Which Option Will You Take? - Shaykh Muhammad Ali

Khutbah al-Jumu'ah — Opening

Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, ask for His help, and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds.

Whom Allah guides, no one can misguide. Whom He misguides, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. He conveyed the message, 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 his companions and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

As for what follows: the most truthful speech is the word of Allah. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are innovations. Every innovation is a newly invented matter, and every newly invented matter is misguidance. May Allah protect us from it.

Introduction: A Lesson from a Female Companion

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, as we sit here in the masjid, waiting for the khutbah, probably thinking about what the topic will be today, what the imam is about to remind us of, how relevant this is going to be for us — maybe many questions are going through your mind as I speak.

My brothers and sisters in Islam, I want to bring to your attention today, inshallah, something that one of the female companions has brought to our attention. This female companion said: "I have not memorized Surah Qaf except from the mouth of the Prophet ﷺ." And she explained the reason: the Prophet ﷺ, so often when he was delivering the Friday khutbah — addressing those great people such as Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, and Ali ibn Abi Talib, and all those great companions — would so often recite and remind them about Surah Qaf and what it contains.

The great Imam Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him), the great Mufassir, has mentioned that perhaps the reason the Prophet ﷺ so often used to remind the companions about the contents of this amazing surah is because it contains some powerful topics. Among them is the beginning of creation — how Allah began everything. Among them is also al-Hashr (the gathering of the people), al-Ma'ad (the return), and al-Hisab (the reckoning). The surah covers and talks about many important topics, a lot of them related to the Hereafter.

Today, my brothers and sisters in Islam, I am not going to be able to recite the whole surah to you. But the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) — the Arabic language was their language. They understood it so well. So the Prophet ﷺ would not need to explain it to them. As soon as the ayat were recited and came into contact with their ears, they would go straight and come into contact with their hearts. Because these ayat are so powerful — the ayat of Surah Qaf.

So my brothers and sisters in Islam, our khutbah today inshallah — I am going to recite some of these ayat and try to explain some of them.

Part One: Allah's Knowledge and the Angels Who Record

Allah Created Us and Knows Our Innermost Thoughts

Look what Allah has said: "Indeed, We have created mankind." No one should ever think anything else — we have been created by Allah. "And We know what his soul whispers to him." Each and every one of you right now, as you are looking at me, whatever is going through your mind — I have got no idea at all. But Allah is aware of it. وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ. And Allah has said: "We are closer to you than your jugular vein" — that vein right there. Allah has said: I am closer to you than that jugular vein. By His knowledge, Allah knows everything about us.

That is why Allah has said:

Allah knows what the treacherous eye is doing. And Allah is aware of what your hearts are concealing. Every one of us right now, as we sit in the masjid listening to this khutbah, there are certain things our hearts are concealing and hiding. Who knows about all of them? Allah.

The Two Recording Angels

Allah has said: "With you are two angels" — two angels that will write everything that you utter. SubhanAllah! One of them is on the right-hand side, the other on the left-hand side. Both of them are writing. "He does not utter a single word except that there is an observer ready to record it."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) and other scholars have said: even when you say أَكَلْتُ وَشَرِبْتُ وَنِمْتُ — "I drank, I ate, I slept" — even those words will be written down. And then later on, perhaps they will be discarded. And subhanAllah, Allah is so merciful.

Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) has said:

(Reported by Sufyan al-Thawri, as cited in classical tafsir literature)

Sufyan said: "I have heard that the angel who writes the righteous deeds is in charge of the angel who writes the bad deeds. And when the servant of Allah commits a sin, the angel on the right-hand side says to the angel on the left: 'Don't rush. Don't register it straight away. Don't write it down. لَعَلَّهُ يَسْتَغْفِرُ — maybe he is going to seek the forgiveness of Allah. Wait.'"

There is another narration that Imam al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) has graded as sound:

(Graded Hasan by al-Albani; see al-Silsilah al-Sahihah, Hadith 1/1209)

SubhanAllah. The Prophet ﷺ said: the angel who writes our bad deeds will not write down what bad deeds you have committed for six hours. It will wait just to see if you make tawbah or not. So if you make tawbah from that sin, that sin will be wiped away. But if you don't make tawbah, only a single sin will be written against you.

My brothers and sisters, what are these ayat indicating to us? How short life is. Allah has said: I have created you. I have appointed angels to write everything down. Is it because Allah needs them? No. But in the Hereafter, this is going to be an evidence against you.

The Coming of Death

And then Allah moved on straight away, and He said:

Look how quickly death comes. You have just been created, and you have been told: from the time you were born until the time of your death, you are not going to be by yourself — you have angels with you. And then death is going to come. "And the stupor of death will come in truth." Because death comes with the truth. Sometimes people do not know what is going to happen after death. But as soon as death comes, the person will realise the reality that lies after death. And it will be said to him: ذَٰلِكَ مَا كُنتَ مِنْهُ تَحِيدُ — "That was what you were running away from." People are trying to cheat death. That is what you were fleeing from.

The Trumpet, the Gathering, and the Record

You will not just be left alone when you die and disappear forever. Allah has said: "And the Trumpet will be blown — that is the Day of which warning had been given." The day you are going to come back. Look how quickly things are happening.

And each and every one of us will come with a sa'iq and a shahid. Some of the scholars have said the sa'iq is an angel and the shahid is another angel that will be a witness against you — so one angel will have the full record of what you have done, and the other will be a witness. Or the sa'iq is the angel that will drive you and take you from the grave all the way to the Mahshar where the people will be gathered. Some of the scholars have also said the shahid is the person himself — you will testify against yourself. How? Allah told us in the Qur'an:

Allah said: "Until, when they reach it, their hearing and their eyes and their skins will testify against them of what they used to do." Your ears — whenever you listen to something haram, don't think this will just go away and that's it. The ears will testify against you. Your eyes will testify against you. When we look at something haram — do you think the eyes Allah gave us will be quiet in the Hereafter? Not only the eyes — وَجُلُودُهُم — even your skin is going to testify against you. SubhanAllah.

And the person will speak to himself and say: لِمَ شَهِدتُّمْ عَلَيْنَا — "Why are you testifying against us?" And the body will say: أَنطَقَنَا اللَّهُ الَّذِي أَنطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ — "Allah, who made everything speak, has made us speak. We cannot resist this." وَهُوَ خَلَقَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ — "And He is your Creator. He created you the first time, and to Him you are returned."

The Veil Lifted — Too Late

My brothers and sisters in Islam, after that it will be said to the person:

"Indeed you were heedless of this. But We have removed from you your cover, and sharp is your sight this Day." That is the Hereafter. But when your eyes are too sharp in the Hereafter — it is too late. Too little, too late.

The Record is Presented — and Shaytan Distances Himself

The angel that was recording everything we have done will come with a record and say: "This is what I have written regarding the life of this man or this woman." And then Allah is going to tell us about the discussion and the argument that will happen between the person and the Qareen — the Shaytan who is with him:

Even the Shaytan who is encouraging you to do haram today is going to distance himself away from you. He is going to free himself. The Qareen, the Shaytan partner that we have, will say: "Our Lord, I did not cause him to transgress. Rather, he was already in far-going error." كَانَ فِي ضَلَالٍ بَعِيدٍ. He was the one who went astray, a long time ago.

And what will Allah say?

Who can teach you this other than Allah? Allah is giving us a vivid — subhanAllah — presentation of how things will happen in the Hereafter. No physics teacher can teach you this. No chemistry teacher will teach you this. Only Allah can tell us this in the Qur'an, and the Prophet ﷺ in the hadith. Everyone, pay attention to this. Allah will say: "Do not dispute in front of Me. I had already given you the warning." وَقَدْ قَدَّمْتُ إِلَيْكُم بِالْوَعِيدِ — "I gave you the warning such a long time ago. I already warned you."

Iblis Delivers His Final Speech — Inside Jahannam

When Shaytan distances himself away from you, what is he going to say? Allah told us in Surah Ibrahim:

When the judgment is finished, what will Iblis say? Iblis is going to deliver a talk — where? Inside Jahannam. He will say: "Allah promised you the true promise, and I also made a promise for you, but I did not fulfil my promise." Imagine someone who is going to attend and listen to that lecture that Iblis is going to give inside the Hellfire. O Allah, do not make us from those people. We do not want our ears to hear those words coming out from Iblis that day.

And he will say: "I had no authority over you." Have you ever seen anyone who has reported to the police saying: "Iblis has a gun to my head — if I don't do it, he'll kill me"? No. He will say: "I had no authority over you. I only invited you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me — blame yourselves. I cannot help you, and you cannot help me." We are in the fire together. We have to make a choice.

Allah's Judgment is Final

Allah said: "The word is not changed with Me, and I am not ever unjust to My servants." The judgment and decisions I have made will never be changed. And I am not someone who transgresses against My slaves.

Hellfire Is Never Full

The day Hellfire will be asked: "Are you filled up with people?" And it will say: "Can I have more? I can accommodate more people." In sha Allah in the second part of our khutbah, we will discuss what the other option is. This option was the Hellfire option — is there another option? Can we take that option? Yes. Because we are still alive, we can make that important decision and say: "I want to go for that option, not the first one. I want to go for the second option." What is the second option? In sha Allah, wait until the second part of the khutbah.

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

Second Khutbah

الحمد لله على إحسانه والشكر له على توفيقه وامتنانه وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمدًا عبده ورسوله صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين

My brothers and sisters in Islam, as you can see — when Allah presented to us how things will be for those people who denied the truth, who rejected the truth, what their situation is going to be — Allah is now going to remind us how the situation will be for the people who accepted the truth and obeyed Allah in this life.

Part Two: The Second Option — Jannah for the People of Taqwa

Hellfire — Its Immensity

Before that, let us reflect on what Allah said about Jahannam. The Prophet ﷺ has said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2842)

Just imagine this, my brothers and sisters. The Prophet ﷺ has said: Hellfire will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, and it will have 70,000 leads. Each lead — each rope — of Hellfire will be pulled by 70,000 angels. And what sizes are the angels? Are they like our sizes? No. These are immense angels pulling Hellfire so that people can view it and see it for themselves. SubhanAllah. And Allah will say to that Hellfire: "Are you full?" And it will say: "Can I have more people?"

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4848; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2848)

Until Allah places His foot inside the Hellfire — and then it begins to come together, and it says: "Enough! Enough!" SubhanAllah.

Jannah — Its Vastness

And what about Jannah?

SubhanAllah. Jannah — when everybody goes in, it will still have spaces left. And Allah will create new people so they can occupy that part of Paradise. I ask myself sometimes: if Jannah is not going to be filled up, and every Muslim, every believer will have a space there — as Muslims, why are we always fighting one another? Allah's Jannah is not going to be too small for us. Allah's Jannah will have spaces left when everybody is given whatever they can have. Everything — and yet Allah said Jannah will still have some space left, and Allah will create new people that have never been created before, just to occupy that remaining part of Paradise.

So why fighting? Why arguing all the time? Why belittling one another? Allah's Paradise is so vast. The mercy of Allah is so vast. It can encompass everything. SubhanAllah.

Jannah Brought Near to the People of Taqwa

"And Paradise will be brought near to the righteous, not far." Jannah will be brought near to those people who are conscious of Allah. It is not going to be too far for them. And it will be said to them:

"This is what you were promised — for every returner to Allah and keeper of His limits, who feared the Most Merciful unseen and came with a heart returning in repentance."

Those people who always go back to Allah, making tawbah to Allah. And those people who always pay attention to the commandments of Allah. And then — those people who feared Allah even though they have not seen Him, who showed fear of Allah when they were by themselves. Do you know when you are by yourself and no one else is with you and there is no CCTV camera in the room — that is the time you need to fear Allah. No one else is present with you. You can do anything you want. But fear Allah. Know that Allah is above you, Allah can see you. And not only that — you have two angels with you. Show respect.

And وَجَاءَ بِقَلْبٍ مُّنِيبٍ — those people who come with a heart that always wants to return to Allah. What will be said to them?

"Enter it in peace. This is the Day of Eternity." It will be said to them: "Go and enter Paradise in peace." May Allah make us from those people. Allahumma ameen. Today is the Day that you will be there forever — eternal.

And it will be said to them: "They will have whatever they wish therein, and with Us is more." They will get in Paradise whatever they wish for — and on top of that is mazid. What is the mazid? The ability to see Allah in the Hereafter. SubhanAllah.

What is the biggest punishment Allah is going to punish the people of Hellfire with? The scholars have said: they will never be given the opportunity to see Allah. That is why Allah said in Surah al-Mutaffifin:

That is the biggest punishment that will ever be inflicted upon the people who never believed in Allah. They will never be given the opportunity to see Allah. But as for the people of Jannah — as the Prophet ﷺ said — the people who will be occupying the highest levels of Jannah will be able to see Allah twice every day. And other people will see Allah once a week. Just imagine that — the day when you are going to see Allah with your eyes. SubhanAllah. When Allah gives you that permission and the ability to see Him.

The Reminder Is for Those with Living Hearts

And I want to conclude our khutbah today with the ayah where Allah has said:

"Indeed in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or who listens while he is present in mind." Everything that has been mentioned — all the things Allah talked about in this surah and in the Qur'an — is just a reminder. Who is it going to be a reminder for? The people who have good hearts. إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَذِكْرَىٰ لِمَن كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ — if you have a heart that fears Allah, you will benefit from the reminder I have just delivered. And the one who was listening to it attentively — وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ.

Conclusion — Which Option Will You Take?

Finally, I want to share with you something that the great Imam Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allah have mercy on him) has said. He said: when a believer comes to the hilaq al-dhikr — when a Muslim comes to the places where Allah is remembered — the Shaytan who is with him waits for him outside. So when you come out of the remembrance, like the Jumu'ah khutbah right now — if you go back out and you have not changed, or you have not made the decision to change for the better, the Shaytan who is waiting outside for you will welcome you back. He will say to you: "My friend, welcome back to me. I will dictate to you exactly what to do after this."

So Imam Ibn Rajab has said: we have the option after leaving the remembrance of Allah. When we leave from the masjid, you have the option — either to upset Allah and make Shaytan happy by not changing, or to make Allah happy and make Shaytan upset by changing and making the decision to change.

So I do not want anybody to leave this masjid today without making that intention — to say: "I am going to change. I am going to pay attention to Surah Qaf. I am going to learn the tafsir of Surah Qaf and pay attention to it." And if you did not know the tafsir of the Qur'an before, pay attention to it now. Otherwise we will be in danger. And Allah told us all of that.