِ سُلَيْمَانَ

He said: One tasbihah — one time saying سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ — is far better than the wealth and the kingdom that I have been given. Why? Because التَّسْبِيحَةَ تَبْقَى — the tasbihah will remain. It will not perish. But مُلْكُ سُلَيْمَانَ يَفْنَى — the kingdom that was given to Sulayman will perish.

Isn't that the reality right now? Can we see the kingdom of Sulayman right now? No, it doesn't exist. It's gone. It will go.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we can go on and on and remind ourselves about the importance of asking Allah this very important du'a. But the time is very, very limited.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah: Steadfastness Upon the Religion

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ عَلَى إِحْسَانِهِ وَالشُّكْرُ لَهُ عَلَى تَوْفِيقِهِ وَامْتِنَانِهِ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, the beginning of this du'a — the Prophet ﷺ has said: أَسْأَلُكَ الثَّبَاتَ فِي الْأَمْرِ. And what is the amr here? What are you asking Allah for? You are asking Allah to give you the ability to be steadfast upon the religion.

Al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah have mercy on him, used to recite this ayah:

And he used to say: اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ رَبُّنَا فَارْزُقْنَا الِاسْتِقَامَةَ — Ya Allah, You are our Lord; bless us with istiqamah, steadfastness upon the religion.

And this is something that we definitely need — more than ever — especially nowadays. The times that we live in right now are very challenging. For our kids. For our youth. For ourselves. Even for grown-up people. Everybody is going to be challenged, especially when it comes to your aqeedah and your belief. You will be shaken. And no one is safe.

The Du'a of the Prophet ﷺ in Sujood

The Prophet ﷺ — whenever he was in a state of sujood — what du'a did he used to read?

Imagine — if the Prophet ﷺ used to ask Allah to keep him upon the religion of Allah, to keep him steadfast upon the religion — then look, my dear brothers and sisters in Islam: no one is safe. No one should ever feel comfortable and say, "Alhamdulillah, I was born as a Muslim and I will remain as a Muslim and I will die as a Muslim." Who told you that? Who gave you that guarantee? No one. Anyone of us can lose his or her religion. May Allah protect us.

That's why the Prophet ﷺ has said: اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ الثَّبَاتَ فِي الْأَمْرِ وَالْعَزِيمَةَ عَلَى الرُّشْدِ. A very powerful du'a.

A Personal Story: No One's Faith Is Safe

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, I'm going to share with you a story that I have witnessed myself with my own eyes — just to show you the danger that we all face.

There was a day when I was going for a Jumu'ah prayer. I left my home and called for a taxi. A taxi came to take me to the train station. The driver of that taxi — the way he looked — I just assumed that he was a Muslim. I said to the driver: "Brother, where are you from?" And he said to me: "I'm from that country" — a Muslim country. And I said to him, I made du'a for him and for his country. I said: "Ya Akhi, my dear brother, may Allah bring about peace to your country." And he looked at me angrily and said to me: "Allah is the problem."

You are all in a state of shock right now. How do you think I felt as I was sat in that car? He looked at me and he said: "Allah is the problem." That was more painful than any punch. Very painful. And I just — it took me a while to recover from that — as we were driving towards the train station.

And then I said to him — I just wanted to find out what made him say that — and I said to him: "Why did you say that, brother?" He said: "Those people are killing each other because of Allah." Very painful. Very painful. And then he told me other things. He said to me: "Look where we live right now. We live in the West. Look at the peace that they have. Look at the prosperity that they have. Look at this, look at this. Look at the progress that they have made. Look at how strong they are politically. Look at how strong they are financially." And then he pointed to the Muslim world. This is a fitna.

The Du'a of Ibrahim Against Becoming a Fitna

And what was the du'a that Ibrahim, peace be upon him, has made?

Imam al-Razi, may Allah have mercy on him, when he was explaining that ayah, said: Ya Allah, don't make the Muslims so weak that the non-Muslims think — if Islam was the true religion, they would have been strong. SubhanAllah. Imagine when the non-Muslims are doing far better than the Muslims — that would discourage the non-Muslims from joining Islam. That's why Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him, used to say: رَبَّنَا لَا تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا. SubhanAllah. Imagine when we become a fitna to other people.

Brothers, the point I'm trying to make here is: no one's religion is safe. All of us — as I was speaking to that driver — I was beginning to find out things about him. Some of the questions I asked him revealed that he had been in this country around maybe eight, ten years. And when he came to this country, he was a grown-up person. He wasn't young. He was not a child who was born in this country. And he was affected like that. No one is safe.

That's why it's very important that we draw closer to Allah. We make sincere du'a to Allah. We hold on to our prayer — very, very important. And we make this du'a. So the du'a that I've read today during the khutbah is a very important du'a:

A very important du'a. Learn and memorize it. And also memorize:

Because the most precious thing that we have is the religion. It's iman. Wallahi, nothing else. If you lose all your wealth, all your kids, everything that you have — but you have your iman, you're safe. But if you have everything and you lose your iman, you're a loser. Finished. The greatest thing that we have is iman — the faith.

Conclusion: Make the Decision Now

My dear brothers, hold on to that. And insha'Allah, dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I want to just say to you at the end of this khutbah — we have to make وَالْعَزِيمَةَ عَلَى الرُّشْدِ. The Prophet ﷺ said: وَالْعَزِيمَةَ عَلَى الرُّشْدِ — determination. You have to be very determined. You have to have resolve. You have to have willpower to change.

Some of us right now don't even pray the five daily prayers. We only come for Friday prayers — that's it. You need to change that. You need to say: I want to pray my five daily prayers. And make that decision right now. وَالْعَزِيمَةَ عَلَى الرُّشْدِ.

My dear brothers, as we leave the masjid right now after salah, Shaytan will be waiting for us outside. And you have the choice — you have two choices: either you make Shaytan happy and make Allah upset, or you make Allah happy and you upset Shaytan — depending on the decision that you make before you leave the masjid.

This is the time for tawbah. This is the time for change. No one from here should leave the masjid today without making that firm decision and saying: I am going to change. I want to hold on to my religion. I don't want to lose my religion. Because the further away you go from Allah, the more likely you will be to leave your religion. This is very serious.

You have to get closer to Allah. Come to the masjid. Be part of the community. Hold on to your Muslim community. Very, very important. Otherwise you will become a loser.

Closing Du'as

وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ — And establish the prayer.