Aiding & Helping Others (with British Sign Language) - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَفِيُّهُ مِنْ خَلْقِهِ وَخَلِيلُهُ، أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَى النَّاسِ كَافَّةً بَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا، فَبَلَّغَ الرِّسَالَةَ وَأَدَّى الْأَمَانَةَ وَنَصَحَ الْأُمَّةَ، وَتَرَكَنَا عَلَى الْمَحَجَّةِ الْبَيْضَاءِ لَيْلُهَا كَنَهَارِهَا لَا يَزِيغُ عَنْهَا إِلَّا هَالِكٌ، فَصَلَوَاتُ اللَّهِ وَسَلَامُهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنِ اهْتَدَى بِهَدْيِهِ وَاسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ وَدَعَا بِدَعْوَتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

The Need for Allah's Help — In This World and the Next

There are certain things that aid you in gaining the pleasure of Allah. There are certain things that aid you in getting the mercy of Allah. And often when we are speaking about Allah's mercy, it may be that what comes to your mind is that you need Allah's mercy in the grave, you need Allah's mercy in the hereafter, you need Allah's mercy on the Day of Judgment. And wallahi we do. But also we need Allah's rahmah and mercy and aid in the dunya — with your family, with your business, with your spouse, with your life. You need Allah.

And Allah is just. He gives mercy to those who deserve mercy. He gives aid to those who deserve aid — and sometimes even those who don't deserve it. But if you want Allah to aid you from your difficulties, if you want Allah to relieve you from your troubles, then there are certain things that you can do that will guarantee that. And Rasulullah ﷺ taught us that.

Each one of us here sitting has some troubles — whatever they may be. For some of us it will be our health, for others it will be something related to your finances, for others it will be related to your family. Each one of us is going through some sort of issue or trouble. And sometimes they are personal, sometimes they are communal. And we know all over the world there are so many people being tested by Allah with all sorts of difficulties.

But what our Prophet ﷺ taught us is that among the ways to ease your own difficulty is easing others' difficulty. To help others will result in Allah helping you.

The Hadith of Relieving a Believer's Difficulty

The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 2699)

Whoever relieves a trouble — a great trouble, a problem — from a fellow believer in this dunya, Allah will do the same for him in the akhirah.

My brothers and sisters, how many people do we know that are struggling, that are suffering, that need help? The Prophet is telling us: do you want Allah to help you on the day that you need it the most — the day you're standing in front of Allah? Look around you. Look at those that are in need and extend your hand and help them.

Wallahi, there are so many people that you could help. There are so many people that need our help, especially those among us that have been blessed. Wallahi, the lives that we live — compared to certain places in the world where they are starving, where they are in poverty, where they do not know where their next meal is coming from, or they don't have roofs over their heads — if you relieve their difficulty, Allah is promising you that your difficulties will be relieved on the Day of Judgment.

This is an opportunity, my brothers and sisters. Us as human beings, we love to do good. Alhamdulillah, we do a lot of good. But here you have an extra encouragement. Allah is telling us, the Prophet is telling us, that the day that you will be standing in front of Allah to be judged — the day where your deeds and misdeeds will be counted — what will help you is how much you helped others.

Look at how often we are presented with opportunities to help others. Look at how often you see someone that is in need of support. When we have so much, alhamdulillah — often our fridges are full, food expires in our homes, often we have a surplus of wealth left over at the end of the month — when there are people suffering, when there are people that have no clothes, where there are people sleeping outside and have no shelter. Do we not want Allah to show us mercy? Wallahi we do.

Easing the Burden of Those in Debt

Then Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 2699)

And whoever makes it easy for a person that was indebted to them. So we lend money to people all the time — cousins, brothers and sisters, family members, neighbours and friends. We lend them money. Many of us here have lent money to people, and others have borrowed money. This is, alhamdulillah, how society works, and this comes from a place of trust, which is great.

But did you know that among the ways that Allah will help you and Allah will ease your difficulties is if you take it easy on those that you lend money to? We've all been there, my brothers and sisters — we've all been there — where you've borrowed some money and then you see the person you borrowed money from and you feel shy because you haven't paid them back yet. Or the other way around.

Among the ways to enter Jannah, my brothers and sisters, is to take it easy on those that have been burdened financially. Among the ways the Prophet encouraged is, for instance: you lent someone money and you agreed on a certain date to pay back — let them know before that date comes, "My sister, my brother, if you need extra time then take it. If you need extra time then take it. If you want to pay me a few months later, a few weeks later..." Do you know how much relief that will give that person in this world?

The Story of the Sinful Man Who Entered Jannah

In fact, let me share with you a hadith that the Prophet ﷺ shared with his companions. He said: from the people that came before you was a man. This man — there was no sin on earth he did not commit. He was a sinful human being. Rasulullah is telling us — except that Allah gave him wealth, and he used to lend money to people. And then when he would tell his servants and his workers to go collect, he would say to them: "Whoever has it, take from them. And whoever doesn't have the money to pay me back, then leave them."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2391; Sahih Muslim, Book 27, Hadith 1562)

"Leave them — perhaps Allah will leave me. Leave them — perhaps Allah will leave me."

What do you think happened, my brothers and sisters?

Allah forgave him, and he entered into Jannah. He entered into Jannah.

Each one of us here — what is the great deed that he did that was so deserving of Jannah? He relieved difficulty. He eased stress and difficulty from a fellow person. That's what he did. And Allah was so merciful that, despite his sins, Allah allowed him entry into Jannah.

This is why our Prophet ﷺ says: whoever takes it easy on a hard-pressed, indebted person, Allah will give him ease in this world and the next. So if there is anyone that is awaiting money from you, perhaps you do that sunnah.

In another narration, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned that the reward of the person that does that is that he is among those that will enjoy the shade on a day that there is no shade — يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ.

Brothers, this is not an easy thing. Take advantage of this ibadah. Take advantage of this ibadah. And it comes from a place of entering happiness and joy and relief into the hearts of your fellow brothers and sisters.

The Most Beloved Deed to Allah

This is why the Prophet ﷺ said:

(al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, al-Tabarani; also referenced in al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman)

The most beloved deeds to Allah is to enter happiness and joy into a fellow believer's heart. It is among the most beloved actions to Allah. So in whatever form that takes, do that — and do a lot of that.

What enters joy into people? When you relieve them from difficulty. When you ease them when they are in debt. When you help them when they are in need. When you pardon them when they make mistakes. When you forgive them. These are actions that, if you do them, Allah will reward you by easing your difficulty, by forgiving you, by showing you mercy.

What did Rasulullah ﷺ say?

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4941; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1924)

Those that show mercy, the Most Merciful will show them mercy. So show mercy to the people on the earth, and the One in the heavens will show you mercy.

The Story of Abu Bakr and the Verse of Forgiveness

The Prophet ﷺ told the story of Abu Bakr رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ and the incident when our mother Aisha was slandered. Of course that was his daughter. And among the people that were engaged in that slander was a young man from the companions who made that mistake. And Abu Bakr used to provide for him. But when Sayyiduna Abu Bakr found out that he was also involved in the spreading of the rumour, he said, "Well, I'm not going to provide for you anymore."

Then Allah revealed in Surah An-Nur that those among you that are virtuous and are aiding others — let them not stop doing so. Rather, let them pardon and forgive:

Do you not wish for Allah to forgive you?

My brothers and sisters, a message to myself and all of you: forgive those that wrong you — perhaps Allah will forgive you. Aid those that are in difficulty — perhaps Allah will aid you with your issues and your difficulty. Ease the people that are burdened with financial difficulties — perhaps Allah will ease your difficulty. Relieve people from their troubles — and perhaps Allah will relieve you from trouble the day you need it the most, the day you're standing in front of Allah.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah — Concealing the Faults of Others

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ

My beloved brothers and sisters, the hadith continues and Rasulullah ﷺ talks about whoever hides the faults of a fellow believer — whoever hides the faults and the sins of a believer — that Allah will hide his faults and his sins. And when we say Allah conceals, hides and covers your errors and your mistakes, that means Allah forgives you for it as well.

So my brothers and sisters, among the acts of worship that we can do that will also ensure that we are a healthy community is that we hide each other's faults — not expose them. And we live in a world today where exposing someone's faults is so easy and so simple, and in fact it has become an activity everyone can share in.

Before, for me to expose someone else, I would have to walk to someone and tell them about it individually. But nowadays you can have a video of someone committing a sinful act, and then it's being shared by the thousands and liked by the millions, and everybody's involved in making sure that that particular mistake, that particular sin, that particular person — everybody finds out. And we see it on our feeds, on our social media.

Do not engage in that. And in fact, my brothers and sisters, do not be part of the problem. If we see something happening, ask Allah to forgive that person and ignore it. Do not be engaged in exposing the faults of others.

There are some nuances of course in our deen — there are some exceptions. Sometimes someone must be called out publicly, but that is very few and in particular circumstances where there is no other avenue. But the vast majority of us — when you know of someone engaged in a sin — this also does not mean, my brothers and sisters, that you do not speak to them about it, that you do not try to actively stop them. We had a lecture and a khutbah here on the forbidding of evil and its importance.

But once it does happen — once you do find out for some reason that someone engaged in a particular mistake, or a sin, or an error, or has a fault or a character flaw — conceal it. Do not spread it to others. You can privately advise if you want, and perhaps you should. But no one else needs to know. And if you do that — if you conceal and cover the faults of others — Allah will do the same for you.

Our Brothers and Sisters in Palestine

My brothers and sisters, here — inshallah — I do not have enough time to comment on the full importance of this hadith. But in the beginning I mentioned that we are all striving to go to Jannah. We want to live a good life in this world, and we want to live a better life — the best life — in the hereafter. To do so, we need Allah's help and aid. We constantly are in desperate need of Allah's aid and help.

And among the ways to guarantee that is by helping and aiding others. And I mentioned some examples. But of course we must reflect and talk about our brothers and sisters that have been continuously, continuously suffering in Palestine. لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ

Not only in Palestine — many places in the world we see our brothers and sisters suffering. But this one particularly hurts us, as it is one of the most egregious forms of oppression taking place for almost a year now. Keep your brothers and sisters in your du'a. Any opportunity that you get, be there for them. Any opportunity that you can get, aid them in whatever way you can.

It is amazing how the Muslim Ummah has galvanized and come together to stand up for their brothers and sisters. It is beautiful what we have been doing. But we have to do more, and we have to continue.

And our issue — especially since we were in an election cycle — the main issue. And this shows you, my brothers and sisters, the difference between believers and people of values, and those that are not people of values. People that have true values — what was the main issue that the Muslims were looking at? Now, we have plenty of problems that need to be fixed by our local government and by the government, whether it is the NHS, whether it is health issues. But there are so many things to talk about. What was the number one issue that was on the minds of all Muslims? It was Palestine. Why? Because we have our priorities straight.

And Allah gives authority and hukm to whomever He wills — this is part of the qadar of Allah. What does not change for us is standing up for our values. What does not change for us is standing up for truth. What does not change for us is being those that relieve difficulties from others to the best of their abilities — continuing to be an example to others.

And alhamdulillah, it is our faith — it is our faith — and on top of that, our humanity, that aided us in understanding what is the greatest priority. And that should be — after Allah — the easing of suffering wherever it may be, the calling to justice wherever it may be, and the standing up for that which we uphold as the highest virtue: truth, and that which pleases Allah.

Closing Du'a

I ask Allah to aid us from all of our difficulties, to make us among the brothers that continually aid others and benefit from what we said in the hadith — of Allah aiding us from our difficulties and relieving us on the Day of Judgment. I ask Allah.