Luqman, The Wise - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Luqman, The Wise

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. My beloved brothers and sisters in Islam, I start by praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and sending blessings and salutations upon our beloved Messenger Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam.

My brothers and sisters, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Qur'an has told us many stories. And He has told us about many things, and every single ayah in the Qur'an is there for us to benefit from. And it is our job and our obligation to spend time with the Qur'an, to study it, to learn it — the ahkam and the rulings that are in it — as well as reading the stories that Allah has told in the Qur'an and trying to benefit from them.

Because the stories of the past that are mentioned in the Qur'an, they are there for us to read and take lessons from, because a lot of them are things that we will experience, things that we can do. And among the many stories in the Qur'an, there will be some that you personally might relate to. So it is your job to benefit from the Qur'an. This Qur'an that is here to guide us. This Qur'an that is here to guide us to Jannah, and to teach us right from wrong. And if you want to know your place in the hereafter, look at your relationship with the Book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if you feel like you can improve on that, it is your obligation to improve upon it.

Who Was Luqman?

Today I want to share with you one of the stories that are mentioned in the Qur'an. And it is not necessarily a story — more so than it is a glimpse of an individual's life, or even a moment in his life. And this individual was not a prophet. Like we know, the Qur'an mainly speaks about prophets. And according to most of the scholars, this person was not even a prophet — he was a regular man.

And this regular man, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has honored him by, first of all, mentioning his name in the Qur'an. Not just mentioning his name, but naming a whole chapter in the Qur'an after him. Not just that, but then telling us a moment in his life and then eternalizing that in the Qur'an. And that was a moment that he spent with his son — where he taught his son. Of course I am referring to Luqman al-Hakim, Luqman the Wise.

Now, who was Luqman? Where was he from? Luqman was from Africa. As some of the Tabi'een mentioned, he was from the Nubians of Egypt — the black people from Egypt.

The Meaning of Wisdom (Hikmah)

And what was he like? Well, Allah tells us that he was Hakim — he was wise. Now what does wisdom mean? When Allah talks about wisdom, what does it mean? It comes across the Qur'an often. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned that He gave some prophets wisdom — Dawood and Isa. And of course we know the messengers had wisdom. And we know that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has called wisdom a great blessing. But then specifically with Luqman, it's in his name. We call him Luqman the Wise.

What does that mean? The wisdom that is being referred to here is someone that has been given a great deal of knowledge, and has acted upon that knowledge — a great deal of ilm, and has acted. Because what does ilm and knowledge do for you if you don't act upon it? So he was someone that combined ilm and amal. He was someone that acted upon that which he knew.

But then of course, this wisdom was a gift from Allah, like everything else. Even that which you know is a gift of Allah. That which you earn is a gift of Allah. In fact, everything you have and everything you are is a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — including the hikmah, the wisdom that was given to Luqman.

Allah says:

"Indeed, We gave Luqman wisdom."

Allah gave it to him. It's not something he earned or worked for — Allah gave it to him. But Allah gives us everything. It's a mindset that many of us are not in. Everything you have, Allah gave it to you. Right now the eyes that you're using — Allah gave them to you. The ability for you to speak — Allah has given it to you. Your guidance to Islam — Allah has given it to you. Everything you have, Allah has given it to you.

A Story of Perspective

There is an interesting story that one of my sheikhs told. He was in a taxi — I believe this happened in Egypt. It was Maghrib time and he said to the driver, "Can you stop, I need to pray." The driver stopped and said, "Go ahead." When he went to pray, the taxi driver waited inside. When he came back, he asked, "Are you a Coptic Christian?" Because in Egypt there are many people who are not Muslim. The driver said, "No, no, I'm Muslim, alhamdulillah." So the sheikh said, "Well, if you're Muslim, then it was Maghrib time — why didn't you pray?" He said, "Make du'a for me, I will pray, inshallah." And he made excuses — the car, the work, no time.

He kept driving and then my sheikh asked him, "Is it money that keeps you from praying?" He said, "I need to make wudu, I need the masjid, I have to stay on the road because every minute counts." He made excuses about his financial situation. My sheikh said, "What if I could ensure that you get paid? Do you want to do an organ transplant — give some of your kidney? You'll get a lot of money for it. There are people with money who need organs. Would you do that?" He said, "Astaghfirullah! Why would I do something like that? Wallahi, if you gave me all of the dunya, I would not do this." My sheikh said, "Are you saying that your organs are worth more to you than the whole dunya?" He said, "Yes." My sheikh said, "And who gave you those organs to begin with? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So the One who gave you that which you are not willing to give out for any amount of money, asks you for five minutes of your time — and you can't give it. But you give so many hours to your boss, so many hours to earning money, and that is keeping you away from your ibadah and your worship."

Perspective is important.

Gratitude (Shukr) — The Core of the Message

Allah gave Luqman wisdom, and then Allah says: أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِلَّهِ — "Be grateful to Allah." This is a command to everyone. But in this context, who should be grateful? Luqman. Why? He has been given wisdom. He should be grateful because Allah gave it to him.

Your relationship with Allah should be a relationship of gratefulness. Everything — the breaths you are taking, the morsels of food you are eating, the laughter, the time you spend with your family — you should be grateful. This is something Allah has given you.

Now it is very important: earlier I mentioned wisdom is not just to have knowledge and understanding, but also the ability to act upon it. So how do you act gratefully? We know we are grateful to Allah for everything He has given us — but how do you act upon that? Allah says about Dawood:

"Work, O family of Dawud, in gratitude."

Show your gratitude. How do you show your gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? If Allah gave you money, you show your gratitude by spending that money in the way that pleases Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is how you show gratitude to Allah — not just by saying it.

Now consider: if the person whom Allah has given money spends that money in haram, he is doing the opposite of being grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is why you have to check — with everything that Allah has given you, how grateful am I?

Luqman's First Advice: Avoiding Shirk

Luqman was not only given wisdom — Allah also gave him a child. Another blessing, isn't it? So what did Luqman do with the child that Allah had given him? That which is sound, that which is correct — he advised him and raised him to be a proper Muslim to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And the rest of what Allah tells us about Luqman is the advice Luqman gave to his son. And it is through this advice that we learn the wisdom Luqman had, the care he had for his son, where his priorities lay, and what a Muslim should be doing.

Starting with what? He said, "O my beloved son." SubhanAllah — if you read the Qur'an and you look at the messengers, you will see how they spoke to their children, and there are lessons in that as well. "O my beloved son" — "O my young beloved son." And this is how the Prophet spoke as well. What did Ya'qub say? "O my beloved children." Show mercy to your child when speaking to them, and this will in turn make them listen to you more. They will pay attention to what you're saying more when you start by speaking to them in a kind way. When Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam wanted to tell Mu'adh something very important, he said, "O Mu'adh, I love you." And Mu'adh was amazed — the Rasulullah loves me! This is one of the ways to grab someone's attention, but also to show rahmah and mercy to your children. Those who show mercy, Allah shows them mercy.

Then, what is the first thing that Luqman tells his son? He says to him — do not do shirk. Do not give Allah equals.

"O my dear son, do not associate anything with Allah in worship. Indeed, associating others with Allah is a great injustice."

Now, when we talk about shirk, the conventional thing that comes to mind is: don't worship other gods besides Allah, don't worship idols, don't venerate graves, don't call upon other than Allah — which is correct. But what we should also learn is that among the main reasons why shirk is so bad, is because it has a relationship with shukr — gratefulness. Our worship comes from a place of gratefulness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. What did that idol do for you, for you to be worshipping it to begin with? It is Allah who has done everything for you. So worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Think about this — how disgusting is it that one who worships false gods? Let us give an example of the Quraysh. They would ask things from their idols, make du'a to their idols, and then Allah would give them — and then they would thank their idols. But who gave it to them? It was Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Imagine today someone gave you a Ferrari, and then you turned around and thanked a random person. How would that person feel? Your relationship with Allah is one of gratefulness. So be grateful to Allah, and show that through your worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone.

Luqman's Second Advice: Gratitude to Parents

In the second verse, when Allah speaks about the parents, Allah speaks about the rights of the parents, and then Allah says:

"Be grateful to Me and to your parents."

Because after Allah speaks of His ultimate right — to be singled out in worship — Allah often mentions the parents. What is the relationship between the child and the parents? The parents give you their time and their money. Your father works fifty hours, your mother raised you. Be grateful to them — by listening to them, by obeying them, by giving them their right. This is how you show gratitude.

This is all within the context of the story of Luqman, Ikhwan Fillah, showing us that part of wisdom is to understand those to whom we should be showing gratitude — starting from our Creator Allah Jalla Jalaluhu, and then our parents.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

The Remaining Advice of Luqman

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

Ikhwan Fillah, Luqman al-Hakim, Luqman the Wise, keeps advising his son. So first he spoke to him about Tawheed — single out Allah in worship. And also, be grateful to Allah and remember that everything you have, Allah has given it to you, and He is the One worthy of your worship, your adoration, your love. It is Allah who is worthy of your time — spend your time worshipping Allah and fulfilling Allah's commandments.

And then he spoke about the parents and their right upon you, especially your mother. And then he mentions an important principle — that sometimes people who have rights over you might tell you to do something that is wrong:

"But if they strive to make you associate with Me what you have no knowledge of, do not obey them — yet keep their company in this world with kindness."

This is a very important principle — not all parents are good. If your parents ask you to do something that is not in line with what Allah wants you to do, if they ask you to commit shirk, then don't listen to them. But still show them good companionship. So even if your parents are not Muslim, even if your parents are asking you to do something that is wrong — don't listen to them because Allah comes first. But show them good companionship. This shows you the maqam and the manzilah, the place our religion has given our parents.

Establish the Prayer, Command Good, Forbid Evil, Have Patience

Then I am going to quickly summarize the rest of the points that Luqman said to his son. He mentions to him:

"O my dear son, establish the prayer, enjoin what is right, forbid what is wrong, and be patient with whatever befalls you. Surely this is a resolve to aspire to."

These are all the golden pieces of advice that Luqman gave to his son. And all the fathers here should be giving the same to their children. And all of this advice should come from a place of: why are we doing all of this? Because this is ibadah — acts of worship that we do for our Creator who has given us everything. In the end, we are worshippers of Allah. We are grateful to Allah, and we show our gratitude through ibadah.

Do Not Be Arrogant

Then he mentions to him something very important — do not have kibr or arrogance. Do not be arrogant. How can you be arrogant when you are nothing? Everything you have is something Allah has given you. Your whole existence — did anyone ask you whether you wanted to exist or not? Or did Allah just bring you into existence? Allah brought you into existence. Your own name was not something that you chose — it was given to you. Everything was given to you. Everything was handed to you. So you cannot be arrogant.

And Ikhwan Fillah, Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam said that one who has kibr in his heart — arrogance in his heart — does not enter Jannah. So be humble and have humility.

These are the pieces of advice that Luqman gave to his son. Read this chapter, Ikhwan Fillah — Surah Luqman. Read its tafsir and try to act upon these principles. Teach it to your children and try to have some of the hikmah that Luqman had.

Du'a (Supplication)

I ask Allah to forgive our sins and to make us of those that benefit from the lessons in the Qur'an. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us of those that act upon the Qur'an, that stay away from shirk, that live their lives as worshippers of Allah with Tawheed in their hearts. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us of those that establish the prayer.

وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَصَلَّى اللهُ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Aqim al-salah.