Being Guided - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

Khutbah Opening

Indeed, all praise and thanks is due to Allah, the Most High. We praise Him, we thank Him. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, who is free of any partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ is his final messenger.

The Prophet's Warnings About the Future

My dear brothers, my dear sisters in Islam. Very often we find that the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ — and moreover, that we find in the Qur'an — that Allah tells us about affairs, matters that will occur in the future in detail. There was an occasion in which the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ spent one whole day speaking to the Sahaba رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ, telling them about the affairs of that what would happen in the future, so that they may not fall into those fitan — those tests and those calamities.

And so just as a major part of our deen is teaching us how to worship Allah and how to follow the way of the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, there is also an aspect of warning. The Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was sent as a mubashshir — a bringer of glad tidings — and also a nadheer — a warner — to warn us of that what would harm us, or that what would take us away from the path of Allah. So it is very important for us to learn about those matters which may cause us harm. Not necessarily physical harm, but harm which will take us away from that what is beloved to Allah — that you may not feel any physical pain or you may not feel anything now, but a day will come because of the path that you took, that there may be big consequences for that.

Hudhayfah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ narrated that the people would ask the Prophet صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ about good so that they could fulfill that, and that he would ask him about that what was evil so that he would not fall into those evil matters. Just as we understand لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ in its correct understanding — how to worship Allah — but at the same time we want to know what to avoid, to understand shirk, so that I do not fall into that, because that would nullify — quite possibly — my declaration, my testimony to Allah.

Knowledge at Our Fingertips — Yet So Many Are Not Guided

Now living in a time where knowledge is more frequent, is easily got hold of just in a very short space of time — where people previously, just a few years ago, how they would access knowledge would be dependent on — after Allah of course — people of Ahl al-Ilm who would come to visit them in their masajid, or that they would be required to visit those people of knowledge to go and get that knowledge, for their lectures to be recorded on simple means like cassette tapes. And now where knowledge is at your fingertips, where you can tailor the book, the print of the book, what sheikh you want to teach you in that book.

Yet with all of this ease, as it appears to us, there is somehow — and let's not be fooled — that yes, there is an awakening amongst Muslims. But this awakening amongst Muslims, they want to identify as Muslims, to adhere to Islam, which is a ni'mah within itself. But what is the quality, and what is the level of adherence of this wanting to identify with Islam? This tamassuq — or holding on — to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. With the prevalence of all of these books and teachers at your fingertips and on your devices, how many people really — how many people are really benefiting from this ease that Allah has placed in front of us? How many of us are really benefiting from the knowledge that is at our fingertips?

The Deep Meaning of اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

Every day we ask Allah so frequently: Oh Allah, guide us to the straight path. This adherence — which if you look at it in all intents and purposes you may say, "Well, I'm already guided. I'm reciting this verse from Surah al-Fatihah — am I not guided?" What is the sirr — what is the secret — in me asking Allah to guide me to the straight path? Am I not already guided?

No doubt there are deeper meanings to this particular du'a, in which you complete al-Fatihah by saying Ameen — اللَّهُمَّ اسْتَجِبْ — Oh Allah, answer the supplication that I have made. So what is this guidance that you are asking Allah so frequently for? Other du'as, other supplications you make regularly — but every day you say: how often, or how frequently, do you contemplate or even understand what it means — oh Allah, guide us to the straight path?

If your six-year-old or seven-year-old son or daughter was to ask you to explain this one verse, what answer would you give to them? What answer would you give to yourself regarding this du'a which is in the greatest Surah of the Qur'an?

The fact that we have all of this knowledge at our hands, we're surrounded by it, but somehow not linked to it. Only certain individuals will be given that link — the ability to understand that knowledge. The fact that a person may present themselves on a social media platform, speak half Arabic, speak half English, and appear that they have knowledge at their fingertips — but is this an actual fact? Is it a given, the fact that a person can speak in this manner, that they have been given tawfiq — or success — or are rightly guided? Not necessarily. Because how many people far greater than those individuals who appear as people of knowledge, who studied more than them, had actual teachers that they can refer to — were not guided? Came out with statements of the past — and it is of course an old and dead argument — that the Qur'an was created. But there were people of the past who used to say that.

So what is it that an individual who may have far less knowledge than that individual may be on the straight path? It is a tawfiq — a success — that Allah gives that individual. And this is what you are seeking. That when you say: O Allah, guide us to the straight path — O Allah, allow me to remain steadfast. O Allah, give me the basira — the insight — to know what the straight path is. The success to remain upon it.

The Du'a of the Prophet in Sujood

That the Prophet عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ frequently — while in sujood — as Mu'adh رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ would narrate — that the Prophet عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ would, in his sujood — when you are closest to your Lord — say:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3522; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

O Turner of the hearts, keep my heart firm upon the deen.

No one has a guarantee. None of us claim that we are sha'abullah al-mukhtar — that we are the chosen people of Allah. Yes, Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا guided you to Islam. But after that is your internal jihad — your internal fight against Shaitan and your nafs — and the journey that you take in asking Allah for all of your existence to remain on that straight path. Not to be deviated and not to be hoodwinked by other individuals. So every time you make this du'a, have an understanding of what you are actually asking Allah for.

Second Part of the Khutbah

Hidayah — The Greatest Blessing

My dear brothers, my dear sisters — that guidance, or hidayah, from Allah is the biggest ni'mah, is the biggest gift, the biggest blessing and virtue that can be given to any human being. That Allah opens the heart of that individual to know their Lord, to worship Allah, to follow the Prophet عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ, to follow the Qur'an, to follow the Sunnah, to have a desire and an inclination towards their fitrah — following their natural disposition. And this is something that when Allah guides an individual or a person to Islam, that they are forever thankful for that. And their gratitude and their thankfulness will be until that individual is standing in front of the gates of paradise — that their hearts are cleaned from any rancor or hatred towards anyone or anything — and then they will thank Allah once again for what they were guided to.

The Gratitude of the People of Jannah

The people of Jannah, about to enter into Jannah — the paradise, eternal bliss and eternal happiness — what do they say when they are about to enter the paradise? So Allah tells us in detail that even up until this time, that they are grateful and thankful for what they were guided to. Just as they have achieved the ultimate goal, when they say:

All praise is due to Allah who guided us to this — guided us to what? Guided us to Islam. Guided us to establish the salah, to pay the zakah, to be righteous to our parents. All praise is due to Allah who guided us to all of these beautiful things — for all the sacrifices and the struggles that we made in this worldly life. All praise is due to Allah who guided us to that, so that now we are here in this position and we are about to inherit the place that Allah created for every single one of us.

Your place in Jannah has been created — it is there, waiting for you. That when you enter that place, you will not be asking anyone where that place is, because it will be made known to you. Your place in Jannah, just as you know your home now in this dunya, you will know your place in Jannah, and you will go there. And you cannot imagine the na'im — the blissfulness and the happiness — that Allah has in store for you.

But that time, that place, is given to those who recognized the blessings that Allah gave to them — those who, when they worshipped Allah, recited al-Fatihah as an example, and said: Oh Allah, guide us to the straight path — they had an understanding, a deep understanding, of what actually they were asking Allah for. Not just lip service. Not something that they inherited from their fathers and their mothers. But went that step further and understood what they were reciting in their ibadah, in their worship to Allah.

We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path, and we ask Allah to protect us from any misguided individuals or paths.

Closing Du'as

O Allah, grant honour to Islam and the Muslims. O Allah, grant honour to Islam and the Muslims. O Allah, guide us, O Lord of all the worlds. Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.

And establish your prayer — may Allah have mercy upon you.