2015 05 29 Friday Prayer Sheikh Mokhtar Maghroui

Khutbah: The Richness of the Heart — Al-Ghina Billah

The khutbah begins with the adhan, followed by the opening supplication:

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ: أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْكَلَامِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهُدَى هُدَى مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

O you who have attained faith — Allah says, and what it means: O you who have attained faith, be Allah-conscious. Have awe and reverence in our hearts for Allah in a way that is worthy of who He is — worthy of His names and attributes, worthy of His beauty and majesty, worthy of His perfection in His beauty and majesty, worthy of His innumerable favours upon His creatures, worthy of who He is. And make sure we do not die except in a state of Islam — in a state of loving surrender of our souls and hearts, of our minds and words, of our deeds — all in loving surrender to Allah.

Al-Istighna' Billah — Self-Sufficiency Through Allah

And of that الاستسلام لله عزّ وجل — that loving surrender to Allah — is al-istighna' billahi 'amma siwaha. And of that loving surrender of our souls and hearts to Allah is to be, and to feel, self-sufficient with and by Allah against all other needs, all other created means, and all other creations.

الاستغناء بالله عمّا سواه من غنى القلب — al-istighna' billahi: to be self-sufficient, or to be sufficed by Allah, as opposed to everything created, is the richness of the heart. ذلك غنى القلوب.

My dear brothers and sisters, that ghina — that wealth and that richness — is both in the material sense and in the spiritual and psychological sense. غنى مادي وغنى أيضاً روحي وغنى معنوي وغنى خُلُقي. Not only does one feel and is rich physically in that relationship — materially speaking — but most importantly, one also feels rich and sufficed by Allah in our social relationships, in our spiritual relationships, in our economic relationships, in all sorts of relationships. We feel rich with Allah. That's richness — not only materially, but also emotionally and psychologically and spiritually as well.

That the individual worshipper, the abd of Allah, feels that sufficiency — for example, by not being too emotionally attached to anything or anyone besides Allah — to the extent that: if they don't give me, I don't feel hurt. I don't feel not liking them. If they give me, I don't feel over-elated. I don't feel attached and bounded to them unnecessarily. I don't give up my values because they gave me, because it is Allah who gives. If they hurt me, I do not respond in ways that are unjust, that are transgressive, that are hurtful, that are selfish — that simply reflect my personal weaknesses and my personal needs. Because if Allah is in my qalb, I feel self-sufficient. If they hurt me and in my qalb is Allah, I will not be affected by their hurt. If they give me and in my qalb is Allah, I will not be affected by their giving.

span lang="ar" dir="rtl" class="font-serif">سواءٌ منعوا أم أعطوا، سواءٌ مجحوا أم ذمّوا — that's a richness with Allah. If people praise me or blame me, if people give me or withhold from me, if people are with me or against me — not that I don't care — but that does not affect my qalb when the qalb is with Allah.

الغنى غنى القلب — this ghina of the qalb is certainly very, very special in our deen and in our relationship with the Creator.

How Do We Attain Richness of the Heart?

How can we be rich with our qalb? How can we attain richness in our qalb? I would believe that every sincere seeker, whoever he or she may be, would love to have that internal maqam, that internal hal with Allah, to feel ghani billah all the time — to the extent that what people do or say, to hurt me or to give me, to be with me or against me, my qalb is at peace with Allah, my qalb is at ghina, wealth and richness with Allah. Allah responds in noble ways, in quiet, serene, sakina ways. How do we get that?

First: Al-Du'a — Turning to Allah in Supplication

Perhaps what we are going to say in these few moments together would be, by the permission of Allah, helpful to us. First and foremost, the easiest way is to turn to Allah — first and foremost, to turn to Allah in du'a.

فلا مُعطيَ إلا الله، ولا مانعَ إلا الله، من خزائن عطائه الظاهرة والباطنة — only Allah gives, only Allah withholds — from the treasures of His possessions, whether they be material creations or they be spiritual and psychological creations.

So we ask Allah: "Ya Allah, please give me of the unbounded treasures of Your richness. Give me richness in my qalb with You. Give me sufficiency in my qalb with You — not only materially, but also psychologically and emotionally — so that whatever I go through in this life, and ya Allah, You made this life a life of change, and ups and downs, and challenges, and conflicts, and pain, and joy — You made it so — please, under all circumstances, grant my qalb richness with You, ya Allah."

So, al-du'a, al-du'a. Allah does not give of His fadl to the one who is too arrogant to make du'a to Him. Let us not be of those who, though not perhaps saying it, in their attitude behave as though we don't need God — we need ourselves.

Second: Al-Tafarrugh — Emptying the Heart for Allah

Number two: Rasulullah ﷺ said that Allah said in a Hadith Qudsi:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4107; also narrated in Musnad Ahmad)

"O child of Adam, tafarragh — empty yourself for Me. Empty your qalb from the attachments of dunya." That it is Allah who owns خزائن الملك والملكوت — one should know with certitude, I hope, that Allah is He who owns the treasures of the apparent and the manifest, and the esoteric and the hidden and the beyond.

The name of Allah, al-Kafi — isn't Allah the Sufficer of His servant? In other words, He is putting it as a question, but it is so obvious that the answer need not be mentioned — that I and you, that we need to internalize this reality, this divine reality: الله هو الكافي في كلّ شيء.

What is within shall come to an end — it will be altered, it will change, even in this dunya before we die — and what is with Allah remains forever, eternally. And that's not only about money and wealth, but about emotions and feelings — generosity, benevolence, contentment, kindness, patience, balance, knowledge, mahabba, shukr — all of these are with Allah, they remain. What is with us does not remain.

So He said in this Hadith Qudsi: Allah said, "O child of Adam, empty yourself — struggle." We need to do work. As Allah says, all that we will harvest is what we have striven for, and to strive for a change in the qalb is the greatest of all pursuits, for that is what Allah wants from us — that we change our qulub and we come ultimately to Him with the qalb that is salim:

So I need to struggle and strive to empty my qalb for Allah. And He says: "You empty, and I guarantee — I fill up. I fill up your heart, your chest, with richness, with ghina," and materially speaking, "and I shall guarantee you safety from destitution and poverty." Rest assured.

A Story: Imam al-Junaid and the 600 Dinars

One of the righteous rich persons — alhamdulillah — one time, as the ulama relate, came to al-Imam al-Junaid who was sitting in the Haram of Allah in those early days — a long time ago, when the Haram was so empty and beautiful and in its early origins, if you will. A rich, good man came to him while he was sitting around with his fuqara and with his students and companions. And he gives him this purse filled with golden coins — the text says 600 golden coins, 600 dinars at that time — and he gave it to him and said: "Ya Sayyidi, anfiq haza ala fuqara'ik — please accept it and spread it amongst your poor companions."

Al-Imam al-Junaid accepted it kindly from that kind, rich man, and then he looked at him and said: "Do you have more of this?" — هل لك المزيد من هذا؟ He said: "Yes, sir, I do have more." He said: "Do you want more of this?" He said: "Yes — why not? It's halal." And then he paused for a moment, and he took that bag and said: "Please accept it back." Because those whom you call fuqara, poor people — if you ask them, when they don't have much, "Do you want more than what you don't have?" — they would say no, because they don't feel they are in need. But you said yes, and therefore you are the one in need. So please accept it.

A Story: The Wise Man Abused

One wise man sat with another wise man in our early times, and they spoke to each other and conversed concerning richness. He said, one to the other: "Who do you think is the richest person in life?" The other answered: من يجد كلّما يشتهي — "The person who finds everything he desires; the person who has access, who finds anything he desires — this is the rich one."

He said: "Do you know of someone else who is rich?" And then a man came — there are always abuses in this dunya; may Allah help us not be abusers, may Allah help us not be abusers of others. So he abused him verbally. And this was a hakim, tabi'i, salih, mu'min, 'alim, hakim, tabi'i. And he abused him verbally and continued, and then he left. Those who were with him, after the individual left, told him: "You allowed all of that and you didn't utter a word!" He answered: "Wallahi, I didn't actually know any of his shortcomings to respond to him with, and I hated to lie and invent lies against him to respond to him."

Another one said, on a similar occasion — rahimahu Allah ta'ala — when he was abused as well, he answered the man: "Wallahi, law anna Allah ta'ala la yasma'u, la ajabtuk!" — "By Allah, if I didn't know that Allah is hearing, is listening, I would have answered you." Allahu Akbar! Al-ghina billahi fil-qalb! He answered him: "By Allah, if I didn't know that Allah is hearing and listening, I would have answered you." Look at this ghina! Look at this richness in the qalb! Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!

For that they said: الاستئناس بالناس من علامات الإفلاس — of the signs of bankruptcy: I am bankrupt when I find solace — at the expense of Allah — in people and not in Allah. أستأنس بالناس ولا أستأنس بالله — of the signs of bankruptcy. When my qalb is not rich with Allah, I look to find solace and repose with other than Allah. And the more I do that, and the more I am sometimes aggressive in that, the more it is a sign of poverty in my qalb, not of richness in my qalb.

My dear brothers and sisters, they said: of the signs of this ghina of a person is that لا يكثر الاختلاط بالناس — one does not feel the need to always be with people, because when alone with Allah, one finds the greatest joy. Number one. Number two: ويترك ذمّهم ولا يلتفت إليه، ويترك مدحهم ولا يلتفت إليه — such an individual does not mind their praises and does not turn to them, and does not mind their abuses and does not turn to them. He is ghani billah. And: وينظر في كلّ شيء إلى الله — in every matter, at work, at home, financially, politically, socially, family-wise, emotionally, psychologically — in the masjid, outside the masjid — under all circumstances, ينظر في كل شيء بقلبه إليه إلى الله. Such an individual, always and constantly, under all circumstances, makes himself or herself aware of the watchfulness of Allah.

For that, the likes of him would say, or says the likes of him:

"Oh my Lord, what has he lost — the one who has You? The one who finds You, what has he lost?" But however I respond in ways and I act in ways that are improper, or immoral, or unethical, or at least impolite — or not the best of ways — when I don't have Him. Because if I have Him — who sees others' infinity — when you have infinity, what is a hundred trillion? It is zero.

ماذا فقد من وجدك؟ ومن الذي وجد من فقدك؟ — and what has he found, the one who loses You?

Al-ghina, al-ghina — attained richness — through al-du'a, al-tafarrugh, and thirdly, ishtighal al-qalb bi al-tadabbur fi ma'ani al-akhirah.

Third: Making the Akhira Your Greatest Concern

Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2465; also in Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4105)

The one who makes the akhira — the home of the hereafter — his aim, his objective, his focus, his concern, his daily, hourly, second-by-second concern; the one who makes akhira his concern or her concern: مَنْ كَانَتِ الْآخِرَةُ هَمَّهُ — Allahu Akbar — جَعَلَ اللَّهُ غِنَاهُ فِي قَلْبِهِ — Allah will instill, Allah will inject, Allah will make his or her richness in his or her qalb. الْقَلْبُ يَسْتَغْنِي بِاللَّهِ عَمَّا سِوَاهُ. Allahu Akbar! Allah is Ghani — sufficed by Allah against everything other than Him.

And I remind myself and you: this ghina is not only ghina maddi — material richness — but al-ghina al-nafsani, al-ghina al-ruhi, al-ghina al-khuluqi, al-ghina al-ijtima'i — all types of ghina. To the extent that our relationship with one another — the friend and the foe — would be on the basis of that ghina. And the one who is that ghani becomes an ocean, an ocean of quietude and of peace and of serenity.

يصير بحراً محيطاً من الهدوء والسكينة والوقار والسلام وحسن الخُلُق.

مَنْ كَانَتِ الْآخِرَةُ هَمَّهُ، جَعَلَ اللَّهُ غِنَاهُ فِي قَلْبِهِ — and Allah will collect for him all his matters inside of the person's mind and heart. He or she will not feel scattered and shattered. You all know what that means — to feel scattered and shattered inside: fathers and mothers especially, adults especially, with all what dunya is. And dunya is filled with problems; there is no one who lives without problems in this dunya. But the one who lives with problems in this dunya without this attitude — you will see what happens. But the one who lives with والآخرة قصده, his ghina is in his qalb. Second: جمع له عليه شمله — and that person will not feel shattered and scattered, and insecure and anxious and depressed and angry and hot-tempered and violent, لأن غناه في قلبه، لأن الله في قلبه، والله سلام. And thirdly: وأتته الدنيا وهي راغمة — and then with all of that, he said ﷺ: and dunya, the good things of this dunya, shall come to him or her despite dunya. In other words, if dunya doesn't want him, Allah will order dunya to be his share. أتته الدنيا وهي راغمة — to the extent that he needs and to the extent that she needs, and to the extent that he or she feels rich.

And then he said: وَمَنْ كَانَتِ الدُّنْيَا هَمَّهُ — the opposite. The person for whom dunya is the focus, is the concern, is the hamm, is the objective, is the aim, is the ultimate pursuit: جَعَلَ اللَّهُ فَقْرَهُ بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ — Allah will always make that person feel poor. And literally it says: He will make poverty always present in front of his eyes. Wherever he or she goes, wherever he or she is, internally he or she is always seeing — being poor and afraid of being poor — even if very, very rich physically, would feel afraid to lose. And that's a poor one. جعل الله فقره بين عينيه. Second: وفرّق عليه شملَه — the opposite of the previous one — and Allah will cause his internal affairs, his matters, to be spread out, to be dispersed, to be scattered and shattered. The qalb is not collected — it is everywhere. "I just want to be collected," and is unable to. فرّق الله عليه شمله. And then: وَلَمْ يَأْتِهِ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَا قُدِّرَ لَهُ — and on top of all of that, that person, despite his or her insistence and obsession, will not — will not — get of dunya more than what Allah willed for him to have. Never more.

The Fruits of Richness with Allah

Ghina, ghina al-nafs. And by this we are not only emphasizing — my dear brothers and sisters — in terms of physical richness. Remember, I said that in the beginning, and in the middle, and I'm going to say it at the end: not only about material things, but also about what? Emotional, psychological, spiritual attitudes inside of us, and conditions inside of us.

مَنْ كَانَ غَنِيًّا بِاللَّهِ، كَانَ صَابِرًا، وَكَانَ حَلِيمًا، وَكَانَ رَفِيقًا، وَكَانَ مُحْسِنًا، وَكَانَ شَاكِرًا، وَكَانَ غَنِيًّا بِاللَّهِ، وَكَانَ غَافِرًا، وَكَانَ عَفُوًّا، وَكَانَ مُسَامِحًا، وَكَانَ طَيِّبًا، وَكَانَ لَيِّنًا — the one who is rich with Allah will also be rich in character, and therefore would be patient, would be forbearing, would be compassionate, would be kind, would be benevolent, would be forgiving, would be merciful, would be quiet. Ghaniyan billah. And the one who is not, would be the opposite.

And therefore, to strive to be like that — implore Allah to be rich, implore Allah to be free in our qulub, that akhira is my aim and my focus and not dunya, that I know with certitude — "Ya Allah, help me know with certitude that all treasures of existence belong to You, the external treasures and the internal treasures, ya Rabb" — and we strive to do that.

My dear brothers and sisters, واللهُ أوثق. And on this occasion, please don't forget the firefighters outside. It would be very improper and low on our part to speak of richness and to let them go without having filled their boots. Please be kind, and please be generous. And this is a form and a way also of da'wah to Allah.

Closing Du'a

عِبَادَ اللَّهِ، إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ. Qumu ila salatikum yarhamkum Allah.

After the Prayer

Very briefly — I forgot, I'm sorry — to extend certainly a very special welcome to our dear brothers who have come from al-Madinah al-Munawwarah. May Allah illuminate this masjid by their barakah, insha'Allah ta'ala. They have come from the most beautiful of places on earth. May Allah make their stay here one that is very useful and very beneficial to them and to us all. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.