Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Advice to Muadh & Abu Dhar - Shaykh Mustafa Abu Rayyan

Khutbah: The Prophet's Advice to Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Abu Dharr

Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help and we seek His forgiveness. And 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. And whosoever He misguides, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner.

And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, and the purest of His creation, and His Beloved. Allah has sent him to all people as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. 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 but destruction. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and upon his family and his companions, and upon those who were guided by his guidance, and followed his Sunnah, and called by his call to the Day of Judgment.

Beloved in Allah, I advise you to fear Allah and do good, for Allah is with those who fear Him and are doers of good. Allah Almighty says: "And We have already advised those who were given the Book before you and to you, to fear Allah."

My brothers and sisters, I start by praising Allah. For Allah is always worthy and deserving of our constant praise and gratitude. And I send blessings and salutations upon our beloved Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him.

Today I want to share with you a hadith of the Prophet, where he gave advice to Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Abu Dharr. But of course it goes for everybody. They reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1987 — graded Hasan Sahih)

A hadith that I'm sure many of you have heard. But there are so many benefits in it, that it is important that we always remind ourselves of this advice of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.

The Prophet said: Have taqwa, have piety, be conscious of Allah, fear Allah wherever you are. And whenever you sin, follow that sin with a good deed. And behave towards the people in the best of manners. Have the best character.

Now this is a very short advice. But there are so many benefits that we can take from this hadith, my brothers and sisters.

The First Advice: Taqwa

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, started by talking about having taqwa: اتَّقِ اللَّهَ. Now, taqwa is to do everything in your power — everything you can do to prevent yourself from entering hellfire. Do everything you can that is good. Stay away from everything that you can that is bad. Do what Allah and His Messenger want you to do. Stay away from that which they have prohibited. And live your life according to the Qur'an and Sunnah. This is taqwa.

And the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when they would be asked about what taqwa means, they would say different things but they would all allude to this meaning. And taqwa is putting a barrier between yourself and the punishment of Allah. And how do you do that? By not doing the things that will lead to hellfire, and always trying to do the things that will lead to paradise. May Allah make us all of Ahlul Jannah.

Now, taqwa is so important. Allah repeats it in the Qur'an over and over and over. Every Jumu'ah, when the Imam is starting the khutbah, what ayahs does he recite? They're all about taqwa:

It's always about taqwa. And from this we understand its importance. And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned in a hadith that taqwa is in the heart — your ability to live your life according to Allah comes from the heart. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2564 — pointing to the chest)

The Definition of Taqwa from Ali ibn Abi Talib

One particular definition of taqwa that really helps us understand it is the one narrated from Ali ibn Abi Talib, where he said:

Taqwa is fearing Allah. Now, many times when we discuss Allah, our Creator, it is about how merciful Allah is, how kind Allah is. And generally speaking, that is how the Qur'an speaks about Allah or how Allah speaks about Himself. When Allah introduces Himself in the Qur'an, it is with:

And that's very good that we understand the mercy of our Creator. And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did narrate from Allah in a hadith Qudsi that Allah said: Indeed, My mercy precedes My anger.

But that being said, there are many ayat where Allah speaks about the severity of the punishment of the hereafter. And the believer needs to remember that. If you're a sinful person, if you're an oppressive person, if you don't do what Allah wants you to do, then there is a likelihood that you might be punished. And that should be something that keeps you away from the haram.

And like Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned, the believer lives his life according to three principles with regards to Allah: You hope in the mercy of Allah and that He will forgive your sins. You fear Allah's punishment at the same time. And you always love Allah, your Creator. And you need to have that balance between خَوْف and رَجَاء.

So الْخَوْفُ مِنَ الْجَلِيلِ — you need to fear Allah. وَالْعَمَلُ بِالتَّنْزِيلِ — and we need to act upon that which has been revealed. And that which has been revealed is the Qur'an and Sunnah. Whenever the Prophet tells us to do something, we should do it. Whenever we find an ayah in the Qur'an commanding us to do something, we should act upon it. This is taqwa.

Taqwa is also being content with that which Allah has given you — being content with the qadar of Allah. Life isn't always great, and it's also not always sour and bad. But whatever circumstances you're in, you need to have رِضَا in your heart. Because the One who decrees everything is Allah, the Most Wise. Be content with whatever Allah has given you.

And lastly, and this is very important: الِاسْتِعْدَادُ لِيَوْمِ الرَّحِيلِ — to prepare yourself for the Day of Judgment. There is going to be a Day of Judgment where Allah will judge our deeds, good and bad. And it is right now that we have to prepare for that. And how do you prepare? You prepare by having taqwa. Fear Allah. Be pious. Be conscious of Allah wherever you are.

And this should be the same whether you are privately in your home or publicly in the street. Whether you are with people or without people. You should always remember — Allah is with you:

He's always with you. And Allah sees everything and hears everything. And you need to be conscious of that. The more you are conscious of Allah, the more likely you will stay away from the prohibitions.

The Benefits of Taqwa

Now, taqwa has many benefits — some scholars say having taqwa has 18 different types of benefits. And of course Allah says in the Qur'an:

Whoever has taqwa, whoever is conscious of Allah, Allah will give him a way out of his difficulties. If you're having financial difficulties, if you have marital problems, if you're struggling with your education, if you're struggling with an illness — Allah promises that He will give you a way out of your difficulties if you have taqwa. And Allah will provide for you from places where you did not expect. This is a promise from Allah.

Similarly, Allah says in another verse:

Allah will make your affairs easy for you. Things that you thought were going to be extremely difficult, Allah will make easy — provided you have taqwa.

Now, Allah also gives us something more important than the ones mentioned before. Allah says whoever has taqwa, Allah will forgive his sins and will increase his reward:

Allah also promises us:

If you have taqwa, Allah will give you the ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood. And this is something we as Muslims are in dire need of.

And Allah promises that He will be with you:

So we should be people that are conscious of Allah. People that are pious. People that fear Allah. So you don't sin in private and act as though you're someone practicing in public. You try to be the same. The One you should be fearing, the One you should be conscious of — the reason you should stop sinning — is because of Allah, not because of the people. You should be the same فِي السِّرِّ وَالْعَلَانِيَةِ — in secret and in the open.

The Second Advice: Following Sin with Good Deeds

Now, the fact of the matter is, my beloved in Allah, that Allah has created us as people that will sin:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2499; Ibn Majah, Hadith 4251)

We will fall into sin. There is no way we can live our whole life being perfect. So have taqwa. Try as hard as you can to stay away from the haram. But you will fall into haram. So what should you do once that happens? What should you do once you sin?

وَأَتْبِعِ السَّيِّئَةَ الْحَسَنَةَ تَمْحُهَا — Follow up the sin with a good deed; it will erase it. Again, this is highlighting the mercy of Allah. When you fall into sin, follow it immediately with a good deed. And that good deed will erase the bad you've done.

Let me give you an example. You might lie to someone. And if you are someone that has taqwa, now you've sinned — you lied. You should do something about that lie. And what can you do? You can tell the person the truth. If that chance is gone and the person left, then pray two rak'ahs. Read some Qur'an. Give charity. Do something good. That good will erase the bad you've done.

And this is a promise from Allah. And Allah mentioned this in the Qur'an as well:

Indeed, good deeds get rid of bad deeds. And there are many examples of this. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned that whenever you make wudu, this will clean you from your sins. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned that from one prayer to the next prayer, and from one Umrah to the next Umrah, and from one Ramadan to the next Ramadan, it will erase the sins in between.

And there are many opportunities. So what do you benefit from here? What is known as الِاسْتِكْثَارُ مِنَ الْأَعْمَالِ الصَّالِحَةِ — to increase the number of good deeds you do. Why is that important? Because you're not always aware that you're sinning. Sometimes you're sinning and you have no idea. That's why the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, would make du'a saying: O Allah, forgive me for the sins I remember and the ones I've forgotten about.

So what can you do? Do as many good deeds as possible. And subhanAllah, there was an example of this at the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. There was a Sahabi that committed a sin, and he came to the Prophet and said, Ya Rasulullah, I've committed a sin. And the Prophet said to him, Have you prayed with us? Did you attend the prayer? And another narration says, Did you make wudu and then pray? And he said, Yes, Ya Rasulullah. And the Prophet said, Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds.

So this is a mindset we as Muslims need to be in. Because your goal is to meet Allah with as few sins as possible. And you can erase those sins by following them up with good deeds.

Now, some scholars when they explain what this hasanah is — follow up the bad deed with a hasanah, with a good deed — there are two explanations. Some scholars say this hasanah is tawbah. So follow up every bad deed with tawbah. What does that mean? Whenever you commit a sin, hasten to ask Allah forgiveness and repent. Every single time. Keep on repenting. And this repentance will erase the bad deed. And other scholars have said, No, it means follow it up with a generally good deed — a prayer, a sadaqah, reading the Qur'an, helping someone else, being dutiful to your parents, anything. And some scholars said, Why can't it be both? Do both — ask Allah to forgive you, repent to Allah, and follow up with a good deed.

So the Prophet's advice here is: وَأَتْبِعِ السَّيِّئَةَ الْحَسَنَةَ تَمْحُهَا — it will erase it.

The Systems of Mercy Allah Has Put in Place

Every time we sin, Allah has put in place a system of mercy, where our sins can be reduced and erased. How does someone erase the sins he's done?

First: Allah has promised that if we sincerely repent, He will erase our sins. So it is with repentance.

Second: Let's say someone forgot to repent or didn't repent — there's another system in place. And what is that? Any good deed that you do will erase the bad deeds.

Third: Let's say someone didn't even do that. Then the general difficulties and calamities we go through in life also erase our sins. You've had a headache for the past week. You've been sick. You have financial difficulties. Whatever the case may be — the problems we face in life, Allah has promised that the believer, the difficulties he faces are تَكْفِيرٌ لِلسَّيِّئَاتِ — they expiate his sins.

And lastly, there is another system in place: intercession. And among the ways for a person to be interceded on his behalf for Allah to forgive him is the janazah. So when someone passes away and the believers pray on this person and ask Allah to forgive them, Allah will forgive that person.

And this shows you there are so many different ways to reduce the number of sins we have accumulated over the years. But we need to benefit from that. And the only way you can benefit from that is if you're someone that is conscious of Allah — someone that has taqwa.

And Shaykh al-Islam Ibn al-'Uthaymeen mentions that among the best ways to follow up a bad deed with a good deed is for it to be from the same nature. For example, if you missed a prayer, then the good deed you should follow up with is many sunnah prayers. If you neglected a fast, then the good deed you should follow up with is many recommended fasts. And of course you make up the one that you've missed as well. If you oppressed someone, then the good deed you should follow up with is to help someone who is oppressed.

So from here we understand the importance of following up our bad deeds with good deeds. It also puts you into a mindset of accountability — you're always thinking about what you've done and how you can rectify it. And this is taqwa. Holding yourself accountable all the time, because one day you will be held accountable by our Creator Allah, Jalla Jalaluhu.

The Third Advice: Good Character with the People

The last advice the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, gave was: وَخَالِقِ النَّاسَ بِخُلُقٍ حَسَنٍ — And behave towards the people in the best of manners. Have the best character. The people. That is everybody. Whether they are Muslim or not. Whether they are related to you or not. You need to, as a believer, as a Muslim, have the best akhlaq.

And what kind of akhlaq are we talking about here? We're talking about all the mannerisms Allah and His Messenger have commanded you to have. To be truthful. To be trustworthy. To be kind. To be generous. To care for others. To be someone that doesn't break others' trust. To not be angry. To swallow your anger. To not oppress anyone. To help the oppressed. Every single good manner and character that the Qur'an has called you towards, you need to try and embody.

Now, of course, when it comes to having good character, when it comes to having good manners, it is of two natures. Some people, Allah blesses with politeness and kindness — this is something Allah has given the person. But then there are also acquired akhlaq. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned in a hadith:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat lil-Tabarani; also reported by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi — graded Hasan by some scholars)

Indeed, if you want knowledge, you get knowledge by acquiring it, by striving for it, by studying. And patience — you have to act patiently. You have to strive towards it. You have to try and be patient, even if you're not naturally a patient person. You need to work on your akhlaq and you can improve it. You can improve it and you should.

If you tend to be someone that isn't truthful, then try to be truthful. From today, monitor how many times you tell a lie — and it doesn't matter whether it's a small lie or a big lie. Get rid of those habits. This is what it means to be someone that has good character.

And we as Muslims are told to follow the footsteps of Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And when Allah, our Creator, was describing him, He said:

Indeed, you are upon great moral character. And when his wife Aisha was asked, Tell us about the khuluq of the Prophet, his character — she said: His character was that of the Qur'an. What does that mean? He was a living embodiment of the Book of Allah. So when the Qur'an tells us we shouldn't oppress, the Prophet never oppressed. When the Qur'an tells us we should be truthful, the Prophet was always truthful. He was known as al-Sadiq. He was trustworthy.

And you need to measure yourself — where am I? And what can I improve on? And wallahi, it is extremely important that we work on our akhlaq. Because when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was asked, What are the deeds that would ensure the most that people will enter Paradise? — the Prophet mentioned taqwa Allah and husn al-khuluq. He mentioned being conscious of Allah, having taqwa, and also having really good manners.

So it is extremely important that we try and embody good character. And what does that mean? It means honesty, truthfulness, trustworthiness. It means generosity — be as generous as you can. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was among the most generous of people, to the point where some of the Sahaba described him as someone who gives like a person who is never afraid of poverty. The Prophet would give and give and give. Whenever someone asked him, he would never say no. So generosity, bravery, courage, trustworthiness — all of these characters are things we have to embody.

And when our non-Muslim neighbors see us having the best character — you're never the one who is late, you're the one that is early; you're never the one that breaks promises, you're always upholding your promises — this gives a good image. This gives the right image of Islam. Because a lot of people who have not been introduced to Islam will only look at the Muslims. And if the Muslims are cheating, and if the Muslims are lying, and if the Muslims are late, and if the Muslims are breaking their promises and deceiving the people — this reflects badly on Islam. And we don't want this.

This is why Allah is commanding us — be like the Prophet. Be like the Prophet:

If you're going to take anything away today from this khutbah, let it be that it is possible for us to work on our akhlaq. And you know your deficiencies. If you have them, try and work on them. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said that you're not necessarily born with the best character, but you can work towards it. And insha'Allah, by trying to exemplify the Qur'an, by trying to embody the message of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, we will all reach there.

Summary: Three Relationships, Three Pieces of Advice

To go back to the beginning of the hadith — the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, advised us on three dimensions:

With regards to your Creator: Be conscious of Allah. Have taqwa. As Ibn Mas'ud mentioned, taqwa would be that you remember Allah and don't forget about Him, because when you're constantly remembering Allah it is less likely that you will fall into sin. And that you obey Allah and don't disobey Him. And that you're grateful to Allah and show your gratitude and don't forget about all the blessings Allah has given you.

With regards to yourself: Take care of yourself. Try to minimize the sins. And how do you do that? Follow them up with good deeds. Follow up the bad deeds with good deeds and they will be erased. And this is a rahmah, a mercy of Allah.

With regards to the people: Have the best character. The best akhlaq. Try to exemplify the Qur'an like the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, did.

I ask Allah to forgive our sins. I ask Allah to make us of those that exemplify and embody the Qur'an.

Du'a

Send blessings upon your Prophet as Allah has commanded you, where He said: