20160506 - Second Khutba- Sheikh Khalil Abdul Rashid

Khutbah: The Isra' and Mi'raj — Transcending Boundaries in the Service of the Deen

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Glory be to the One Who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, around which We have blessed, that We might show him of Our signs. Verily, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.

Entering the Month of Sha'ban

After this, O Allah, bless for us Rajab and Sha'ban and make us victorious in Ramadan.

O Lord, we ask that You give us the full and complete blessings of the month of Rajab and of the month of Sha'ban, and that You allow us to see and witness the month of Ramadan in the most beautiful witnessing. We are entering, on the next day, the month of Sha'ban.

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Sha'ban is my month."

This was the month where the Prophet ﷺ experienced a renewed commitment to this Deen. Because the Isra' and the Mi'raj occurred at the end of the month of Rajab, on the 27th night of Rajab. Two days later was Sha'ban.

It was right before the time of the Isra' and the Mi'raj where the Prophet ﷺ was feeling very sad at the loss — the multiple levels of losses that he experienced. His personal home, the home of his relatives, at the level of a community — after the incident of Ta'if, he was feeling at the most lowest, saddest state. And that's when Allah Ta'ala elevated him with the night journey.

It was after that journey that he was gifted a renewed sense of hope and devotion and dedication to this Deen. It was the month of his own personal update, reformation, and revolution. Personal rededication of himself to standing up for this Deen, and teaching this Deen, and spreading this Deen, and sacrificing for this Deen.

And in order to change the environment around him ﷺ, it was important for him himself to be a changed person. So Allah Ta'ala allowed him to experience the beauty and the diversity of the world around him, allowed him to understand the grand, magnificent tradition that he was a part of, let him know that he was not alone — that those that had passed before him were still looking to him to continue that legacy, and that those that were with him still relied on him to stand up for what they were sacrificing for as well.

The month of Sha'ban was a month of renewal and ihya, and that prepared him ﷺ and his companions for the month of Ramadan, which is the month dedicated to self-change, so that what comes after that are months dedicated to work.

The Meaning of Subhan — No Limits

So Allah Ta'ala tells us in just one ayah what happened and allows us to reflect on the meanings of that event. And He begins by informing us, teaching us, that location and space is not an obstacle for Him. When it comes to this Deen, there are no physical limitations, and there should be no physical limitations. The only limitations that we place on this Deen and on how far this Deen can go are the limitations that we ourselves impose upon it.

But Allah Ta'ala is not limited in any form or fashion. And that's why He begins with سُبْحَان. That's the purpose. Subhan means any limit, any restriction that comes to your mind or my mind, Allah Ta'ala is far above that limit and that restriction. That's the meaning of tanzih — to be transcendent above it. Any box, any barriers, any walls, any obstacles that occur to the human being's mind, Allah Ta'ala is far above that.

And therefore, those of us that want to work for this Deen and want to walk in the footsteps of the Anbiya and the Prophets — and most importantly, those of us that want to walk in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ — the first thing that we must realize from this Surah, Surah al-Isra', from this first word, is that we must go into this service of the Deen from the perspective of having no limits. There should be no limits to how far our vision should go. There should be no limits to how far the message of this Deen should go. And if there are limitations and obstacles, then we must be creative in overcoming those.

Any obstacle or barrier that occurs to our mind in terms of what Muslims cannot do — subhan. Exit that. What a Muslim community is limited from doing — subhan. Go around that. Budgetary, visionary, human capacity, other resources — transcend that. Don't be a community of shackles. Be a community of faith. Subhan.

Scholars of tafsir say that Allah Ta'ala begins this surah with the word subhan to update and inform those of the community of the Prophet ﷺ who might mistakenly believe that Allah Ta'ala is restricted in a makan, in a place. So Allah Ta'ala addresses this false belief with the word subhan. Those that believe that the Prophet ﷺ was raised from Jerusalem to the heavens and then sat in some particular space or some particular location and spoke to Allah Ta'ala from a particular boundary — that belief is false. Because Allah Ta'ala does not exist in a boundary. Allah Ta'ala does not exist in a place. And when Allah Ta'ala does things, there is no limit, there are no bounds to what He can do and to how He can do it.

And the experience of the Prophet ﷺ in the Mi'raj was an experience of not just ascending from the earth to the heavens, but it was a dars and a lesson about how to exceed boundaries and about how to rise above limitations that others on the earth see. So when others on the earth see walls and boundaries, the Muslim and the follower of the Prophet ﷺ must not see walls and boundaries, but must see the disabling of those walls and boundaries. We must be visionaries as a community. We must set grand goals. We must not be prisoners of our own constructions. Because the work of the Anbiya, the work of Allah Ta'ala, is not restricted to a time nor is it restricted to a location.

The Furthest Masjid — A Story of No Boundaries

That's why He brought him ﷺ from Masjid al-Haram all the way to Masjid al-Aqsa — the furthest masjid on the planet at that time. That's why it's called al-Aqsa. He brought him ﷺ to the furthest place of ibadah on the earth at that time.

I myself had visited a masjid that was in an unbelievable location. To get to this masjid from this particular city overseas — from the city to where the mountain was — was an eight hour drive. Then when you got to the mountain by car, the drive was not a straight road. It was in a circle going around. That's how you went up the mountain. There was no straight road direct. You had to go in a circle. Some of the brothers I was traveling with got sick. Dizzy. Because the drive from the base of the mountain to the top was a four hour drive in circles. Just circles. Non-stop. There were no breaks.

The scenery was unbelievable. When we got to the top of the mountain there was a place for cars to park. But we still weren't at the top. We weren't at the pinnacle, the peak. You had to get out and walk. And the higher up you went the colder it got — obviously. Such that when we got to the top part before we entered the masjid, you were walking in the clouds. Not exaggerating. That's how high up we were. We were walking in the clouds. Clouds everywhere.

We got there. This masjid is called Masjid al-Mala'ika — the Masjid of Angels. It's a tiny masjid, probably the size of this area here. Made of nothing but wood and stone. And the ground, the earth of the masjid was the bark off of trees. Obviously no roof. It was the best salat experience of my life. Unbelievable. Praying at the top of a mountain in a tiny masjid, built from nothing but materials from the environment around you, with no ceiling, in the freezing cold. The most profound salat experience ever. Because of the journey, because of the location also.

Why build a little tiny masjid on the top of a mountain so far away from people and civilization? Why do something like that? And the masjid was full — people going up and down, visitors from all over the world. Why put something tiny like this here? The question is: why not? It's just as active on the tip of the mountain, in the clouds, in the cold, with natural beauty — just as active as any other masjid in the city center. When you're devoted to the service of Allah Ta'ala, there are no boundaries. And the people had just the most beautiful experience driving 12 hours to pray to Allah Ta'ala in that tiny space.

Some of the ulama in the old days used to travel on donkeys. It took us 12 hours by car. They used to travel by donkeys just to go pray in that beautiful place. That's the beauty of the Ka'bah. Build a tiny place of devotion — a symbol of devotion to Allah Ta'ala — in the middle of the desert. No greenery. No civilization. Put it there. Build it. Do it. Let Allah Ta'ala do the rest. Establish. Let Him populate. You do the work and He will move it from point A to point B.

The Isra' and Mi'raj Defies Boundaries

This is not always a rational business that we're in. Because the story of the Isra' and the Mi'raj is quite irrational. It defies the laws of physics and gravity for someone to have traveled in the middle of the night — for a portion of the night — from Mecca to Jerusalem, and then from Jerusalem throughout the seven heavens. To have met Adam at the first level, and after that Isa and Yahya (alayhim as-salam) at the second level, and then Yusuf (alayhi as-salam) at the third level, and then Idrees (alayhi as-salam) at the fourth level, and then Musa (alayhi as-salam) at the fifth level, then Harun (alayhi as-salam) at the sixth level, and then Ibrahim (alayhi as-salam) at the seventh level — that defies all reason. Ascending, transcending, going beyond boundaries. The only limits are the limits we impose, the limits we bring. Why do we limit?

The Bedouin in Masjid Nabawi

It's like the Bedouin who went into Masjid an-Nabawi in the time of the Prophet ﷺ — we all know the story — and he relieved himself in the corner of Masjid an-Nabawi. Can you imagine if somebody did that today? The Sahabah tried to jump on him. The Prophet ﷺ said: leave him. It defies boundaries. It's irrational when you think about it — actually, the rational thing is to stop him. But what happens when you stop a man from going to the restroom? It splatters everywhere. It makes a mess. Just hold on a second. Let him be. It's better to clean up a tiny spot than to clean up a big mess.

And sometimes when we want to intervene so quickly, thinking it's the right thing, we make bigger messes — because we haste in the spirit of responding, in the spirit of trying to correct, and we don't realize that there'll be a mess not only there but all over the place as well. Because we've got to grab the man and pull him out, and then we'll be messed up as well, in the disguise of cleaning up. Because of boundaries — let him finish. And then afterwards, he ﷺ went to the man, explained to him: this is the masjid, it's a place of tahara. If you want to do that, do that there. It's proper adab, proper akhlaq. We have rules here.

And the man said: "May Allah have mercy on me and have mercy on you, and not have mercy on these guys." And the Prophet ﷺ said — don't put boundaries on Allah. Actually, the hadith is:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 380; also referenced in Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 4, Hadith 219)

Don't put boundaries on the One Whose rahmah is without boundaries. Don't constrict the One Whose rahmah is expansive. Don't constrict the work of Allah.

So you have a budget to do da'wah — do the da'wah. Do the work. Don't worry about the dollar figure, and Allah Ta'ala will magnify that. Don't be constricted by the dollar figure. Don't limit the da'wah work to the dollar. Do the work and the dollar will stretch.

Don't put boundaries on His work. But do His work within His boundaries — not yours. Within the shar'i boundaries, not human boundaries. When we work within the boundaries of the Divine Law, then our success becomes unbound and the effects of that are limitless. That's the dars from the Isra' and the Mi'raj.

Why Masjid al-Aqsa First? The Wisdom of the Journey

That you go — when you are in the path of the Anbiya, you travel. Allah Ta'ala took him ﷺ to the furthest masjid. He could have taken him direct. Think about that. He could have taken him from Mecca to the heavens. Why go all the way to Masjid al-Aqsa? What's the point? And then go from Masjid al-Aqsa all the way to the heavens? Why go through the earthly realm first? Why not direct?

Because we have to take means. We have to do the work here. We are not meant to be angels. We are meant to work here. We are meant to move here on this earth. But our movement here has a higher objective. And our movement here, our work here, our progress here, must not be limited by our own cities, our own boundaries, or the boundaries that other people impose on us.

Transcend that. Go out of your city. Go out of your comfort zones. Do something different. You don't have to do the same thing the same way all the time. Change. Get out. Diversify your experiences, diversify your perspectives. Talk to different people. Encounter different minds. Go to different places. See different things.

Don't desire just to go direct to heaven without doing the work that is necessary to build here on earth. But we've got to build in a way that says we are concerned about everybody — not just the people of Mecca, but the people of Jerusalem too. So go there and spend time there in Masjid al-Aqsa and make salah there. Your ibadah is not restricted to one masjid. Do your ibadah in multiple places.

To show him these various signs. And then remember, while you're in the path of Allah and you're doing the work of Allah:

He is going to see everything you do. He is going to hear everything that you contemplate. He is going to manage this from a distance that is extremely close. It's a paradox.

Sha'ban: A Month of Self-Reflection

So in the month of Sha'ban, which we're entering into now, we have to think about those things. What kind of restrictions have we imposed on ourselves that will limit us from being more effective worshippers of Allah Ta'ala, more effective servants of Allah Ta'ala? How do we limit ourselves from going quicker into Jannah? What is it that we are not doing?

We're not doing enough salat in the jama'at. We're not doing enough service in the community. We're not doing enough service at home. Are we giving enough — not just to the masjid, but to the firemen and to the communities? Are we giving and dedicating ourselves enough? Are we following not only part of the rules but all the rules — not only when people are looking but also when people are not looking? Are we so comfortable in our own comfort zones that we never venture out to do something different, to get a new experience, so that we may become better people and better servants of Allah Ta'ala?

What is going to be our Isra' — our journey on the earth — and how long will it be before we take advantage of the Mi'raj that is through the Isra'? You have to go through the Isra' first in order to get to the Mi'raj. You've got to do the work here on the earth. You've got to go through the journey on land to be elevated to a better station with Allah. You don't get elevated to Allah directly without doing the work on the ground. There's no elevation from Mecca to Allah without first doing the work on the ground and going to Jerusalem — means we've got to go to a different place first. We've got to go out. Out of our comfort zones, out of our homes, out of the confines of our own cultural and historical and habitual norms. We've got to break out of those boundaries. Do something positively radical — positively radical meaning something different, something new, that positively serves this Deen and the people in this community.

Then we'll experience the Mi'raj. We will ascend — not just individually but collectively. Because what good is it if I ascend and you don't? What good is it if you ascend and she doesn't? We don't want to ascend to Allah Ta'ala and be in a great place with Allah Ta'ala by ourselves. How can that happen when I've got my brothers and sisters there? I need my brothers and sisters to accompany me with Allah Ta'ala. Part of the pleasure of Jannah is to experience Jannah in a community. And so we want each other to elevate. That means we have to work the Isra'. We've got to work on this ard. We've got to work on this land.

Du'a — Closing Prayer

May Allah Ta'ala inspire us. May Allah Ta'ala bless us to do the work of Isra' in our own lands. May Allah Ta'ala give us the tawfiq and the blessing of experiencing a true Mi'raj through this work and through this da'wah work. And may He elevate all of us and our families and our loved ones to a closer maqam, a closer rank, a closer status to Him — both in this life and in the next life.