2015-02-27 - People with Special Needs - Sheikh Mokhtar Maghroui

Opening — The Adhān and Khuṭbah

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَسَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ، أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْكَلَامِ كِتَابُ اللهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

What means: O you who have attained faith, be Allah-conscious — have awe and reverence in your hearts for Allah in a way that is worthy of who He is, worthy of His glory and majesty, worthy of those wonderful, most beautiful and majestic names and attributes — and die not except in a state of Islam, die not except in a state of loving surrender of our hearts and souls, of our minds and limbs and senses and words and deeds, all in loving surrender to Allah. اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِنْهُمْ.

The Mission of Islam: Tawḥīd, Akhlāq, and Action

And in order to do that — and that is the purpose for which we were created — in order to do that, we need, and I summarize, the mission of Islam, and therefore the mission of this community, and the mission of every community as it must be as we see it.

I summarize it in the following way. That we strive to attain Tawḥīd of Allah at the level of our hearts. That we indeed not only know mentally and intellectually, but we experience emotionally the oneness of Allah. The oneness of all His attributes, and the beauty of all His attributes, inside of our qulūb. We strive to attain that. And our Tawḥīd be one that is experiential — تَوْحِيدٌ وُجْدَانِيٌّ — that our Tawḥīd of Allah be one that is felt and lived.

And when that occurs, as we strive to do so, by the will of Allah and by the grace of Allah, that is then the second thing: our hearts become more beautiful. And therefore our inner character becomes consistent with that beauty of Tawḥīd inside of our qulūb. It translates into a protector of the heart. Into an inner image of the heart that is beautiful. And that is حُسْنُ الْخُلُقِ — beautiful inner character.

And when we want that beautiful inner character — that we would be inside consistent with the beauty of the names and attributes of Allah inside of our hearts, on account of that Tawḥīd — then the third step is we externalize and we actualize those akhlāq, those beautiful attributes, in words and in action in our lives. In our relationship with Allah, and in our relationship with the creatures of Allah. The ibādah of Allah and all the makhlūqāt, the created things of Allah.

Ibādah — to worship Allah. To perform ṣalāh. A lot of rukūʿ and sujūd. A lot of meaning and a lot of prostration. And a lot of dhikr of Allah. And a lot of supplication and duʿāʾ. And a lot of fasting. And a lot of charity and zakāh. And a lot of reflection and pondering in the creation of Allah. All sorts of beautiful ibādah in our relationship with Allah. Those will define for us, and will give us the strength and the energy to act with human beings in ways that Allah loves, in ways that are consistent with that beauty of Tawḥīd inside of our qulūb.

And therefore Allah says for example in the Quran:

Which means: O you who have attained faith, arkaʿū — kneel to Allah — and lay yourselves prostrate to Allah, and be in ibādah of your Lord. And then He says, وَافْعَلُوا الْخَيْرَ — and do good. Act amongst yourselves in ways that are of goodness, in ways that are virtuous, in ways that are beautiful and beneficial that Allah loves. In other words, also — and I underline the word also — translate those acts of ibādah into an activity, a moral, ethical, virtuous, beneficial activity amongst yourselves, and amongst all the creatures of Allah.

So al-ibādah, worship, gives us strength to act beautifully, and gives us light to act beautifully with the creatures. And then acting beautifully with the creatures — acting and interacting with the creatures — will compel us to turn to Allah in ibādah. Because you know we are going to face challenges and difficulties and disagreements and obstacles when we interact with one another, even if we are the best of human beings. And then those difficulties will compel us to turn to Allah and raise our hands and implore Allah for help. And ibādah is that umbilical cord that connects us to Allah to help us in our daily, everyday activities.

The Most Beloved of People to Allah

Of that, my dear sisters and brothers — of those good deeds that we need to do to translate our ibādah into activity — a beautiful heart will show beautiful acts. A beautiful heart will translate the beautiful Tawḥīd inside of the qalb. And then that beautiful heart will speak and will do deeds that Allah loves, deeds that are beautiful and beneficial to His creatures.

Rasulullah ﷺ said in an authentic hadith:

(Al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ of al-Ṭabarānī, and recorded in similar wording in other collections; declared ḥasan by al-Albānī)

The most beloved of people to Allah are those who are most beneficial — that is, to others. These are human beings with the Tawḥīd in their hearts; their hearts have become beautiful, they translate that into action that is beautiful. And beautiful implies beneficial also to the creatures of Allah. For we are supposed to be the stewards of Allah on earth. We represent Him. We represent His beauty because He is beautiful. And therefore our words and deeds must represent that beauty. And to be beneficial to His creatures is beautiful.

So He says of those people who have Tawḥīd in their hearts, the most beloved to Him are those who are most beneficial to others — أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ.

And then He ﷺ says:

(Al-Muʿjam al-Awsaṭ of al-Ṭabarānī; declared ḥasan by al-Albānī)

That is, and it means: of the most beloved deeds to Allah is joy or happiness that you would introduce or generate in the heart of a Muslim. You help someone be happy — happy of course in the noble sense, in the beautiful sense, not in the base, low, decadent sense. To help someone be at ease, walḥamdulillāh. Allah loves that most.

If your qalb is beautiful, if your qalb is kind, if your qalb is compassionate, if your qalb is merciful, if your qalb is loving, if your qalb is benevolent — then you would be an instrument of Allah to help somebody's heart be happy. To help a Muslim be happy — your spouse first, your children, your nearest relatives, your neighbours, those whom you know and those whom you do not know.

Or what Allah also loves of the deeds most is that you help someone be relieved from a hardship, from a worry, from a calamity, from a concern, from a constriction inside his or her heart. You help relieve that, subḥānallāh. Allah loves that most.

Relieving the Hardships of Others

And then He ﷺ says also in another hadith:

(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 2699)

Up to here He ﷺ says — what means: whosoever gives a break, helps give a break — نَفَّسَ — to a muʾmin, to a believing man or woman, a kurbah, a hardship, a constriction from the constrictions and hardships and challenges of this world, Allah on the Day of Resurrection will give him or her a break from a hardship of the Hereafter. And of course the hardship of the Hereafter is beyond comparison to any hardship in this dunyā — the worst of hardships combined in this dunyā will not match perhaps the least of the hardships of the Hereafter. So you help somebody in this dunyā, you help someone who needs help in this dunyā, and Allah will grant you respite and relief from something you would have to pay for on the Day of Judgment. Allāhu Akbar.

وَمَنْ يَسَّرَ عَلَى مُعْسِرٍ يَسَّرَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ — And whosoever brings ease to someone in difficulty about anything in this dunyā — we help somebody in hardship be released from that hardship, wherever that hardship and difficulty and challenge may be: physical, intellectual, emotional, material, economic, political, spiritual, social, individual, collective, at work, at home, in the masjid, in the street, wherever and whenever — if we do that in this dunyā, even if it is something very little, Allah promises to bring relief and to ease the difficulty and hardship of that person in dunyā and in ākhirah.

Sometimes perhaps we have a difficulty and we don't know from where it came, and it is resolved, and we didn't do much at all. And sometimes some of us thinks, because we are smart, we did something and we worked hard at it. But subḥānallāh — maybe sometime you helped somebody in need. Maybe sometime you brought relief to someone in hardship. Maybe sometime you eased the burden of someone at home, or your neighbour, or at work, or wherever — and that is what Allah is rewarding you for in this life and in the Hereafter.

And hardship in the Hereafter — yā Rabb, I committed this wrong, I didn't repent from it, and I have to pay in ākhirah. I cannot bear the hardships of ākhirah, nobody can. And suddenly Allah says: I have forgiven you, I have eased your burden — because you forgot one day, and I did not forget — somebody in need, who perhaps did not even ask you, but you saw that and you helped him for the love of Me. I don't forget. So that happened.

Concealing the Faults of Others

وَمَنْ سَتَرَ مُسْلِمًا سَتَرَهُ اللهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ — And whosoever protects and guards and shields and conceals — that is, a Muslim who is in a situation where a person is weak and needs something. For example, a person who is destitute and poor, and you do sitr to him — you protect him or her, for example, by not even letting them go and ask, by not even letting their need be exposed. You run and fulfill that need without anybody asking you, without anybody noticing.

Someone commits a fault, a wrong in your relationship with him or her, but they are overall a good person and they would repent to Allah — instead of exposing them — and some of us delight in exposing others, and one day Allah will expose us — instead, you help cover that. We don't expose them. We pray that Allah forgives them. We ask Allah to protect them, because you never know who comes next. So Allah says if you do that, then Allah will protect and conceal your faults and deficiencies in this world and in the Hereafter.

For in the ākhirah, some of us who concealed our terrible deeds but did not repent to Allah, and were arrogant about that — we shall be exposed in front of everybody. Allah will say: this man committed this on that day on earth, at this hour, this minute, this second — and look what he did, or she did. Exposed.

How many of us would desire that we never be exposed? I think all of us. To attain that — with a good heart, conceal the faults of others in this dunyā and help them change while you are helping yourself to change.

People with Special Needs — We All Have a Special Need

Somebody in need — anybody in need, of any need. And we all need, don't we? But sometimes we call some people "people with special needs" nowadays. But we all have some special need at one point or the other. It is because that's the way, that's the culture, those are the norms, those are the standards. But with Allah, everybody is one with special need. Everyone needs help. Everyone needs special help — I, and you, and everyone else.

And this — to bring and to lend support of any kind, legitimate and moral, to anyone in need — and especially those that we call people with special needs — is something beloved to Allah. It is part of bringing ease to someone in hardship and difficulty. It is part of introducing joy and happiness into the heart of someone. It is part of removing burden from the life of a person in this dunyā. It is part of being one who does good. It is part of doing good altogether — all that Allah loves.

My dear brothers and sisters, when we institutionalize these concepts — when we institutionalize those attributes that are in our hearts, born out of the Tawḥīd in our hearts which we should strive for — when we institutionalize that, that is very, very good. Versus when we do that individually, if we do that as a community, if we do that as a society, if we do that as a nation, if we do that through the law — that is even more beautiful.

We ask Allah to make us and you from those who listen to the word. We implore Allah to help me and you and all of us be of those who listen to the words of admonition and actualize and follow the best of them. I say this and I ask forgiveness of Allah for him and you — so ask forgiveness of Him, for those who ask forgiveness, Allah forgives.

Second Part of the Khuṭbah

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَكَفَى، وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَى. اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا وَمَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ الطَّاهِرِينَ وَأَصْحَابِهِ الْمَيَامِينِ وَالتَّابِعِينَ لَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.

Of course you know that reminders are helpful to those who have īmān. But Rasulullah ﷺ was, in a sense, the perfect man — the one who embodied, internalized, and actualized the most beautiful ways of divine characteristics. He was the most beautiful steward, khalīfah, of Allah on this earth.

Sayyida Khadīja's Description of the Prophet ﷺ

And Sayyida Khadīja, upon her be the peace and pleasure of Allah, when he ﷺ was first surprised by the angel with the waḥy and it was overwhelming and he was so shaken and so worried and so afraid — Allah had that woman, that wife, that mother of the believers, that most beautiful human being, remind him at that moment of who he was in character. And because of that character, because of that akhlāq, she tells him: Allah shall never forsake you. Because she says:

(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Hadith 3; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Hadith 160)

إِنَّكَ لَتَصِلُ الرَّحِمَ — Because you are one who always connected and did not sever the ties of kinship. That is a character.

وَتَحْمِلُ الْكَلَّ — And here is our point — wa taḥmilul kall: and you are one who always carried — she says, who carried the weak, helped the weak, the underprivileged, the less fortunate, the downtrodden, the handicapped, the one in any need. You were always there before this, and you were always first to carry them and provide that need — emotional need, moral need, spiritual need, social need, intellectual need, material need. You were always there. A person with this character, Allah shall never forsake such a person. Whatever happens to you is going to be good, whether you understand it or you don't.

وَتَكْسِبُ الْمَعْدُومَ — In other words, when people go earn money and earn wealth, you go earn the needy and the poor, those who don't have. She describes it as something to earn — taksibul maʿdūm — you earn the one who doesn't have. What "not having" means in general — not only financially, but in all aspects of needs and of special needs. You carry them and you earn them. You bring them to you. You feel enriched by that. You earn them. You feel wealthy by that. Taksib — those who have nothing, those who don't have, those who are weak, those who are underprivileged, those who have special needs. And of course, as we said, we all have special needs.

وَتَقْرِي الضَّيْفَ وَتُعِينُ عَلَى نَوَائِبِ الْحَقِّ — these are the beautiful characteristics that describe Rasulullah ﷺ — not only after he was the ultimate, most beautiful, seal of all messengers, but before that, he was that kind of human being.

May Allah help me and you with these beautiful words, that we internalize them and actualize them. I am personally so elated to have, subḥānallāh, these special, beautiful brothers and sisters whom we call people with special needs, and to use sign language in Khuṭbat al-Jumʿah. May Allah accept this khuṭbah. May Allah accept yours and mine. May Allah help us be of those who are truly stewards of Allah on this earth. May Allah protect us from the stain of our hearts. May He beautify our hearts. May He make our deeds and our words beautiful. May He protect us by that which He protects His most righteous servants in this world and in the Hereafter. Yā Arḥam al-Rāḥimīn, yā Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn.

The Iqāma and Ṣalāh

O servants of Allah, rise to your prayer — may Allah have mercy on you.

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ — السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ — أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ.