2015 12 11 Sheikh Mokhtar Maghroui

Khutbah Opening

Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest. There is no god but Allah. All praise is due to Allah.

We praise Him, we ask His help, we ask His forgiveness and we ask His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whom He misguides, none can guide him.

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. As for the rest of the people, the most truthful speech is the Book of Allah.

And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him and his family and companions. And the worst of things are their innovations. And every innovation is an invention. And every invention is a misguidance. And every misguidance is in the Fire.

O you who have attained faith, be reverent and conscious of Allah. Have awe, reverent awe in your hearts for Allah in a way that is worthy of who He is. Worthy of His glory and majesty. Worthy of His essence. Worthy of His beauty. Worthy of His perfection. Worthy of His innumerable gifts and favors upon us. Worthy of His signs and His creation. And die not except in a state of loving surrender of our spirits, souls, hearts and minds and words and deeds — all in loving surrender to Allah.

The Mantle of Divine Love

My dear brothers and sisters, in this context — and may Allah grant us such souls and spirits and hearts and minds and words and deeds as enumerated a moment ago which Allah would love — in that context, my dear brothers and sisters, who would not want, especially during such days, to be laid upon a cover, a shield, a mantle by which nothing harmful reaches you? Not only physically, but emotionally and psychologically. Who would not want that? I think we all want that, walhamdulillah.

And one way to see that, my dear brothers and sisters, is that such cover, such mantle exists. But we often do not pay attention to it. Especially those of us who intellectualize things too frequently, and do not do simple things frequently enough to help us.

Allah, for example, says when He addresses Moses, alayhis salam — sayyiduna Musa, alayhis salam — in the difficult circumstances that sayyiduna Musa had gone through even when he was a baby. In that context, Allah says to him:

"And I have laid upon you hubb — love — from Me."

That hubb — that love, that mantle, in the circumstances which Musa alayhis salam was going through, and his mother, and his family, and his people, and he especially — Allah tells him after all of that: وَأَلْقَيْتُ عَلَيْكَ مَحَبَّةً مِّنِّي. That mantle, that cover, that shield, that protection — that we often, most of us, even those of us who think we know, lay aside and forget. And don't give it priority. We give priority to other things, even legitimate things, but not this one, generally.

Allah says to us, indicating that seeking to have on our part hubb — love for Him — in order to earn or to be gifted hubb love from Him. And I'm not speaking about rahma love, which He has for every creature. We're speaking about special love, hubb love, that He says: if you work on having hubb love for Me, I will give you My hubb love.

It is one thing to love, and another thing to be loved. It's one thing to be a muhibb, and another thing to be a mahboob. It's one thing to be a muhibb — to love. It's another thing to be beloved. Especially by the special ones, and most importantly, by the Divine. Hubb love.

The Hadith of Divine Proximity

He tells us about the fruit, the product, and the consequences of that muhibb, of that hubb love:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6502)

"And My servant, who desires My hubb love, shall continue and strive by committing and doing extra acts of virtuosity, of goodness, of ibadah — extra nawafil, of forgiveness, of goodness, of salah, of dhikr, of sawm, of sadaqah, of patience, of forbearance, of justice, of benevolence — extra, extra, extra — until He says: I have hubb love for that person."

And when I have hubb love for a person, guess what happens? That mantle which you and I would like, especially under such circumstances — I become his eyesight with which he sees. Wouldn't you want now that your eyes and the eyes of your heart see by Allah, by God Himself? Wouldn't you want nowadays that what you hear, you hear by God Himself?

And in one narration:

Wouldn't you become one of heart, whose heart feels and conceives and perceives by Allah? That's what the mantle of muhabbah does, under the most trying of circumstances.

He who inside has faith in Allah in his heart — Allah will guide such a heart under all circumstances.

The Sweetness of Faith

Rasulullah ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 16; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 43)

Three characteristics — anyone who has them will find, wajad, experientially, will experience in his or her life, in his or her heart, will find the sweetness of Iman:

First, that Allah and His Messenger are more beloved to him than anything else. Second, that he loves another person — he loves them only for Allah. And third, that he refuses to return to disbelief after Allah has saved him from it, as he refuses to be thrown into the Fire.

And imagine — sweetness in your heart. Why is it so special and so important? For example, if in your mouth there is bitterness, what would you like to do to remove that bitterness? Sweetness. And sweetness removes bitterness. If there is sweetness in the qalb, as this hadith teaches us, then what I and you sometimes experience inside of us of bitterness — under whatever circumstances — that sweetness overrides the bitterness. And without much of other things. And this we ignore. And this we don't pay attention to. Intelligent people, educated people, religious people, teachers, du'at, reformers — we are still failing to appreciate the spiritual dimensions in our lives, and the role, the practical, actual roles, in our lives, of these dimensions.

The sweetness of Iman removes the bitterness of hardship, of grief, of worry, of fear, of anxiety, and of distress. And in the absence of that — do what you want to do, move as you want to move, mobilize as you want to mobilize — the qalb is not in the right state. Like someone who works so hard to be wealthier and richer, but somehow continues to feel poor, because in the heart there is poverty and the heart has never been rich. And so we strive and strive and strive, and lay aside the most important of dimensions. Then we shall continue to feel anxious and depressed and afraid and weak and restless and helpless and angry.

And he mentions that the first of the three is that one has hubb love — that one has hubb love for Allah and His Rasul ﷺ more than he or she has for anything else, for anyone else.

When was the last time you and I were alone — at home, for example, in a masjid alone — and out of longing and sincere hubb love for Allah and or His Rasul ﷺ, we shed hot tears of longing and of true love? When was it?

So that not everybody would claim, "I have hubb love for God. I have hubb love for Rasulullah ﷺ." Yes, generally, every believing man and woman has some sort of basic hubb love for Allah and His Rasul. Some basic. But not that hubb love that reforms, that changes, that protects, that shields, that delights, that liberates, that removes that pain, that anger.

Allah Does Not Throw His Beloved Into the Fire

Of the consequences of that is that Allah certainly would lay a very special gaze on His part towards His beloved, more than towards others for whom He does not have that special hubb love relationship.

Al-Imam al-Hakim in his Mustadrak relates that Rasulullah ﷺ once was walking with his companions around him in the street. And in the middle of the road — that's fourteen centuries ago — there was a baby, an infant, laying down. And then when this group of people were approaching, the mother suddenly yelled and ran and picked her child and said, "Ibni! Ibni!" — "My son! My son!" — and picked her child.

And in this narration, some companions turned to Rasulullah ﷺ and said: "Ya Rasulullah, a-kadat hadhihi an tulqiya waladaha fi-l-nar?" — "Would this woman throw her son into the fire?" He replied ﷺ:

(Al-Hakim, Al-Mustadrak)

"Nor will Allah — God — throw His Beloved into the fire." His Mahbub, His Habib, into the fire.

And Rasulullah ﷺ here, in this text, uses on behalf of Allah the word Habib — that Allah has a Habib, has a Mahbub, has human beings that are His Beloved ones, His hubb-beloved ones. And He would not throw them into the fire — most importantly in Akhirah. But in this life, He will not leave them in a state of internal turbulence and internal fire, if they truly have hubb for Him — not claims. And therefore He would have hubb love for them.

What Weakens Divine Love in Our Hearts

My dear brothers and sisters, of what increases our hubb love for the Divine, and the hubb love of the Divine for us — as we seek to develop deeper and more powerful and more sincere hubb love for Him — are a few things, as the ulama, rahimahumullah ta'ala, remind us.

Let me say it in the opposite way: what are some of the signs, characteristics, and attributes that diminish the mahabba, the hubb love of the Divine inside of our hearts? What weakens that? And it is from the Qur'an and the Sunnah that they say the following.

1. Frequent Sins — Kathrat al-Ma'asi

Kathrat al-ma'asi — frequent sins, many sins, pertaining to the rights of the Divine and the rights of the creatures of the Divine. Internal or external. Minor or major. They weaken the internal drive forward of mahabba — love for Allah. Every ma'siya has that consequence.

2. Neglect of Qur'an Recitation — Ihmalu Tilawati Kitabillah

Ihmalu tilawati kitabillah — that we become lax and negligent in reading the words of God, the Kitab of Allah. Because it is His holy kalam, His holy word. And His word, His speaking, is a sifah min sifatihi — an attribute of His attributes. And to be neglectful of that, to lay that aside, is a recipe for a harsh, hard, laid-back heart — and the removal of that softness, that illumination, that delight of mahabba inside of our hearts for the Divine.

3. Neglect of Remembrance — Ihmalu Dhikri Allah

Ihmalu dhikri Allah — or qillatu dhikri Allah — that we also become lax and neglectful of dhikr of Allah. Nay, I should even say of frequent dhikr of Allah. As I think all of you should know or already know:

Al-muhibbu da'iman dhakirun lil-mahbub — a true lover is always in utterance and mention of the Beloved. Otherwise, it is just a claim.

4. Excessive Attachment to This World — Al-Inshighal bil-Dunya

Al-inshiqalu wal-ihtimamu bil-dunya — that one has an excessive focus on matters of this life of dunya, of wealth and power. More drive towards that, less mahabba in the qalb. More drive towards that, less mahabba. La yajtami'ani fi qalbi mu'min — hubbu al-dunya wa hubbu Allah — they cannot be together in the same heart: both hubb of dunya excessively and hubb of Allah. That obsessiveness towards dunya, and it shows in our behavior, weakens mahabba inside of us.

5. Heedlessness of the Hereafter — Ghaflah 'anil-Akhirah

Also what contributes to weakening mahabba, my dear brothers and sisters, is that we become lax in remembering the hereafter. We become neglectful and distracted and uninterested in remembering al-akhirah. That weakens hubb love inside of us.

My dear brothers and sisters, hubb love — we need it for our protection. It protects us from ways you do not anticipate, and you do not gauge, and you do not evaluate. It helps us against ourselves. It helps us be fortified against the wounds inside of us, the demons inside of us, the harshness inside of us, and against what is outside of us as well.

O servants of Allah, indeed Allah commands justice, and good conduct, and giving to relatives, and He forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded. And remember Allah — He will remember you.

I say this and I ask Allah the Magnificent for forgiveness for myself and for you. So seek His forgiveness — blessed are those who seek forgiveness.

Second Khutbah: This World Is a Place of Impermanence

All praise is due to Allah, and may Allah send blessings upon His chosen servants.

One of the salihoon — one of the righteous, wise, scholarly men of our beautiful early Islamic history — rahimahullah ta'ala — said:

"Innama ja'alaha mahalla lil-aghyar wa ma'dinan lil-akdar — tazhidan laka feeha."

Did you hear that? This life — and the challenges of this life of all sorts: political, military, psychological, emotional, intellectual, social, economic, financial, family-type, personal, collective — all those challenges, poverty, power and the delusions of power — all of those are challenges. How often sometimes somebody who is powerless is so beautiful, and sometimes somebody who is powerful is so ugly. How often sometimes somebody is very poor and very challenged but is so beautiful, and someone who is very rich and has everything they want — they think — and they are so ugly. Don't gauge happiness and nobility by ease in general. May Allah help us all.

But he said, rahimahullah ta'ala — note this:

Innama ja'alaha mahalla lil-aghyar — this world, this realm in which we live now, Allah made it by His decree and His will mahalla lil-aghyar — a place of impermanence, of change, ups and down all the time, uphill and downhill. This is the way God willed this world to be. Mahalla lil-aghyar — things impermanent. Nothing lasts. No one lasts. No condition lasts. No feeling lasts. Good, and then bad, and good, and then bad — it never stops.

Now we're speaking of the inner, spiritual dimension of our external realities to help us deal with those realities. Allah willed it to be so. Wa ma'dinan lil-akdar — and He also willed it to be a source, a mine, of murkiness, of stain, of unease. That's why somebody said: those who are looking for that which is yet to be created shall never find it, and they shall spend their lives in distress, in depression. They said: "What is it that is yet to be created, which people are searching for?" He said: ar-raahatu fil-dunya — complete, full peace, rest, and ease in this world. Allah made it this way.

Tazhidan lana feeha — when it is this way, what happens? If we observe, if we are seekers, if we want His hubb and we seek Him — and this is life — what will it do inside of you when you experience life in this way? If we are people of aql and of reflection, then nazhadu feeha — in other words, we'll come to the conclusion that this life is not worth competing for, is not worth killing for, is not worth developing enemies for, it's not worth to spend the quality of my time and of my energies seeking. From when we are born until the moment we leave, it has always been like that.

The hidden, subtle, divine wisdom and message in that — tazhid feeha ya 'abdallah — the hidden message in that is: O servant of God, O servant of Allah, O seeker of Allah, O seeker of His hubb — be zahid in it. Don't pay too much attention to it. Don't let it bother you.

O Allah, show us the truth and grant us to follow it, and show us the falsehood and grant us to avoid it. O Allah, make us of those who listen to the word and follow the best of it. O Allah, have mercy on our dead and heal our sick and protect our families and cover our wounds and make us better. O Allah, remove the sins of Muslims and believers everywhere. O Allah, remove our sins and make our matters easier and protect our families and cover our wounds.