Strength in Times of Adversity - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ 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 صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ الطَّيِّبِينَ الطَّاهِرِينَ وَمَنْ سَارَ عَلَى نَهْجِهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

Indeed, all praise and thanks is due to Allah. We praise Him, we thank Him, we ask Allah to guide us all. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is none to lead astray, and whoever is led astray, there is none to guide.

Part One: Recognising Our Weakness as Our Strength

Today, my dear brothers and sisters, there are two things I want to focus on, and both of these topics are particularly important, I believe, to the iman and the heart of every believer. For as the Muslim is always looking for good opportunities, there are some great opportunities which are on our doorstep. But before we reach that — before I mention that — how does Allah describe Bani Adam in the Quran?

There are many descriptions of our nature, and this is of course in line with the fact that Allah created us:

Does Allah not know whom — or what — He created, and that He is the Knower of all subtleties, the All-Aware? One of those descriptions is that every human being — Bani Adam, in fact all of the khalq — is created in a state of weakness. So Allah tells us this is one of the descriptions that He gives to us: that we were created weak.

However, this weakness is not necessarily a disadvantage for the believer. Allah would not create you in such a state that everything is against you or that there is no way out. Rather, the believer, the Muslim, looks at how we have been created and looks for the opportunity and looks for the positivity in that. So yes, I was created weak — but where is my strength? And do we actually have any strength at all?

So if I say that the reality of your weakness — and that the believer knowing their weakness — is actually their quwwa, that is their strength, which in itself doesn't make any sense. How is it that I recognise my weakness and that in fact is my strength? No doubt, that needs further explanation.

Allah in a number of places tells us about those people who saw themselves as the strongest of men — that they had the power, the sulta, the sovereignty, as they saw it, over their lands, their lands as far as the eye could see. However, Allah destroyed them. "Do I not have the dominion and ownership of Egypt?" — that was the statement of Pharaoh, and we know the ending of Pharaoh. So the one who saw himself as the powerful, the strong — that was his weakness.

And when we look at what Allah tells us — on the plains of Badr, where the Muslims numbered just over 300, in front of an army well-prepared and three times its size — the Quraysh at that time saw themselves as the custodians of Mecca, as having the power and sovereignty. They saw themselves as the strong and powerful. But the reality was that they had no quwwa, and they were of course the absolutely weakest. As Allah describes regarding the believers, they were given victory and were assisted on the day of Badr when they were weak, when they were meek. But their quwwa — their strength — was in their attachment to Allah, turning back to Allah in situations and in times where, for all intents and purposes, everything was against them.

There are many, many examples to give — like the Battle of Uhud, where the Muslims were greater in number, and the Battle of Hunayn, where the Muslims were even greater in number, where the Muslims were proud of their numbers but Allah reminded them that their numbers did not benefit them.

So the Muslim realises how he or she has been described in the Quran — that they are weak — and that recognising that weakness means that in turn you will turn to the One who is all-powerful, the One who has all strength, limitless and infinite.

"O mankind, you are in complete need of Allah, and He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praised One." Our success as Muslims, as believers, is recognising our du'af — our weakness — and our need of Allah, especially in times of shidda, in times of difficulty.

Turning to Allah in Times of Difficulty

When times are good, it's easy maybe for us to forget the goodness that Allah has given to us. But when times are difficult — when the prices of food and clothing and energy and fuel are skyrocketing and our wages are staying the same — no doubt people are feeling the pinch, they're feeling difficulties. And this is why when you hear a message on the minbar, or you hear a verse of the Quran, or you hear a hadith, these aren't just things for you to listen to and say masha'Allah, beautiful ayah, subhanAllah, what a beautiful story. It may have that impact, but Islam is a deen — it is a way of life. It guides you how to manoeuvre yourself through good times and difficult times. Recognising your reality and where everything comes from — it is very much a practical way of life.

So in times now, as I mentioned, things are very difficult for many of us. Tomorrow morning when I wake up I've got to start thinking about how to put fuel in the car, pay the energy bill — all of these things that are going on. SubhanAllah, the prices go up and they go down, and we are currently in a time where prices are very high and wages are not increasing. I can't put any more hours in the day — so what do I do in practical terms?

Well, first and foremost: don't rely on your own weakness, and don't think that you are the solution to everything. The One who is in control of everything is Allah. During the time of the Prophet, the prices and the markets went up — things became very expensive — and they went to the Messenger of Allah and said: "Ya Rasulallah, the prices have gone up, can you set the prices, make it easy for us?" The Prophet made it very clear — it is Allah who determines the price, the riches and the wealth of these matters. It is not for us to control the markets; this is from Allah.

And in times of difficulty, in times of shidda, as many of us are facing, we remember as the Prophet said in the hadith qudsi — as Allah told us:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

"O My servants, all of you are misguided except those whom I have guided, so seek guidance from Me and I will guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except those whom I feed, so seek sustenance from Me and I will feed you. O My servants, all of you are unclothed except those whom I have clothed, so seek clothing from Me and I will clothe you."

The asal — the foundation — is that we have nothing except what Allah gives to us.

The Strong Believer

So the Prophet said: al-mu'min al-qawi — the strong believer. Now, does that go against what I just said, or what Allah says — that man is created weak? Strong in what? Certainly not in your physical attributes. The Prophet said that the strong believer is more beloved and better to Allah than the weak believer, and in both of them there is good.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2664 — narrated by Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him)

SubhanAllah — these words that the Prophet said, in the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, are words that we need to hear; practical advice especially at times now when we are in need of so many things.

This is the time to turn to Allah, and then you take the necessary means to better your situation. The strong believer — strong in iman — and how is that displayed? The hadith mentions it very clearly:

Stick to and adhere to that which is beneficial to you in this life and in the hereafter. Seek help from Allah and never give up. And if anything afflicts you — whether you deem it to be good or bad — don't ever say, looking back at the past: "If only I had done this, if only I had made that decision, then the situation would be different." Don't say that. This was the decree of Allah. Rather, what you should say is: "This was the decree of Allah, and what He willed He did." For indeed, the word law — "if" — opens an opportunity for Shaitan to come into your life and for you to become, in all reality, a weak believer, because you are not attaching yourself to Allah.

So in times of difficulty that many of us are facing, the first port of call is for us to turn back to Allah — Allah is the One who sustains and gives everything to us. The moment a person sees themselves as the solution, they will constantly be chasing themselves and will have no way out. But the one who recognises that everything is from Allah will find barakah — they will find blessings — even if it is the same amount of money that they have. But somehow, subhanAllah, that money extends to pay the bills. The number has not increased, but there is more barakah, more blessings in what Allah gave to you.

Asking Allah to Keep Our Hearts Firm

And remember — constantly ask Allah, because there are many things that we should be asking Allah for. To remain guided, to remain firm — because to remain firm and to be guided means that you will have this relationship with Allah.

So when Anas, the young companion of the Messenger of Allah, said: "Ya Rasulallah, innaka tukthiru an taqool: ya muqalliba al-quloob thabbit qalbi 'ala dinik" — "O Messenger of Allah, I hear you frequently saying: 'O Turner of the Hearts, make my heart firm upon Your deen'" — Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, says something which makes us almost shiver. He says: "We have believed in you, O Messenger of Allah, and we have believed in everything that you have come with — and you are making this du'a to remain firm? Do you have fear for us?"

This is a companion, may Allah be pleased with him — not talking about the generations to come — saying: do you fear for us? The best of generations? The Prophet said: Yes. Why? Because guidance is not a given. Guidance is not something you protect in your safe or in your pocket. This is something that Allah:

Allah guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills. And the Prophet said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2654 — narrated by 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As, may Allah be pleased with him)

"Indeed the hearts of all the servants are between two fingers from the fingers of ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful — He turns them as He wills."

One day a person is afflicted with a musiba; yesterday he had a good time, he was happy, he had money — tomorrow something afflicts him and he curses the situation. Where is the strength of iman now? Where is your attachment to Allah?

We ask Allah to guide us all, and we ask Allah to protect us from being those ungrateful servants.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنْبٍ، وَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Second Khutbah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

All praise belongs to Allah, and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His final and last Messenger, Muhammad, and upon his family and companions.

So as I mentioned, there were two things that I wanted to mention. The first one is that times are somewhat difficult — subjectively, between us, yes for some, maybe no for others — but nonetheless our attachment to Allah, relying on Him and asking His help, is fundamental in us getting through times of difficulty and times of fitan in all the ashkal and the different ways that they come.

Part Two: Seizing the Opportunity of the Winter Months

The second thing I wanted to lead on to — and there is a relationship between the two — is this: every year, on the last Saturday of October, there is an hour change. And so therefore, from pretty much November, December, January and February until the last Saturday in March when the hour changes again, you have a number of months where — here in the UK, in the northern hemisphere — you find the days are very short. You look at the prayer timetables in December and January and you'll find that you're praying Salat al-Maghrib at four o'clock in the afternoon, quarter to four in the afternoon, and Fajr you're praying at 7:30 in the morning. So just eight hours — seven and a half hours — is the daylight window in which you offer your Dhuhr, Asr and Maghrib.

So the believer is haris — eager — to make sure that he is offering his salat in its correct times. And as I mentioned, the Muslim is always looking for opportunities, and at this time of year an opportunity comes every single year. The one who takes advantage of it has taken advantage of a great blessing, and the one who is heedless or unaware has missed out on a great, great amount of good.

The Opportunity of Short Days: Fasting

This is what some of the salaf, the pious predecessors, would see as an opportunity of opportunities. Imagine short days where you can fast — how many days where you're not breaking your fast at nine or half past nine in the evening, making a number of fasts during the days and you don't even feel it. Maybe just miss out your small breakfast in the morning, or just have it half an hour earlier, and in the afternoon subhanAllah you're breaking your fast and you don't even feel it. SubhanAllah. So fasting Mondays and Thursdays becomes very easy for us.

So brothers and sisters, if the days are not short enough now — in a few days' time the days will become shorter and shorter and shorter. Fast. Whoever fasts a day in the path of Allah, Allah will distance the face of that servant away from the Hellfire — perhaps seventy years. One day — what an opportunity!

The Opportunity of Long Nights: Tahajjud

And the night — the night is so long. Offer two rak'ahs of Tahajjud. Imagine you pray Tahajjud at six o'clock in the morning — it's almost what? Tahajjud at six o'clock in the morning! Fajr has not even come in yet, and the fact that Fajr has not come in means it is still the night. Imagine praying Tahajjud at six o'clock in the morning. Look at the prayer timetable. Take these opportunities, my dear brothers and sisters, and establish a relationship with Allah that maybe you didn't have before.

And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will indeed be the successful one. So this opportunity — do not let it pass by.

Supporting One Another

And in conclusion — the opportunities that you have include looking out for your fellow neighbour in times of difficulty. If you have extra, then keep an eye on them. Can you give them some food? Can you give them some clothing? Can you help them in any way in the difficulties that they may be facing? And this is how, insha'Allah, as a community we support ourselves and support those around us.

We ask Allah to soften our hearts, that we worship Him in the way that is pleasing to Him.