Lessons From Dhul Hijjah - Sheikh Abdul-Hadi

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

اللهُ أَكْبَر، اللهُ أَكْبَر، اللهُ أَكْبَر، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ، اللهُ أَكْبَر، اللهُ أَكْبَر، لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we ask His help and we ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whosoever He sends astray, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. He has sent him with the truth as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner. O Allah, send peace and blessings upon Muhammad and upon his family and companions.

As for what follows — the best hadith is the Book of Allah. And the best guide is the guide of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And the worst of all affairs are its innovations. And every innovation is an invention. And every invention is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

The Status of Prophet Ibrahim in the Qur'an

Allah has mentioned Ibrahim, peace be upon him, 63 times in 25 chapters of the Qur'an. So we can understand the importance of this great Prophet Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, and his claim, his sacrifice for the cause of Allah.

We all believe and follow the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and in every order — his saying, his action — is considered as a sunnah to be followed for everyone. This is the rule. But Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, himself, he used to follow Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him. And he used to say that I am on the path of Ibrahim and I follow Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him.

Indeed, my Lord — Allah — has guided me to the straight path. The path of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him. And Allah says in Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 130:

And who would be turned away from the religion of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, except one who makes a fool of himself — safih, a foolish person. So Allah has set up a criterion to differentiate between a wise and non-wise person.

And this is maybe one of the reasons that Christians — Nasara — they claim to be on the path of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him. And the same claim is made by Jews. Even the Mushrikeen of Arabia, they used to say that they are on the path of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him — although they used to believe in over 360 idols. In other words, every day they need to believe in a new god, a fresh god.

This is the clear answer from Allah — to the Christians, that Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, was not Christian; to the Jews — Yahud — that Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, was not among them; and to the Mushrikeen of Arabia, that Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, was not a mushrik. So what was he? A pure Muslim. A serious and sincere believer.

We also, as Muslims, at least claim that we are on the path of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him. Especially nowadays, you can see — and in the following days of the month — many Muslims are saying that we are the followers of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him. But this attachment, or nisbat, or claim alone is not sufficient. If Jews, Christians, and Mushrikeen are also saying the same, then what will be the difference between Muslims and them? This attachment to the Prophet Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, is not enough. But if we follow the footstep of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, then this will be a genuine and valuable claim.

The Life and Sacrifice of Ibrahim — A Mirror for Us

Let us see what Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, did — and then analyze ourselves according to the life and biography of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him.

Tawheed — The Core of Ibrahim's Message

The most important point in the life of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, is Tawheed — the Oneness of Allah. And we all as Muslims, especially nowadays and in the following ten days of Dhul Hijjah, are also saying — and it is highly recommended to be said — la ilaha illallah, especially during these times. And the Hujjaj-e-Kiram — pilgrims — gather from every corner of the globe in Makkah Mukarramah. And when the Haji arrives at the Miqat, he raises his Talbiyah:

We have to think — what is the meaning of this? What is the message behind this? What are we learning from la ilaha illallah and labbayk Allahumma labbayk?

The Trials of Ibrahim in Declaring Tawheed

When Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, declared this, challenges and difficulties started in his life — beginning from his own family. When his father warned him and threatened to kill him if he did not refrain from this, and he was forced to leave his own house, his father said: "You are not entitled to stay with me at this home" — after this declaration of la ilaha illallah.

What was the response of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him? "O father, I love you, I respect you, but if you make this condition — that I have to stop saying la ilaha illallah — I prefer to leave this house, but I am not going to stop saying la ilaha illallah."

And then the authorities of the time tried to burn him alive. But what happened? Allah ordered the fire: "Do not harm Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him." He came out successfully. And then they decided to expel him from his motherland — and he left everything for the sake of Allah, ready to migrate to an unknown destination, saying:

"Because of the cause of Allah, I am ready to sacrifice everything. And Allah will protect me. Allah will provide for me."

Leaving His Family in Makkah

And then, when he came to Makkah Mukarramah — which was not, my brothers, the city of Makkah we see today. It was all desert, surrounded by mountains, a valley with no sign of life. But still, he was willing to sacrifice everything. And he left his wife and small baby Ismail, peace and blessings be upon him, there in that valley, upon the command of Allah.

And when he was leaving Makkah, his wife was asking him: "Where are you going?" He was not in a position to say anything. She asked again — no response. Then she asked again, saying: "Is this the command of Allah?" Then Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, got some courage to say: "Yes." Then she said — see how true a believer she was — she said: "Then you can go. Allah will protect us." This was her trust and iman.

The Sacrifice of Ismail

And then Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, came back after a while, met his family — and then came another qurbani, another great challenge. He was commanded to sacrifice his only son for the sake of Allah. And he discussed this with Ismail, peace and blessings be upon him: "O son, I have been given a command by Allah."

And what was the response and answer of Ismail, peace and blessings be upon him?

"O father, if this is the hukmah of Allah, then why are you asking my opinion? Do it. You will find me among those who do sabr." O father, do what you are commanded. In sha'Allah you will find me among the patient. No doubt — this is a great sacrifice from Ibrahim, as well as from Ismail, as well as from Hajar, peace be upon them.

The Message of Tawheed and the Warning Against Shirk

The message of tawheed has been sent through not only Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, but through all messengers of Allah — in different times, in different languages, in different areas — but with the same message. And they focused on tawheed, which caused the majority of the prophets of Allah tremendous suffering from people who were not willing to give up their shirk and were not ready to remove the weakness in their aqeedah.

Many difficulties and problems arise because of la ilaha illallah. All the time — even nowadays — if you declare la ilaha illallah in its true meaning and sense, you can witness how many problems you will suffer: from your own family members, from your own friends, when you say la ilaha illallah.

But unfortunately, many Muslim brothers and sisters today — directly or indirectly — are involved in things which are close to shirk and far away from tawheed. If you want to witness this, you can watch many TV channels, read many newspapers — printed by Muslims, many TV channels run by Muslims — full of shirk. A Muslim sister asking about her future from a person sitting in a studio: "What will happen in my life tomorrow? Is my husband right or wrong? Is he faithful with me?" Many questions like this.

In other words, a Muslim wife, a Muslim husband, wants to ask about his future from a person who does not believe in anything. And then they believe in what that person says. According to Islamic Sharia, according to authentic Hadith:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 3904; also referenced in Musnad Ahmad)

If you go to a soothsayer, a fortune teller, and believe what they are saying, Allah will not accept 40 days of your Salah. 40 days. But many brothers and sisters are engaged in these types of things.

Even some Hujjaj — pilgrims — when they arrive, are at the same time wearing some ta'weez, saying: "This ta'weez is protecting me from any evil or harmful things." Is this the attitude of a true believer? We have to consider this carefully.

"And most of them do not believe in Allah except while they are polytheists." So shirk, O brothers — beware of polytheism. Beware. Why?

Indeed, Allah does not forgive shirk. And He forgives what is other than that to whom He wills.

The Message of Qurbani

And about Qurbani — which we all do on Eid-ul-Adha, in sha'Allah — it reminds us that as Muslims, we are willing to sacrifice and submit to the will of Allah. And we are ready to sacrifice our desires and practices if they contradict Islamic Sharia. But is this the reality?

My brothers and sisters, when we do Qurbani, at least we have to think and realize — many respected brothers are not ready to give up what is haram, what is prohibited by Allah. Many brothers are engaged in Riba — interest, su'd — which is haram by Allah. Many brothers don't bother about this. And many brothers, their sources of income are from haram, but they don't bother about that.

If we are not ready to give up what is haram, what is the message of Qurbani then? Rather, Qurbani will be like a mere symbol for them — a festival. Whereas Qurbani is reminding us that we are ready to sacrifice our desires if anything contradicts Islamic Sharia. This is the message of Qurbani. But sadly, many of us celebrate Qurbani but are not willing to give up our desires and wrong actions. We remember Ibrahim, peace be upon him, we mention his name, but are not ready to learn from the struggle and sacrifice of this great Prophet.

Many brothers are doing Qurbani as a Sadaqah, as an act of charity. My brothers, Qurbani is not a charity. Qurbani is not like Sadaqah. It is an act of Ibadah. And one important point regarding Ibadah — we have to remember that Ibadah should be done according to the Sunnah of Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him. We have to follow the rules set up by Islamic Sharia. We cannot do Ibadah according to our own understanding, our own opinion, our own desires.

The Virtue of the First Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah

Also, the coming days — from the 1st of Dhul Hijjah to the 10th of Dhul Hijjah — are very, very important. According to authentic Hadith, it is very rewardable to remember Allah in these days through Nawafil, Adhkar, and recitation of the Qur'an. As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said in Sahih al-Bukhari:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 969)

"There are no days in which righteous deeds are more beloved to Allah than these days" — meaning the ten days of Dhul Hijjah. So we have to remember Allah by recitation of Qur'an, doing dhikr as much as we can, and also fasting on the 9th of Dhul Hijjah — Sawm-e-Arafah — because according to Hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1162)

The reward of fasting on the day of Arafah is that we will be freed from our sins for two years — the previous year and the coming year.

And also, these days are particularly blessed. According to another hadith, the person who wants to do Qurbani should not shave or trim their head or nails for these ten days — from the 1st of Dhul Hijjah until after Salatul Eid and the sacrifice. If you do this, you will get the maximum reward for that. So we should try to follow this. May Allah give us tawfiq and the ability for understanding the teachings of the Qur'an and the Sunnah of Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, and to follow the best.

The Birmingham Qur'an Manuscript — A Fitna to Be Wary Of

In relation to the Qur'an, you may have heard about a news from Birmingham University — that they found the oldest copy of the Qur'an at Birmingham University, and they said that it may have been from the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. But we have to be careful before showing our reaction to anything, especially in such matters, because many times we can be led astray by such fitna.

Why do I say fitna? We know that our Qur'an is completed by Allah. Such findings are not going to change it. Allah has taken responsibility for saving the Qur'an and preserving it until the Day of Judgment. As Allah says in Surah Al-Hijr, verse 9:

"We have sent down the dhikr, and We will guard it." This is guaranteed by Allah.

The authorities of the university and the professor initially said that this copy of the Qur'an is from the time of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and was written by someone who was with the Prophet and was listening to him directly. These comments were made on the record. But after a few days, what happened? The media then said: "We made another analysis about this copy, and we found that this copy is from even before the birth of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him" — meaning some chapters in that copy would have existed before revelation, before wahi, before our Prophet's birth.

As a Muslim, we do not believe such fitna. Nor will any true researcher or academically minded person believe such a thing. We ask the authorities: are they ready to seek the authenticity of this copy through independent research and analysis? And which of their claims and announcements may be correct — the first one, where the relevant professor said it was written by someone who was with the Prophet, or now, where they say it was even before the birth of the Prophet? In other words, they are implying that Surah Al-Kahf, Surah Ta-Ha, Surah Maryam — for example — were not revealed upon the Prophet, and that what the Prophet was saying was wrong, that the wahi is not correct. So this is a big fitna. But many of our brothers don't bother about this. This kind of fitna is not new — similar attempts have been made in the past as well.

However, my point, my brothers, is this: we have to believe in the Qur'an. Allah has taken the guarantee to protect the Qur'an, and it will remain in its original condition as revealed upon the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, until the Day of Judgment. Now our duty is to recite the Qur'an, to understand its teachings, to put it into practice, and to follow according to the teachings of the Qur'an — especially as we enter, today being the 27th of Dhul-Qa'idah, into the coming month of Dhul Hijjah after three days.

Second Khutbah — Ibrahim's Tawheed and Its Demands Upon Us

We remember the honored Prophet Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him, who was mentioned in 25 surahs 63 times. Jews used to say — and still say — "We are on Ibrahim's religion." Christians used to claim — and still claim — that they are on Ibrahim's religion. Even the polytheist Arabs used to say the same. But Ibrahim was not a Jew or a Christian — he was a Hanif, a Muslim, and he was not a polytheist.

Allah has chosen him, and he was the symbol of tawheed, oneness, steadfastness, and righteousness. This tawheed — this correct belief and faith in Allah — was not enough for Ibrahim to keep to himself alone. Rather, it was his invitation and his will to his children and his progeny. Ibrahim ordered his sons, and Ya'qub did likewise:

"O my sons, Allah has chosen the religion for you, so do not die except when you are Muslims."

"Say: my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I have no partner, and by that I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims."

However, we as Muslims must think about our belief and faith in Allah. How many Muslims call for Islam but do not understand the meaning of tawheed? They claim, "O Allah, I am with You," but they do not understand what they say. They bring the words, but they do not understand what is required of Muslims.

The Virtuous Deeds of These Blessed Days

These days are blessed days from the beginning of Dhul Hijjah. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 969)

"What are the days of good deeds in which I love Allah more than these days?" So what is best to do? The most of them are tahlil, takbeer, dhikrullah, sadaqah, sawm — especially on the day of Arafah. As the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: it forgives the sins of the previous year and the coming year.

And then Al-Adahi — the sacrifice. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, spent ten years in Madinah sacrificing. This is the Sunnah of the Chosen One, peace and blessings be upon him, and also the Sunnah of Ibrahim, peace and blessings be upon him.

Closing Du'a

Exalted is your Lord, the Lord of Glory, and peace be upon the messengers, and all praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

Announcements

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Just a few important announcements.

As you are all aware, thousands of our Muslim brothers and sisters are fleeing persecution and war zones from their homelands and heading towards Europe's borders, creating Europe's worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. The situation is not likely to change anytime soon. Our humanitarian aid team is already on the ground and we urgently require funds. We are also asking for doctors to come forward to help in this campaign, in sha'Allah. Today's collection is for this campaign — so please donate generously, and please remember those people in your du'as.

In sha'Allah, Eid-ul-Adha will be taking place during the week commencing Monday, 21st of September. We will be holding the Eid Salah in Small Heath Park at 8:30 a.m., in sha'Allah. Please arrive on time and make sure you bring your own prayer mats.

This Saturday's lecture after Isha is entitled "The Tests Faced by Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him" and will be delivered by Sheikh Zakaullah Saleem.

Sisters — Arabic and Tajweed classes will be starting on Monday. There are still some spaces available, so if you are interested, please come along next Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, 10 a.m. till 1 p.m., through door E.

We would like to announce that we will be providing Iftar on the day of Arafah. Please come and break your fast along with your fellow brothers and sisters.

Our food bank service urgently requires food donations. We require sauces, drinks, ketchup, cooking oil, tinned fruit, milk and rice. Please leave your donations during office hours at the masjid reception, door C.

The wudu and toilet facilities are currently not available for use due to refurbishment. Please follow the signs for alternative arrangements in the car park and the community hall. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. Please donate towards the refurbishment project as it aims to improve the facilities for your comfort.

For those of you who are traveling to perform Hajj, we ask Allah to accept from you and grant you ease and comfort during your journey. We would like to request you to make du'a for all of us and also for our brothers and sisters who are suffering around the world. Please remember them in your du'as.

Again, please donate generously on your way out. May Allah reward you well.