2015 09 18 Friday Prayer Sheikh Khalil Abdul Rashid

The Adhan

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

The Khutbah Opening

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His help, we seek His guidance, we believe in Him and we put our trust in Him. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whosoever He declares misled, none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, He is alone and has no partner. I bear witness that our Master, our Prophet, our Magnificent, our Beloved, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

The True Fajr

The false Fajr. The wrong Fajr. The misleading Fajr. And that is not the time for Salatul Fajr. That is not the time for Salatul Fajr. Where Allah Ta'ala is swearing by that. The second is a different kind of Fajr — a different light. A light from the horizon. A light from the horizon that emerges and doesn't emerge vertically only, but it emerges vertically and horizontally. The true Fajr. The accurate Fajr. The real Fajr. That is the Fajr that is associated with Salatul Fajr. And that is the Fajr that is the reference — that the Quran is referencing.

And thus, what Allah Ta'ala mentions to us:

I swear by the daybreak. By this light that emerges in a time of darkness. And that light is not a false light. It is not a light that appears once and then recedes back into the darkness. It is a light that appears and then spreads across the horizon, and perpetuates, and gets stronger and stronger and stronger until it emerges and envelops the darkness. It is a constant light. It does not give up or decrease at the presence of darkness.

Like the Fajr — this is the first principle and the first point of this blessed time. That we are charged and responsible for being lights in the time of darkness — but perpetual lights, constant lights. Lights that show people to the truth. Not lights that are intermittent, sometimes on and sometimes off, sometimes present sometimes absent, sometimes active sometimes inactive. But we are those who persist.

The Ten Blessed Nights

And I swear by these ten nights. These ten nights that converge into the Fajr time. The overwhelming majority of our scholars say that this means it is a reference to the first ten days and nights of the month of Dhul Hijjah — the time that we are in now, leading up to the Hajj. Because those ten days, along with their nights, are moments for transformation — moments of transformation for us — because of the responsibilities and the tasks and the blessings that are present here and now.

And during those nights we are to observe and reflect on a few things that are emblematic and symptomatic of days and nights, because they are opposites.

Al-Shaf'i and Al-Watr: The Even and the Odd

By the even and by the odd. By the shaf'i — the salats without witr — and the watr. The shaf'i means everything of duality, which is the nature of everything that's created in this world. Because this is a world of dualisms — up and down, light and dark, happiness and sadness, belief and disbelief. They are the shaf'i. That's the paradigmatic core of khalq. There are dualities here. There are opposites. Everything has a zawj — a mate or a spouse, or an opposite, or a parallel force to it. That's the shaf'i. Everything in creation is like that.

وَالشَّفْعِ وَالْوَتْرِ — by the creation and the system of pairs and opposites that exist, by the system of creation, and by al-watr — the One who has no pair, the One who has no true opposite, the One who has no opposing force — meaning Allah Tabaraka wa Ta'ala.

Therefore, in these times — these ten days, these ten nights — we are to be reflecting even more so on the nature of the world and its relevance, its connectedness to Allah Ta'ala and His working in the world. But there are times of darkness, there are times of stress, there are times of difficulty. But through that difficulty, blessings emerge, positive outcomes become manifest. And sometimes through blessings, through gifts, there are hidden tests and challenges and trials. And in the end, rightness and bad, good things and bad things — everything and its opposite — are spiraling in a constant circle that will eventually twist into one point and be redirected to Allah.

Watr — everything will return to that watr, to Allah.

The Night and Its Transformative Power

And by the night in general. Those dark moments in general. Idha yasr — which has two meanings. By the night when it passes away — which means that Allah is saying: I swear by the event of stress and trials and turmoil and darkness, that when it hits, the darkness will go away, that darkness will recede and light and ease will emerge throughout, in spite of or because of that difficulty. Because that night will go away.

The other meaning is a little bit different. وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ means: and by the night and what it can take away — by the darkness and what it can remove, by the difficulties and what they can eliminate. So on the one hand the night in and of itself is something that brings difficulty and trials and turmoil, and Allah is swearing by His power to remove it, and that in and of itself is a cause for reflection and shukr to Allah and gratitude. On the other hand, the darkness itself is contained and filled with blessings that remove other sins and turmoil and difficulties in us. And for the presence of darkness, for the presence of tests, for the presence of difficulty, for the presence of trials and turmoil, there is a process of tahara and purification that occurs. Those tests remove things from us.

وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ — things are removed in the nighttime. Transformations occur in the darkness. Elevations are only accessible, in many cases, in the darkness — which is why the Isra' of the Prophet and the Mi'raj was at night.

He is the One that took His servant at night. إِذَا يَسْرِ — same word. And by the night when it takes things — only at night transforms things — which is why the standing of the prayer at night is transformative.

Is This Not Enough?

So Allah Ta'ala tells us that there are special blessings in this time period — these ten days going into Arafat and going into the Hajj period. This is a transformational time. We are supposed to be reflecting on the transformational properties of this world, and we ourselves are supposed to hold this moment as a sacred moment and to try to be transformed ourselves.

Hal fi dhalika qasamun — is that enough? Is that enough for me as a swearer, as an oath — li dhee hijr — for people that love rational inquiry? Li dhee hijr means people of intellect, people who love to rationally and intellectually think about things and make connections to things. Isn't that good enough? Allah Ta'ala says: isn't the introduction that Allah Ta'ala gives us to the time that we're in now — isn't that special enough? Isn't that big and major enough?

Our Moment of Darkness — and Our Responsibility

How many trials and tribulations are the Muslims going through? Whether it's our brothers and sisters who are refugees, whether it's our young brother in Irving, whether it's Muslims being talked about and being referenced as problems in this country — we have all kinds of moments of darkness. And we have all kinds of waves of folks trying to respond to that darkness.

But in that response we have a priority, a major responsibility. But we must recognize the moment and the time that we're in now. We cannot get so caught up with sound bites and critics that we forget our responsibilities — that we have first to ourselves, second to this day, and third to the Ummah as an overall — to be beacons of light to everyone else around us.

The first ten days and ten nights of Dhul Hijjah are all supposed to be about times of moments of personal reflection and personal ibadah — just like the ten nights, the last ten nights of Ramadan. Which is why some of the mufassirun say that this reference, this verse where Allah is swearing about these ten nights, are also a reference for the last ten nights of Ramadan. Because just as in the last ten nights of Ramadan, when the believers are supposed to be in the moment of i'tikaf — away from the world, indulged in spiritual and rational introspection and reflection and ibadah, and adhkar and salat and dhikr and Quran and hasanat and baqiyat — during the last ten nights of Ramadan they're supposed to spiritually grow. Similarly, in the first ten days and nights of Dhul Hijjah, it's the same thing.

This is a time where we're supposed to engage in personal reflection and introspection. And we look at the workings of the world and see how throughout difficulty, blessings emerge — see how throughout trials, to find the glory and the barakah that Allah has bestowed upon all of us. And to see the pitfalls and the shortcomings in ourselves as it relates to what goes on in the world. And then to look at ourselves and say: I have not done enough. Not their bad — I have not done enough. I have not done my responsibility to You. I have not been a good abd. But I will improve on this, so that I can be better out there.

And if all of us do that, then we grow and elevate together. And that is how change occurs.

Inner Change Before Outer Change

Remember — Allah will never change the conditions of a people until they first change the condition in themselves:

We have to look inwardly first. Change what's about us first — collectively and individually. And then we're in a better position to go out there and be agents of change. But we want to do the opposite. We want to go out and protest first, and not protest the mess inside of us. We want to go out criticizing and condemning first, and not work on the personal character traits that each and every one of us have to work on. We want to change what's out there first. And when we're out there, for some reason we will take that as a fulfillment of our duty.

That is not the way of our teachings. That is not the way of our teacher. He taught us during this time that our lives, our property, our wealth, ourselves and each other around us are inviolable — are sacred. And then he said: Your lives are sacred. Your property is sacred. Your honor is sacred. And it is just as sacred and inviolable as the day that we're in, the place that we're in, and the month that we're in. We observe boundaries and we reflect on those boundaries. We are a people of sacredness — and not just in actions, but sacred observation of time and place.

The Days of Sacrifice — What Are We Preparing to Give?

The times that we're in now are sacred times. Those are times of sacred, special reflection. This is the time that we're about to enter into — Arafat — and with the Hajj time. And that in and of itself requires reflection on a certain level of sacrifice. And so we must ask ourselves: what are we preparing to sacrifice for this day, as the days of sacrifice approach us?

It's not about killing animals. It's about killing our nafs. Killing our evils. Killing certain aspects of our personality where we violate others, where we don't care about others. So in preparation for our own sacrifice, we'll have to reflect on our own natures. And this is what this time is about. And we must prepare for the moment of sacrifice. And if we're not in the spirit of preparation, then our sacrifice will not be sufficient.

And if our sacrifice of an animal is not sufficient, then the other forms of our sacrifice will just be هَبَاءً مَّنثُورًا — dust scattered in the winds — where we claim victories, and in reality those victories have no status with Allah.

So we must be mindful of the times that we're in. We must not be so caught up in sound bites that we forget to listen to the voice in our own nafs, but in our own ruh, that tells us to be better. We must not listen more to electronic sources of information and connect more to what's going on outside, and prefer that to the dynamics that are going on inside of us. This is the time to listen to those dynamics. This is the time to reflect upon those dynamics. This is the time to make a decision about what we're going to sacrifice. This is the time to prepare ourselves to sacrifice.

Because I'll tell you — those people out there that are enemies of Islam, those people out there that are haters of Islam, they are working night and day. They are prepared. They've already made their sacrifice. The question is: are we prepared to make ours?

Second Khutbah

Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wassalatu wassalamu ala Sayyidina Muhammad, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een. I advise you and I advise myself with the taqwa of Allah.

O servants of Allah — have taqwa of Allah. Indeed Allah commands justice and excellence and giving to the near of kin, and He forbids indecency and evil and transgression. He admonishes you so that perhaps you will remember.

Establish the prayer.

The Prayer

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.