2014-10-03 - Friday Prayer - Sheikh Khalil Abdul Rashid

Khuṭbah — Yawm al-Jumuʿah / Yawm al-ʿArafah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا وَنَبِيَّنَا وَعَظِيمَنَا وَحَبِيبَنَا مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ

I advise myself and I advise you all with the taqwā of Allāh. Allāh tabāraka wa-taʿālā says:

The Completion of the Dīn

On this day — الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ — I have perfected your dīn, your religion, your way of life. وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي — and I have completed My blessings and My favors and My bounties and My gifts on you. I have completed it. وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا — and I am well pleased. Allāh tabāraka wa-taʿālā says: I am well pleased with Islām. I am pleased enough with Islām as a way of life for you.

The day that Allāh tabāraka wa-taʿālā completed the dīn was a Friday — not only was it a Friday, but it was Yawm al-ʿArafah also. Just like today — Yawm al-ʿArafah on a Friday, in the month of Ḥajj. It doesn't get any more mubārak of a day than that.

One of my closest friends in New York City who is also an imam — his mother just passed. I called him after Fajr to give condolences. I said, how are you doing? He said: a person could not have asked, could not have wished for a better gift than for his mother to be Muslim, for her to die on ʿArafah, on a Friday.

We ask Allāh taʿālā for ḥusn al-khātimah on this mubārak day.

The dīn was done, it was completed. The barakah was given. And the Prophet ﷺ spoke about it. He gathered — according to one narration in the valley of ʿArafah, the narration of Ibn ʿAbbās, and according to a different narration by Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allāh taʿālā be pleased with him — that it was on the day of Minā. He gave the sermon — the second one in general — and he ﷺ, after praising Allāh taʿālā, said:

The Prophet's ﷺ Farewell Sermon: Sacred Values

(The Farewell Sermon of the Prophet ﷺ — narrated by Ibn ʿAbbās and Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq; see Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 1741; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Book 15, Hadith 1679)

He said: "Ayyuhā al-nās — what day is this?" And they said: Yawmun ḥarām — it is a sacred day. And then he said: "What month is this?" And they said: Shahrun ḥarām — a sacred month. And then he said: "Which land is this?" And they said: Baladun ḥarām — a sacred land.

And then he ﷺ said: Yā ayyuhā al-nās — he didn't say yā ayyuhā al-muʾminūn, he didn't say yā ayyuhā al-muslimūn, but he said: oh people. Whether you're new to Islām or old to Islām, whether you're a true believer or you're an imposter, whether you know something strong about the dīn or you know something simple about the dīn — people, this message is for you listening, and this message is for those that will get it passed down to them. It's for all of humanity.

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 1741; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Book 15, Hadith 1679)

إِنَّ دِمَاءَكُمْ — your lives — وَأَمْوَالَكُمْ — and your property — وَأَعْرَاضَكُمْ — and your dignity — حَرَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ — is sacred to all of you, one to another — كَحُرْمَةِ يَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا — just like this day is sacred — وَحُرْمَةِ شَهْرِكُمْ هَذَا — and just like this month is sacred — وَكَحُرْمَةِ بَلَدِكُمْ هَذَا — and just like this land is sacred.

Did I not tell you this? Did I not convey this to you? Did I not teach this to you? When I was in public, when I was in private, on the battlefield, at the miḥrāb — you know this information, didn't you? They said: absolutely, Yā Rasūlallāh. He said: Yā Rabb, take witness — I have conveyed my message.

This is not a joke. He is laying the ground, the foundation — that life, property, and human dignity are sacred and have a sanctity, a level of ḥurmah, like the month of Dhul-Ḥijjah, like the day of ʿArafah, and like the land of the ḥarām — untouchable. When someone adorns that garment of iḥrām, they are showing a dalīl, a dalālah, a proof that they acknowledge the ḥurmah of that day, of that place, and of that month. And likewise they acknowledge the sanctity of the rules that are just like that.

And so he announced ﷺ that the message of Islām — that was completed on a ḥurmah day, a sacred day, in a sacred month, revealed in a sacred place — he ﷺ introduced our sacred values:

• The preservation and protection of life
• The preservation and protection of human wealth and property
• The preservation and protection of human dignity

To protect those, to honor those and to hold those in esteem is an obligation. One must be careful in those matters, do due diligence, show respect, and have taʿẓīm and greatness — just like one shows respect and honor and greatness of the Friday, of the day of ʿArafah. Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh.

The Sanctity of Wealth and the Rights of Women

So he begins with the sacred values ﷺ. He continues: all forms of ribā are absolutely — from that day forward — cancelled, ḥarām. Not just is wealth sacred and honorable, but it must not be abused. Wealth may not be abused. It is a sacred trust, and wealth and property of all believers — and indeed all human beings — are sacred and inviolable:

كَيَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا — like the sacred day — وَشَهْرِكُمْ هَذَا — like the sacred month — وَبَلَدِكُمْ هَذَا — and that sacred land.

And then he continued ﷺ. He said: I know — yes, you are correct that you have rights over your women. But be careful: they also have rights over you. And he said: you take them as your wives as an amānah, and with كَلِمَةِ اللَّهِ — with the word of Allāh, with the name of Allāh. So be very careful, because they are your wives. Your women are an amānah, a trust. Be very careful about how you deal with that trust.

And so the Prophet ﷺ combined two things that many people treat as objects — and he cautioned and warned about treating them as objects. One is wealth and property, and the other is women. That they are not just objects to be dealt with in any way, form, or fashion. Both have a degree of ḥurmah — كَيَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا وَشَهْرِكُمْ هَذَا وَبَلَدِكُمْ هَذَا.

We take them — specifically our wives, our women, our daughters, our sisters, all of the women that are under our care — they are an amānah, and we will be asked about how we dealt with our amānah. And then he said: be kind and treat them with kindness. They are your partners, not your subjects. They are not your property. They are not underneath your feet. They are your equal partners.

ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd narrates that when he was younger he used to see a man in Mecca praying next to his wife. They asked him who that was. He said: it was the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ — that in the early days in Mecca, the Prophet ﷺ and Khadījah used to pray next to each other. This would set a precedent. So the first ṣalāt between husband and wife was the ṣalāt, demonstrating equality with the spouses.

حُرْمَةِ يَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا وَشَهْرِكُمْ هَذَا وَبَلَدِكُمْ هَذَا — the ḥurmah of that day, the ḥurmah of that month, the ḥurmah of that land. So: preservation of wealth, dealing with wealth with the spirit of amānah, not abusing property, not abusing money — and dealing with our wives not in a way that says they are an object, not abusing them, but dealing with them in the spirit of trust and taʿẓīm — reverence and respect — that they deserve, which is commanded.

Preserve the Pillars of the Dīn

And then he continued ﷺ:

(From the Farewell Sermon; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 1741)

Establish the prayer. Pay your zakāt. Fast in Ramaḍān. And make the pilgrimage — make the Ḥajj. He said: keep up the basics.

Kifl al-dīn — keep the basics. First of all there is sanctity in life. Then there is sanctity in property — sacredness in property. There is sacredness in family — preserve your family, preserve your wives, deal honorably with your family and your wives, treat them as your partners not as your property. And then: preserve your dīn, respect and have ḥurmah of your dīn.

The Prophet ﷺ laid those four things out in clear detail, setting a path that explained to us what our values are — that this message that was completed was about our behaving in such a way that everything we do, everything we embark on, must be about honoring and preserving one of those values:

• Preserving human life
• Preserving human dignity
• Preserving wealth and property
• Preserving family
• Preserving religion

We are about living for something, not killing for something. We are about standing for things, not putting other people on their knees for things. We are about protection and justice, not about abuse and perversion.

Brotherhood, Taqwā, and Rejecting Arrogance

And then he ﷺ brought it home and he said: you are brothers. You're brothers. You're not strangers. We don't acknowledge passports. We don't acknowledge these petty differences. If you make sujūd you're my akhī. If you face the qiblah you're my brother.

(Musnad Aḥmad, Hadith 23489; also referenced in the Farewell Sermon)

There is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, and there is no superiority of a non-Arab over an Arab, except in taqwā. The matter is about consciousness and awareness of Allāh. None of us knows which one of us is more conscious of Allāh.

Just because a brother has a beard down to his chest doesn't mean that that brother has more taqwā than the brother who only has a mustache. Just because a sister wears full niqāb is no proof that she has more taqwā than a sister who just wears ḥijāb. Just because a person pays zakāt early, there is no basis to believe that person has more taqwā than a person who pays their zakāt late. All of these external, superficial demonstrations of religion do not serve as a proof that person A is a better Muslim than person B.

And the worst disease is to cast assumptions that your brother or your sister is less than you. This is called arrogance.

I see my kids here in the mosque — our students here — as soon as the imam gives salām out — as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatullāh — the first thing they do is turn around and look and see who is praying, take note of who is here and who is not. First thing. Why are you concerned about who is here and who is not? Why are you concerned about who is praying and who is not? You should be in tasbīḥ. You should be in dhikr. What are you going to do with that information? What is that supposed to do to get you into Jannah? Whether brother so-and-so is here or not, or sister so-and-so is here or not — how does that move you into Jannah?

Since when do the affairs of other Muslims become our business? That is not taqwā, and that is not brotherly and sisterly behavior. We do not cast assumptions. We give our brothers and sisters ḥusn al-ẓann — the benefit of the doubt. And we don't assign superior status. That's not who we are. Those are not our values. Those are somebody else's values. Those are not our teachings. That's somebody else's teachings. Be careful — don't take someone else's teaching and put it in this tradition.

The dīn is complete. It doesn't need any updates. The dīn is finished. It doesn't need a substitute teacher to add something new to the lesson.

Hold Fast to the Qurʾān and Sunnah — Rejecting Extremism

And then he continued — he wrapped it up. He said: I have left you with a simple message — the Qurʾān and my Sunnah. He said: hold fast to it. Hold fast to it.

(Muwaṭṭaʾ Mālik, Book 46, Hadith 3)

And then he said something so powerful ﷺ. He said: and don't — don't go back. Very interesting. Don't go back after me. That it is a form of disbelief. And don't go back to cutting people's heads off. Literally — that is what he said. Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh.

We have people living today cutting heads off in the name of Allāh and His messenger. We denounce them and we denounce that practice. Extremism, violence, abuse, hatred, fear, death, bloodshed — that is not our way. Those are not our values. We do not accept them. We reject them. We reject them as individuals. We reject them as a community. We reject them as an Ummah. And we reject them as representatives of our values. And we take refuge in Allāh for the crimes that have been done in the name of Allāh and His messenger. And we reclaim our dīn — on this blessed day, in this blessed month — from those individuals that would seek to destroy it.

We had two youth — two young brothers in college from the north Dallas area — go over there thinking they were doing something for Islām, and they got killed joining ISIS. We have to save our youth. We have to protect them. But we do that by first understanding who we are. And that is what ʿArafah is about — it is about the maʿrifah, the knowledge of who we are, the knowledge of what we stand for, the knowledge of what we stand against, and the knowledge of what it means to stand up.

The Prophecy of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib

Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — he said — and this is very powerful — he said: there will come a people near the Day of Judgment. He said: they will carry a black flag and they will claim to be of the Ummah, but they will destroy the Ummah. That is what Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī said, narrated by Haytham, one of the teachers of Imām al-Bukhārī. That is what ʿAlī said — they will carry the black flag and say they are part of the Ummah, but they will destroy the Ummah.

The Example of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī

He said — on this day, on this blessed day, in this blessed month — let us know who we are, let us know what our teachings are, let us know who our teacher is.

They captured — during the Crusades — one of the daughters of one of the Christian leaders, and they took her as a prisoner of war, and they brought her to Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī. And some of the commanders in the army wanted to do all manner of things to her — kill her, sell her — because that is the way the Crusaders had treated Muslim women. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī listened and he was surprised and he refused. He said: no. He said: send her back to her family. And one of the commanders said: that is not what they do to us. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī said: they are not our teacher.

The dīn is done. Our teaching is finished. Our messenger is gone, but the message is alive. The problem is our qulūb are dead. Our qulūb are gone. Islām is perfect — human beings are not. Islām is finished, but we are ever in the process of development. And the moment we stop trying, the moment we stop developing, the moment we stop learning, the moment we stop thinking, the moment we stop fearing Allāh, the moment we stop believing and trying and aspiring and going higher — is the moment we have failed. And the moment we give in to depression, and the moment we give in to lack of hope, and most importantly the moment we give in to anger and fear — at that point, Shayṭān has won.

So that's why the Prophet ﷺ said: hold fast — in other words, keep your teachings, remember your teachings, remember your training. You didn't get trained to go out there and forget. You didn't become a Muslim to go out there and to mimic and blend in and act like you have no teachings. We are people of a sublime message. We are people of profound values. And we have to demonstrate that.

The Meaning of Yawm al-ʿArafah: Standing for Something

So ʿArafah — the day of standing — is about standing. And it is about remembering that we will stand in front of Allāh. And so before we actually stand in front of Allāh in the next world, we have to stand for something in this world.

We stand for the preservation and the protection of every single form of life — which is why in iḥrām you can't kill anything, and even tear a limb from a tree, you can't even break a branch of a tree when you're in iḥrām. We can't take any life — you can't even kill a mosquito or a bug:

• Preservation of family
• Preservation of wealth
• Preservation of dīn
• Preservation of dignity

The Prophet ﷺ laid that out. And then he said: did I not convey this to you? They said: yes. He said: Allāh, take witness. Then he said: let those of you who heard it from me inform those who did not hear it. In other words — pass it on. Pass it on. Pass it on. In words, with kalām. Pass it on in your ʿamal — with the way you deal with your family, the way you deal with your wealth, the way you deal with other people of other religions, the way you deal with other human beings, the way you deal with life. Pass it on in your behavior. Pass it on. Share it.

Let the barakah of those values become contagious and something aspirational. Let it be something that competes with the negative press. Let other people learn and know and reach maʿrifah — knowledge — about what we are and who we are and what we stand for. That is the meaning of this day.

This blessed day — which is sacred — during this blessed month — which is sacred — all of this carried the completion of this dīn, which is sacred, which was revealed in that sacred land.

May Allāh enrich us, ennoble us, allow us to be raised up and elevate us. Protect our children from fitnah. Protect us from fitnah and from succumbing to the wills of Shayṭān. Āmīn, yā Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn.

Announcements

There are parking guidelines for Eid starting at 7:45am, the second one at 9:15am, and the last one at 10:45am. There are parking guidelines — the email has been sent out to you.

However, there will be buses picking up from our extra parking spaces like the St. Elizabeth Church and also from Jack Carter Recreation Park. And please be aware that there is no parking in Thistle Creek Village right across our property because of a conflict — there is another event there. So do not park there. The rest of the information is available in the office.

Sunday school will be closed on the 5th — this Sunday, after Eid — due to the Eid. The Sunday school still has some spots for registration; registration will open again on October 12th between 10am and 12 noon.

There will be free flu shots available for adults only on October 10th between 12:30pm and 3:30pm.

Eid Carnival — this is going to be organized by our youth — will be on October 11th, that is Saturday, from 1:00pm to 6:35pm.

And brothers and sisters, if you or any of you would like to pick up the meat, the CAP committee has come up with a coupon system this time. See the office to pick up the coupon — this is only after Sunday, after Eid. The meat is available if you want to pick it up. Jazākumullāhu khayran.