The Path to Allah in the Best Days - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

أَمَّا بَعْد: 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 belongs to Allah, the Most High. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad ﷺ is his final messenger.

The Best Example to Follow

Let me begin with a verse that we have, I'm sure, often heard — ourselves reciting it or has been recited for us — when Allah tells us in Surah Al-Ahzab:

Indeed you have in the Messenger of Allah ﷺ the best and the most beautiful of examples to follow.

I begin with this particular verse because in just a few days we will start and begin one of the great seasons that we find in the year. But I want to preface it with this particular verse, and everything that I mention, if you like, is in light of this particular verse.

The Confusion of Our Times

Today, more than ever, one can argue that people are looking for solutions to many problems that they may be facing. They're in desperate need of answers. They're looking for guidance on matters. They want to make sense of the situation. They want to make sense of their own lives. Maybe they are asking, what is going on? Because for the vast majority of things, nothing seems to be in your control. What you see on the television, what you see on social media, what you see in your local communities — all of it seems to be, if you like, in one way or another, out of control. And you think, I can't do anything, or there's not much that I can do.

So then you are told and you are convinced that the source of these problems, the source of all of these issues that you are bombarded with — statements like, "stop the boats," immigration, or economic issues, that there are certain services that are free for some and not free for others, and those others are you — you have been here for ages, you were born here, but people who come here on the boats, for example, everything is free for them. So they become a problem in your eyes.

So then these people who say such statements, they want to give you solutions. They say, "We are here to save you, we are here to help you, we are here to make it right." But then, the one who thinks about it — how far do you want to go back with such statements and such things that have been mentioned? Not just even the past few years — how far do you want to go back — that there was always a people, there was always a minority within society who were targeted, who were seen as a problem, and that they were there to save you, to give you the solutions from the apparent problem, which in fact, if you look at things in a logical way, in a correct way, whom they are telling you to look at, you shouldn't be looking at.

This is something that occurred at the time of the Prophet ﷺ — that the Muslims, they were seen as a problem. The Muslims were splitting up the families. And the Quraysh did their very best to split the families, to cause dissension within the ranks, to make the Prophet ﷺ and the Sahaba targets — when in actual fact, all they were doing was calling to the worship of Allah: do not have these jahili or these ignorant practices between yourselves, where the rich consume the poor and the strong overtake the weak. Remove yourselves from these things. All it was, was to know your Lord.

That you should know that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah. And it stems from here, begins here — to educate people that the solutions that you're looking for start with: what is the purpose of your life? Why are you here? What are you doing in this worldly life?

Not to be busied with everybody else. Concentrate on yourself. Think about yourself. What are you doing in society? Why are you here? Who is your Lord? If you believe in a deity, who is your deity? How do you connect with your deity? If a person is confused on these matters, how have you arrived at a situation in your life where you do not know who or what you should be worshipping?

So you find that the people, by and large, have become very, very confused. But our beloved Nabi ﷺ — the example we find in him — in everything, his mu'amalat, his interactions with all types of people: the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the men and the women. All types of people. The Prophet ﷺ showed the very best etiquette, the very best way to educate people — not to demonize certain types or members of society, but to have an objective: to teach people the deen of Allah, and not to allow people to be consumed by the superficial nature of this worldly life.

People are fed up with it. They know the dunya is not giving them anything. They're looking for something else. And this is what we need to touch on when we are discussing and talking about these matters to people — to remind them that this dunya is temporary. As I mentioned in my previous khutbah, about the temporary nature of this life.

But what's important to you? They will mention: my family, my children, my grandchildren, my wife, my husband. So then you ask them: what is it that you're doing to make sure that you're doing the best for them? Or is it that you find you're busy with so many other things and you really don't know what direction that you're going in? And because you've become very frustrated, you feel that you need to let this frustration out — and then let's look at these targeted people and be angry with those, because then you feel as though you're doing something, when in actual fact you're not benefiting yourself, you're not benefiting anybody — in fact, you're making the situation worse.

This was a preface to what I wanted to mention now, and of course the topic is large. But I want to move on to now — as I mentioned — the days that are coming are very virtuous days.

The Blessed Days of Dhul Hijjah

That by and large so many people are confused about what they should be doing. The Muslim should be preparing for the beginning of Dhul Hijjah. These are the very best days of the year — opportunities not to be missed out, opportunities not to be skipped.

We know that the Prophet ﷺ performed Hajj once in his life, towards the very end of his life ﷺ. And as mentioned in the hadith of Jabir رضي الله عنه, he mentions a sermon. And you should know that the Prophet ﷺ over a period of two or three days gave a number of different sermons. It wasn't just one — on the day of Arafah, on the mountain, giving one khutbah. "The Final Sermon of the Prophet ﷺ — that was it" — no, it was not. There was of course the khutbah that was delivered on the day of Arafah, and there was also another sermon given to the Sahaba on the day of Eid, and also advices that were given during the Days of Tashreeq.

The Khutbah of Arafah — The Greatest Day of Du'a

But it is the advice that I want to mention that was given by the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Arafah, which is the greatest of days for the Muslim to turn back to Allah. The greatest day of du'a in one's life — there is no greater day for you to make du'a than the day of Arafah. Imagine that you perform Hajj once in your life, and you are there on the plains of Arafat for one day. That quite simply is the greatest day of du'a in the many years that Allah gives you on this earth. We ask Allah to grant us that day.

On this particular day, the Prophet ﷺ gave a very short khutbah, a very short advice. And what was this advice? This was a khutbah jami'ah shamilah — this was a sermon that was complete and encompassing of everything that we need to know as believers. Moreover, this is an advice for mankind — Muslim and non-Muslim — for you to understand what to prioritize, the rights of people, to do away with deception, to do away with riba, to do away with the killing of people.

SubhanAllah — but that's common sense, isn't it? Not killing people. This existed in the times of al-Jahiliyyah. This is what exists in our times today, where people just don't know what to do. The spilling of blood is just a daily occurrence — for what? For nothing.

But here the Prophet ﷺ on this day said that everything that stood for al-Jahiliyyah —

(From the Farewell Sermon of the Prophet ﷺ — Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1218)

— is under my foot, and it is over, finished. No more riba, no more money to be paid extra. And he started with his own uncle, Abbas رضي الله عنه — he started with his own family. No more money, no more riba, nothing. The arguments that existed between the tribes — because there was a child who was killed, a cousin of the Prophet ﷺ — no more disputes. It's finished.

This was a completion of the deen of Allah on that day, for every human being to know their responsibilities towards Allah. O people, I warn you, I advise you to be good to your womenfolk — your mothers, your wives, your daughters, your sisters, your aunts — all of the womenfolk; you treat them well and you treat them in the very best way, as Allah tells us in Surah An-Nisa.

This was the advice that the Prophet ﷺ gave to the Sahaba — 124,000 of them. Some of them had never seen the Prophet ﷺ in their lives — they just heard that the Prophet ﷺ was going to make Hajj and they came. They performed Hajj with the Prophet ﷺ, saw him once, and they went away. But they are Sahabi or Sahabiyyah — they are companions.

And after the advice that was given to them by the Prophet ﷺ, hearing this advice — the one that they believed in, that up until then they had never seen — then they prayed Dhuhr and Asr together. Can you imagine the feeling that they would have had, praying Dhuhr and Asr in the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, performing Hajj with the Prophet ﷺ? How honoured we would be just to perform Hajj in any year, at any era. Imagine performing Hajj with the Prophet ﷺ — witnessing and seeing him ﷺ, hearing his advice, removing confusion, removing the injustices and oppression that existed between people, laying out a pathway on how to be successful in this worldly life.

And how much we are in need to share that message with so many confused people — who are just focused on the family life of the Messenger ﷺ, the marriage of the Messenger ﷺ to his wives. This is what's in their hearts. This is how Shaytan has put a block in their hearts. This is why you are not a Muslim because of this — this simple misunderstanding that you have. Shaytan has played games with these people and they have gone astray with the smallest of things.

Our responsibility is to show them, to educate these confused people — even amongst Muslim communities. The path to Allah is something very simple and very clear. We ask Allah to guide us to the straight path.

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

Second Khutbah

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

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

Holding Fast to the Qur'an and Sunnah

The last two things I want to mention from this sermon of the Prophet ﷺ — he advised us as Muslims that for us to remain on the straight path, for you to stay on the Siratul Mustaqeem:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1218 — From the Farewell Sermon of the Prophet ﷺ)

You will not go astray after me, as long as you hold on to it — the Book of Allah. As long as you hold on to this Book, the Qur'an, you will never go astray.

But then the person says: what about the Sunnah? Why did the Prophet ﷺ just mention كِتَابُ اللَّهِ here? The Prophet ﷺ then mentioned a very beautiful thing — subhanAllah — for us to ponder over:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1218 — From the Farewell Sermon of the Prophet ﷺ)

The Prophet ﷺ said to the Sahaba: "And when you are asked about me, what will you answer? What will you say about me after me? When I am not here, what will you say?"

And they replied, رضي الله عنهم:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1218 — From the Farewell Sermon of the Prophet ﷺ)

"We testify, O Messenger of Allah, that you delivered the message, you fulfilled your responsibility, and you advised." That is what we will say.

This is the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. And here the Prophet ﷺ, with his finger raised to the skies, saying: Allahumma ishad, Allahumma ishad, Allahumma ishad — O Allah, be witness, O Allah, be witness, O Allah, be witness — that what I have done, they are a witness to what I have fulfilled.

And we say: we also testify that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fulfilled his responsibility, he delivered the message, and he advised mankind.

The Status of the First Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah

And let me finish with just one hadith about the status of Dhul Hijjah. The Prophet ﷺ told us that these are days in which actions, if they are done on these days, these are the very best actions that we can complete. As found in the hadith of Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه:

(Sunan al-Darimi, Hadith 1774; also reported by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman — narrated by Ibn Abbas رضي الله عنه)

There are no deeds that are more pure to Allah and greater in reward than the deeds and actions that are done on these days of sacrifice.

We ask Allah to give us tawfiq to make these days the best days of our lives.

Du'a and Closing

فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ، وَاشْكُرُوهُ عَلَى نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ، وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ