Four Keys to Success: Faith, Action, Unity, and Patience | Jumuah Khutbah | Shaykh Yaser Birjas

Opening

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to Prayer. Come to Prayer. Come to success. Come to success.

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, ask His help, ask His guidance and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, no one is misguided. Whom He misguides, no one is guided. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. Alone, with no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared. And do not die except as Muslims.

O mankind, fear your Lord who created you from a single soul. And He created from it its mate and spread from them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.

O you who believe, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.

O servants of Allah, know that the best speech is the speech of Allah. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations. And every innovation is a creation. And every creation is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

The Need for Divine Methodology

Then, O servants of Allah, it is not sufficient just to have good intentions and also good faith. That is not sufficient. What really needs to be done over here is to have clear divine methodology. Going back again to the source to understand the framework of our actions. Our life. What it's supposed to look like and based on what.

And the second thing we look for over here, we're looking for firm principles. They don't fluctuate and change because of time, because of circumstances. They're firm. Something that we can rely on. Otherwise, if everything is rapidly and continues to change, and you can always keep changing things and our values, then there is no meaning of being Muslim then.

As well as after this, we make sure that we have that deep insight. That Allah promised to give the believers in the Quran if they adhere to the principles of their faith. As Allah says, If you're truly conscious of Allah, if you fear Allah truly, Allah will give you furqan. That furqan means criteria by which you could see right from wrong and understand what to do and what not to do.

Brothers and sisters, it's not a secret for us here in Texas that unfortunately, public level as well as on official level, the Muslim community is under excessive scrutiny. And every now and then, one of our institutions, organizations, or figures in our community comes again under scrutiny, under attack. But once again, the response to this is not going to be just by simple having good intention as a community. We are going to need to stand for these challenges and making sure that we do it in the right way.

So therefore, what I'd like to share with you in this khutbah inshaAllah are a few of these principles. A few of these divine principles by which if we adhere to as a Muslim community, wallahi, we'll move mountains. I want to make sure that as things change rapidly around us, and we see challenges, that you understand you're not alone in facing this challenge. We are as a community. We get together to make it right inshaAllah for all.

First Key: Rectifying Our Relationship with Allah

So the first thing, my dear brothers and sisters, as means of success for us as a community, the first thing is to understand that we need to rectify our relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And I mean it. Ramadan just ended not too long ago. You tell me. Do you still have that same energy and same drive that you got from the month of Ramadan? Or are you back to your old habits? Are we where we're supposed to be after the month of Ramadan? Upgraded? Or are we going to keep going back again to the same situation? And if so, have you asked yourself why? Why aren't we just keep adhering to this principle of just keep improving as Ramadan is teaching us that lesson?

Our relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala needs to be rectified, my dear brothers and sisters, as individuals and as communities as well too. What is your relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Allah azza wa jal made it very clear to us.

I have created mankind and jinn for no reason but to worship Me. He made it so clear subhanahu wa ta'ala. The purpose of this creation is to submit themselves to the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Are we? And that comes in the form of what? Well, you keep calling it tawheed, to believe in the oneness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We all say it as a slogan. But when it comes to living our life, we live our life sometimes by many other different criterias. Not just from the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. We find ways to justify some of our lifestyle or behavior. Even though we know that if we adhere to the tawheed, to the one and only subhanahu wa ta'ala, who commanded you to live your life in a certain way, we know that we'll be wrong.

So my dear brothers and sisters, you need to make sure that and to understand that the essence of success in this dunya and in the akhira is having a sound relationship with your Maker subhanahu wa ta'ala. You don't have to come to the masjid in order for you to show that you have a good and sound relationship with your Maker subhanahu wa ta'ala. It happens in secrecy. It happens when you're at home and no one is watching you and you wake up for two raka'a in the depth of the night. It happens when you fast Mondays and Thursdays and no one even knows that you're fasting. It happens when you give generously because you believe. And you want to please Him subhanahu wa ta'ala. It happens because you believe you want to please the one and only Allah.

My dear brothers and sisters, work on your relationship and you'll see the miracles that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brings to you. The example we find this in the story of the battle of Badr. A small group of people that could easily be completely removed from the face of the earth. And that's why the Prophet was making the dua as they were facing this huge army, very well equipped. He made dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, My Lord, My Lord, if anything happens to this group of people, they will not be worshipped again after this. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave you victory on the day of Badr when you were small, when you were little, when you were nobody basically. But He made you victorious subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So brothers and sisters, if you rectify your relationship with Allah azza wa jal as an individual, and each one of us do that on their own, hopefully as a community inshallah wa ta'ala we become all together strong.

Second Key: Combining Faith with Action

The second thing, my dear brothers and sisters, we need to work on. Combining faith with action. What does that mean? As Muslims, mashallah, a lot of us, alhamdulillah, we're so proud of our identity as Muslims. And may Allah bless you with this, ya rabbal alameen. But sometimes we have an issue here. We're happy being Muslims, but we're having a big trouble living as Muslims. Like we're happy being Muslims, but Islam has commitment, requires commitment from you. Commitment in terms of staying away from certain behavior, certain dealings, certain characteristics, for example.

But still you find a lot of Muslims, may Allah bless you, ya rabbal alameen, they are proud of being Muslims. But when it comes to the way we live our life, it's outside of the framework of submission to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We're influenced by so many other things. And we think it's okay to do that. So living the life of a Muslim without Islam, with it, in terms of the action, voided the meaning of being a true Muslim to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

When Allah azawajal praised Ibrahim alayhi as-salam, what did he say about him?

When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala praised Ibrahim alayhi as-salam, for what? He says when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told Ibrahim alayhi as-salam, aslim, submit yourself, what did he say? He didn't hesitate. He didn't ask, why? For how long? For what? What does it mean? No question asked. If the command came from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he said, I submit. قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. I submit myself to the Lord of the world subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because whatever comes from Allah azawajal, it's definitely good for me.

So my dear brothers and sisters, we have this issue in our community. We have this issue. Alhamdulillah, as Muslims, but when it comes to some dealing, you'll find a lot of us, probably maybe dealing with something that is not appropriate. Whether it's riba, or maybe gambling. Different forms of gambling, obviously. Unfortunately. Selling haram stuff in your stores and so on. Many things. So that is a problem. And if we continue in that path, then what is the meaning of being a true Muslim who submits himself to the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

When it comes to success, my dear brothers and sisters, we have to combine that faith with action. If you truly believe, then submit yourself to it. However, we do understand that we are human beings. On an individual level, I'm saying, you're a human being. As much as I try to submit myself to the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I fall short. I know myself. I have my own weaknesses, my own troubles.

It is not a condition of righteousness. Not a condition of righteousness to be flawless. Otherwise, no one would be righteous at all. But the condition of being righteous, if you make a mistake, you fix it by repenting to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That is the commitment we're asking from you. We're not asking to be flawless, have no mistakes or no errors. No. But you know when you make a mistake that it is a mistake. You don't justify it. And if you have that, then alhamdulillah, you're on a good path. But if you keep doing it, you don't care anymore because everybody's doing it. Well, it's allowed in the law of the land over here and so on. Even though it's haram for you as a Muslim. That is a problem. That's when we have an issue with our Islam and living as Muslims as well.

Third Key: Staying United

The third thing, my dear brothers and sisters, that we need as a community to stand against all these challenges is to stay united, avoiding all kinds of divisions. Allah musta'an. I mean, I'm not sure about this side of town, but from where I came from, Irving area, there's always something happening, subhanallah. And it really, kind of like, it saddens the heart when you see the Muslim community get divided over political views or racial backgrounds, or discussion over the world affairs and so on. And we get divided because of these points of views. And there's not the time for this.

When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said,

That you hold on all to the rope of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Don't divide yourself. Don't get divided among yourselves. Otherwise, فَتَفْشَلُوا وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ You're going to fail and your power is going to disperse all over.

So, as a community, this is not the time for us to get divided over these issues. We need to be united again on the same principle that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brought us together.

The believers are but brothers and sisters. And the same thing as the Prophet ﷺ brought the community together. In the very famous story when some of the sahabah, the ansar and the muhajireen. When the Prophet ﷺ came to Medina, he brought together the aws and khazraj and called them al-ansar. He called them, you are just supporters right now, that's it. No more khazraj, no more aws. But then there was al-ansar, the hosts in Medina, and the muhajireen, the emigrants who came from Mecca and from elsewhere. And there was an incident when one of them kind of like kicked the other one or have an issue with the other one, like an insult.

Unity in Times of Division

So this person calling his people, "Ya al-muhajireen." I'm calling all the muhajireen, all emigrants. And the ansar he called, "Ya al-ansar." Where are the ansar, the people of Medina? And the Prophet ﷺ was seen coming out of his tent. And he wasn't even ready yet to leave. But as he was walking out, he's wrapping his loincloth around his waist, hasty, rushing, before it gets even worse. And he stops in the middle as people start coming and getting together, mobilizing their friends and tribal again, views it one more time, in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ.

And the Prophet ﷺ stood in the middle as he's stopping the people before they start getting worse. And he ﷺ looking at them and kind of disappointed. And the jama'at looking at the elite, the elitist of the ummah. And they got into this, subhanallah, as human beings again. And the Prophet ﷺ, he reminded them. He stopped and he says:

What's wrong with you? You're calling the call of jahiliyya, the call of ignorance one more time when I'm still alive? Like I'm still with you. I'm not gone yet. And you're back again to this? Then he ﷺ said, that's not going to work.

Just leave it. It stinks. Like it leaves a stench in the community. No matter how much you try, subhanallah, it's just awful.

So my dear brothers and sisters, that is the time when we get together for the purpose of serving this ummah and this community and the deen of Allah. Now that doesn't mean we can't have different opinions. But as a community we stay together and accept that we're brothers and sisters even if we differ with one another.

The Four Keys to Success

Brothers and sisters, and the last point I would like to share is what Allah commands us in surah al-Asr. When he said, subhanahu wa ta'ala:

I swear by al-Asr. The insan is a constant state of loss as a human being. From the moment you're born, now it's a countdown to your death. So every day is gone, it's a loss on you. He says, إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا Those who have faith, which we talked about earlier. وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ Acted upon this faith. وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ And now they spread the truth. And they stand for the truth. وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ And they remain steadfast on this path.

The Path Requires Patience

Because the path to Allah is not going to be easy, my dear brothers and sisters. If you want to be a true Muslim, you have to understand and accept this path requires a lot of sacrifice and a lot of patience. And patience and steadfastness is required on this path to Allah. Subhanallah, I keep reminding people, I say, look, the closer you are to the manhaj of the anbiya, the closer you are to the path of the prophets, the harder it gets usually.

When the Prophet ﷺ received اقرأ, he barely received اقرأ. Read in the name of your Lord who created. He didn't receive yet the message. He received the first revelation. Read in the name of your Lord who created. So Khadijah takes the Prophet ﷺ to Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who studied the books from before. So he knew about the divine message. And when he heard what the Prophet ﷺ received, he was shocked and he was so surprised and kind of like he was excited. And he told him this is the same thing that Musa received from before.

Then he told him something interesting. The Prophet ﷺ couldn't believe his ears when he heard that. He said, I wish I was young enough to be with you when your people drive you out of your community, drive you out of the city. And to someone who grew up in a tribal system that everything about the bloodline and everything about your fellow tribal men, it's all about that, that unity of the family. To think that his own family would disown him and just even kick him out of the city? No way. So he was surprised. He said, Like for real? They're going to drive me out? He said, No one ever brought to people a message like yours, but gained their hostility.

Why is that? Because my dear brothers and sisters, when you see the Firaun of the Ummah, the Quraysh and the Malak of the Ummah today, of the world today, they lose if righteousness spread. Because they make their wealth and their prestige based on what we have seen and have seen, faiz and otherwise. Right? All these rich people, subhanAllah. So they know if righteousness prevails, all of this is going to collapse. And for them, they would resist because they know there is so much for them on the stake.

And as a believer, I stand for the haqq. I stand for that which is good, for that which is righteous. And that requires a lot of patience because once you start speaking the truth and speaking that which is good and that which is right, you will find waves from these people to come after you. And you're going to have to be patient. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala demands from us that He says:

He says, O you who believe, اصْبِرُوا Be patient. وَصَابِرُوا Which means, you need to command and mobilize others to be patient. وَرَابِطُوا And remain steadfast on this path. Which means what? It's going to be a struggle. You might come to the path of patience, but are you going to stay on it for too long? That's why you have to مُرَابِطَة You're going to have to fight to stay there. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, That is when you become successful.

So brothers and sisters, the Prophet ﷺ says:

You have to understand that victory comes with perseverance and patience. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us among those who persevere in patience.

Building Community Together

My dear brothers and sisters, what I shared with you, this might be your personal and individual obligation to remain steadfast and to be on this path of successful community. But what is the role of our community collectively as a community? One more thing I want to add to this is to focus on building people before building our institutions.

If our masjids, alhamdulillah, are very well built, but then they are void, they are empty from what builds the community, builds the person, then what's the point of that? So make sure that, my dear brothers and sisters, be active in your own community. It's not just about Salat al-Jumu'ah. And it's not just about coming for Salat and just leave after that. No. Ask. If Allah blessed you with an expertise, if Allah blessed you with a skill, ask, hey, I can do this. Where do you think I can help with this community, in the community, inshallah ta'ala.

It's us. When we get together, collectively, we can build a community within this beautiful building. So make sure to be part of it, inshallah ta'ala, and be part of this beautiful ummah.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have mercy on you, O Lord of the worlds. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have mercy on all those who pass, O Lord of the worlds, and give shifa to all those who are ill. Astaghfirullah.