Planting Seeds for Tomorrow - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

Khutbah al-Ula — First Sermon

Praise be to Allah, we praise Him, we ask for His help, we ask for His forgiveness, and we ask for His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is no misguider for him, and whomsoever He misguides, there is no guide for him.

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, there is no partner for Him. And I bear witness that our Master and our Prophet Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His Messenger. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, and advised the Ummah. And he strived in Allah for the sake of his struggle until certainty came to him. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him and his family, the good, the pure, and those who follow their path until the Day of Judgment.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims. O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great triumph.

Indeed, the most truthful hadith is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ. Indeed, all praise and thanks belong to Allah. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, alone. And I bear witness that Muhammad ﷺ is His final Messenger.

What You Put Forth Is What You Will Find

Allah tells us in Surah An-Najm:

And that mankind — individuals — you will have nothing, only that what you put forth. And that what you put forth in this worldly life, you will be shown it. That what you did.

If we isolate these verses, we will understand that during our lifespan, we will only have the opportunity to benefit from the deeds that we do while we are alive. Maybe we wouldn't be successful. Maybe it wouldn't be enough for us. For the few years that Allah gives to us while we are in this dunya — 60, 70, 80 years.

When we compare ourselves to Nuh, peace be upon him, and the people who lived at his time — for sure, they lived, at least their lifespan was far greater than ours. The opportunity for them to worship Allah was far greater than us. So maybe they are at an advantage over us. But how Allah, through His mercy, gives you and I opportunity after opportunity after opportunity.

The Night of Decree, or power, is better than a thousand months. Whatever ibadah you do on that night — one night — it is better than a thousand months.

However, the clever abd, the clever servant of Allah, is fully aware that Allah gives us many more opportunities. Maybe some of us see that those people who are in their graves — they are like hostages, they are held hostage by their own deeds. What can they do now?

The Three — and Seven — Deeds That Continue After Death

We listen to the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ about what opportunities there are for us. In the hadith of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 1631)

If a person dies, their deeds come to an end, except from three: a continuous charity, or knowledge that others benefit from, or a righteous child who will supplicate for them.

So you and I understand that after we pass away, there are certain things that that person in the qabr will benefit from, insha'Allah: a continuous charity, knowledge that is spread and lives beyond you, or a pious child who will make du'a and istighfar for you. So it is about taking opportunities.

Ibn Abbas further narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, in advising an individual:

(Shu'ab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi, Hadith 10250; also reported in al-Mustadrak, al-Hakim)

Take advantage of five before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your sickness, your wealth before your poverty, your leisure time before you become busy, and your life before your death.

So there is a big emphasis on taking advantage of the here and right now — the opportunities that Allah gave to us.

Now, the hadith that I mentioned earlier — that when a person dies everything ends except from three — it is not just three. Because there is another hadith which further elaborates on this topic. The Prophet ﷺ has said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 242; also reported by al-Bazzar)

There are seven deeds that a person will continue to be rewarded for after their death: whoever teaches and educates people with beneficial knowledge; or channels a stream; or has a well dug; or a palm tree is planted for another person; or a masjid is built; or bequeaths a mushaf; or who leaves a pious child who will seek forgiveness for them after they pass away.

So there are many things that the Muslim can do — to set up, to benefit, to reap the rewards and the mercy of Allah after they pass away.

The Importance of Beneficial Knowledge

The first one that is mentioned in the hadith is ilm — knowledge. And it was also mentioned in the first hadith: عِلْمٌ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ — knowledge that other people will benefit from. And of course, as you well know, teaching beneficial knowledge is considered one of the most righteous of deeds. It is the occupation and the job of the anbiya, the prophets, to teach people how to worship Allah — to guide them and help them towards the straight path, distinguishing between al-haqq wal-batil, the truth and falsehood, telling people about halal and haram.

And this also should give us an understanding about the great status of the ulama, the scholars, in teaching other people and passing on this beneficial knowledge. They teach the ignorant, remind the heedless, and guide those who are lost. The Prophet ﷺ said:

Whoever teaches a verse from the Book of Allah, they will have a reward as long as it is recited.

These people who teach other people — these great individuals — may not live to see how people benefit from their knowledge. And the examples are so, so many. Just to mention a few: Imam Abu Hanifa, rahimahullah, in Iraq, teaching people — who would think that centuries later, people would be reading his writings and benefiting from his knowledge? Imam Malik, rahimahullah, Imam al-Shafi'i, Imam Ahmad, rahimahullah — their knowledge which was in the circles of the masajid, how that has spread throughout the ages and through the countries, and remained with us. Those who preceded them from the Sahaba, the halaqat of ilm of Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas'ud, amongst so many others — how people will benefit from their knowledge.

Now you and I, maybe we are not at that level — and we are sure, for sure, not at that level of knowledge. But maybe you can engage in printing beneficial knowledge, setting up projects which people can benefit from long when you are not here. So these are all opportunities for us.

Channeling Rivers, Digging Wells, and the Power of Water

The hadith continues in mentioning channeling a river or digging a well. When the Prophet ﷺ was asked about the best charity, he mentioned providing water for people. Whether water is provided by channeling rivers — what does that mean? That people can grow their crops in their fields to feed themselves. Or digging a well — that a community who had to travel maybe miles, hours, to get clean water, now it is on their doorstep, day after day, enabling them to make wudu' and ghusl, and cooking and feeding themselves.

Charity organizations have been set up to make it easy for you. All you have to do — a simple transfer, a few digits — walillahi alhamd, and a well is dug. You get to see the pictures, maybe with your name on it, people using that water to worship Allah, for us. Opportunities that these people will benefit from this well for generations.

Look at Uthman ibn Affan — for those who have been to al-Madinah, he purchased a well that people were able to benefit from, and it is still there now. A greater and better example is the well of Zamzam.

So you don't know what reward you can get from just these very, very simple actions that you can set up now, bi'ithnillahi ta'ala, preparing for your akhirah. And that is the mindset of the Muslim — that whatever you do now, insha'Allah ta'ala, you want to, the best you can, do something which will remain beyond you, that people will benefit from.

And here, as we know, the Prophet ﷺ gave us an amazing story about the man who passed by a well. He was so thirsty, he went down into the well, and he took some water and quenched his thirst. And when he came up, he saw the situation of a dog. He said to himself, "The level of thirst of this dog was similar to the level of thirst that I had." He was a caring individual. So he went down into the well once again, filled his shoe with water, and gave it to the dog. And the dog quenched its thirst. By that action — in one narration, the Prophet ﷺ said he was forgiven of his sins; in another narration, Allah put him in paradise for that action.

They said, "Is there a reward in giving food and drink to animals?" The Prophet ﷺ said — which translates literally — "In every living thing that has a liver, there is a reward for you." Meaning anything that moves upon the earth, any animal — you feed it, you give it some water, there is a reward for you.

And the Muslim takes advantage of that — looking after animals, putting a small tray outside of their door, in this hot weather for example, that a cat or a bird may drink from it, and that you have an ajr for that. The Muslim is looking at so many opportunities to plant deeds that will go beyond them. And if other people learn from him or her, you will get the reward for that, by the will of Allah.

Khutbah al-Thaniya — Second Sermon

All praise belongs to Allah, and may the peace and blessings be upon His final Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ.

My dear brothers and sisters, today's khutbah is talking about what? Preparing for the akhirah. Doing things which will benefit you now, insha'Allah ta'ala, and beyond your death — that you will be receiving rewards, blessings, and mercy beyond your death. When you are in your grave, you cannot do anymore. But you set up things that, by the will of Allah, you can still be rewarded.

And as I mentioned, there are many ahadith to support this, that encourage us to do these deeds. I'll mention a couple more.

Building the Houses of Allah

And that is, building the houses of Allah. As we know, the most beloved places to Allah are the masajid. And Allah tells us that the masajid are only maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, as the ayah tells us. Upholding the masajid, building them — because maybe some of us think, "This masjid has already been built, so maybe I don't need to give anything. I want to be involved in a project where another masjid is built." If you go and do that, that is great. But don't allow the shaytan to stop you from doing anything at all.

So in the meantime, for example, you give towards the upkeep of the masajid. And the masajid — the houses of Allah — what are they? These are places that give an opportunity for you and I to mention ar-Rahman, to mention the Most Merciful, to remind us about Allah, to establish our salah, to establish halaqat of remembrance and ilm and knowledge. These are the masajid. And if on one occasion you gave to support that, it will be written for you that you supported the masajid of Allah. If you want to go and participate in the building of a masjid somewhere, then go ahead and do that, insha'Allah ta'ala, without any delay.

Distributing the Quran

Or the printing and the giving of masahif. There are many places around the world that don't have masahif like you and I do — beautiful copies, perfect copies, not ripped. Find a place where masahif can be distributed. Many people talk about dedicating their qira'ah to the deceased, which is a matter of khilaf — the scholars differ over that. But over something which we don't differ: have Qurans printed and distributed, and give it in the name of a deceased person, where people are reciting from the Book of Allah in the name of a deceased person.

Raising a Righteous Child

And other opportunities, as I mentioned and as are mentioned in all these ahadith — and I'll finish with this — is a righteous child, a righteous son, a righteous daughter, to teach them right. To teach them to fear Allah, in the hope that after you leave, they will make du'a for you.

When you taught them Surah al-Fatihah — for the rest of their lives, every time they recite Surah al-Fatihah, لَكَ الْأَجْرُ — you will have the reward. That is an opportunity for the two parents. Don't leave that to somebody else. Teach your children Surah al-Fatihah as a father and as a mother. That every time they recite it, you will have the reward, bi'ithnillahi ta'ala. Maybe you're not a teacher of the Qur'an in general, but make sure that you teach them Surah al-Fatihah, bi'ithnillahi ta'ala. So every time they worship Allah, you will have that reward beyond your death.

So we ask Allah to allow us to take advantage of these opportunities, and that Allah makes us from the successful ones in this life and in the hereafter. Bi'ithnillahi ta'ala.