20160513- First Khutba- Sheikh Mokhtar Maghroui

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

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 سَيِّدَنَا مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ. فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْكَلَامِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ. وَخَيْرَ الْهُدَى هُدَى سَيِّدِنَا وَمَوْلَانَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ. وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا. وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ. وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ. وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

O you who have attained faith, be reverent and conscious of Allah in a way that is worthy of who He is. Worthy of His names and attributes. Worthy before that of His essence. Worthy of His acts and deeds. Worthy of His beauty and majesty. Worthy of His perfection, infinitely in His beauty and majesty. Worthy of the gifts that He bestows and favours that He bestows upon us incessantly — despite our iniquities, despite our transgressions.

Be mindful and reverent of Allah as He is worthy of being. And make sure we do not die except in a state of loving surrender — of our spirits and souls, loving surrender inside of me and you. Of our souls and spirits. Of our hearts and minds. Of our words and deeds. Of our actions and inactions. Of our movement and of our stillness. All must be in loving surrender to Allah.

Ameen.

The Nature of This Life: Giving and Withholding

My beloved brothers and sisters, this life — as you must know by now as Muslims — is a field of travel to Allah. This life is mixed with ups and downs, with prosperity and adversity, with ease and with challenge. This is the nature of this life.

And in that context, and in the context of being aware and conscious and reverent of Allah, we must always remind ourselves that as Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ taught us to implore Allah in du'a:

Ya Allah — no one, no one, individual or collective entity, no matter how able or enabled it is, does not have the power to withhold from anyone that which Allah has intended for that one. And nothing and no one can give to anyone — or any entity — that which Allah has meant to withhold from him or her, in any aspect of giving and of existence and of life.

Despite the efforts we make or we don't — for good, for virtue, we must make efforts; for evil, we must be inoperative. And with all of that, nothing will be gained by anyone, will be given to anyone, that which Allah intends to withhold. And nothing and no one will withhold from anyone that which Allah has intended to give him or her.

And in this life we are faced with ups and downs. And sometimes — nay, all the time — we as human beings desire that Allah gives us and not withhold from us that which is comfortable for us. We are human beings. We are weak. And we always perceive in giving: gifts. And we perceive in withholding: the opposite. It is not necessarily true. It is not necessarily true.

For sometimes, as our beautiful ancestors have said — of the ulama and the awliya:

Sometimes Allah seems in your perception to be giving you — and in giving you, sometimes He has actually deprived you. And sometimes He deprives you — and in depriving you, He has actually given you.

Example: how many times maybe a thing is nafsani in nature, and then the outcome of it is deprivation from Allah?

Is not this apparent gift that I wanted actually a deprivation? And sometimes it is the opposite — Allah would deprive me from something I want, I desire, and I work for. But subhanAllah, with time, that would become — or has become — a means by which I return to Allah with humility and humbleness and pleading, and connect my heart and soul to Him, and feel constantly the need for Him. Now always:

Then is not this deprivation a gift?

When and if Allah opens into your hearts the avenues and the channels of understanding — of appreciating the deeper underlying reasons behind Him withholding and depriving — if He has opened for you in your mind and in your heart the gates of understanding and appreciating the underlying "why," then:

That deprivation becomes a gift itself. By that, the heart has been connected to Allah — not to the creatures and the created realm, whether for me or against me.

The Month of Sha'ban: External Appearance and Inner Lesson

With that and in that context, I remind myself and you — during this month, and this is the month of Sha'ban, already a week into it or more. The month of Sha'ban: another opportunity by Allah, another gift by Allah, and it depends how I and you receive that gift. An opportunity for us to help ourselves connect with Allah more. More i'tibar, more learning, more reflecting, more thinking — deeper — and more doing.

As they have said: all of these created things, all of life, all of things other than Allah — their external meaning and reality is but ghurrah, from ghurur. It is mostly deluding and delusive, or elusive. It is something that is not actually real. It leads us to assess those things and ourselves more than what they really are and we really are. It traps us.

However — batinuha: those who look into it deeply, not just externally, not with the external eyes and the external ears, but with the eyes and ears of the heart, they find in it 'ibrah. They are meant to teach lessons. Zahiruha ghurrah, wa batinuha 'ibrah.

When I or you are nafs — just a self, an ego — we are attracted to its ghurrah, to its external, dangerously attractive beauty. But if we were blessed by Allah to look at it with the eyes of our hearts, then we see the underlying lessons meant by that external appearance.

May this month be a month of 'ibrah, not of ghurrah, from me and you. May we take this month as a means to prepare for the month of Ramadan, to get readier to enter into a relationship with Allah during the month of Ramadan — a relationship that is deeper and stronger and more sincere and more beautiful.

The Prophet's Fasting in Sha'ban

You should know already — and reminders are useful to the faithful ones, may we be of those — that Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, as Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim both related on account of what our Sayyida and Mawlatuna 'A'ishah رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهَا told us — that he صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, except the month of Ramadan, did not fast an entire month — almost all of it if not all of it — as he fasted the month of Sha'ban, in preparation for Ramadan.

And when another companion — on another account — Sayyiduna Usamah ibn Zayd رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُمَا asked him: "Ya Rasulullah, why do you do that? You fast during this month so much?" He said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — in accordance to what the ulema such as Abu Dawud, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Khuzaymah — and he authenticated it — recorded:

(Sunan al-Nasa'i, Hadith 2357; Musnad Ahmad; authenticated by Ibn Khuzaymah)

It is a month, he said, that many people — or most people — forget about. They don't pay attention to it. Yaghaful 'anhu al-nas. They miss it. It is the month between Rajab — the month that was past — and Ramadan — the month that is coming. And during that month, our deeds are raised to Allah, Lord of the worlds, in the way Allah wills and intended, worthy of His attributes. And he said: "And I love and I desire that my deeds are raised while I am in fast." And that is why he fasted almost the entire month of Sha'ban.

Sha'ban is a month that is very special by the teaching of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. So I remind myself and you with this, my beloved brothers and sisters — to keep this month present and not forget about it. To genuinely — and may Allah bless all of us with that — to genuinely take it as a means and a vehicle to prepare for more focus and more attachment to Allah, and more 'ibadah and more ta'ah and more obedience during the month of Ramadan.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ لِي وَلَكُمْ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ — طُوبَى لِلْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ. Please seek forgiveness from Allah, for He is the Oft-Loving, Merciful, and Forgiving.

The Night of the Middle of Sha'ban

And during this month of Sha'ban there is the night of the middle of Sha'ban — Laylat al-Nisf min Sha'ban. What about it?

First of all, it is part of Sha'ban, and all of Sha'ban is special, as Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — as I mentioned to you already — explicitly indicated. Secondly, he also taught in many ahadith — not only are there fabricated ahadith, yes, there are ahadith mawdu'ah, yes; and not only very weak ahadith, and there are, yes; and not only weak ahadith, and there are, yes — but also in authentic ahadith, and there are, yes — when he taught صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that this night is also very special.

The Hadith of 'A'ishah on Laylat al-Nisf

For example, when he taught صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — through what Sayyida 'A'ishah, our Mawlatuna رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهَا, related in ahadith also authenticated by the ulama: one night, she says رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهَا, "I woke up in the middle of the night and Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ was in qiyam, and he was in sujud. And I was observing him, and his sujud was so long that after a while I began — you know, he is a human being — a young, beautiful, beautiful Mother of the Believers, loving Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ deeply — she said: 'I thought then that he might have passed away in sujud.' So she came and moved his thumb, just to touch him, and he moved his thumb. So she realized he was still living — but he was in sujud so long. And when he was done, he told her:

She said: "Allah and His Messenger know best, I do not know." He said: "This is the night of the half of Sha'ban."

He said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: Our Lord rises during this night — as an act of divine loving mercy to His creation, that is the only reason — and He is the creator of time, and He assigns to time what He wills, as He assigns to space what He wills, as He also puts in hearts what He wills:

And during this night, out of His loving mercy, he said صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ that Allah forgives all His creation except a mushrik, or a person who is violently envious and filled with grudges and hate. And in another variant: He forgives those who seek forgiveness and He grants loving mercy to those who seek it — except a person with hukm.

The Scholars on Laylat al-Nisf min Sha'ban

This night — all of the ulama have agreed, almost all of them if not all of them, that it is valuable and special by these texts and more. And also, my beloved brothers and sisters — some may not know this and some do — those scholars, who are sometimes of different opinions on some issues, that our Salaf, may Allah have mercy on them, the Salaf amongst the Tabi'een for example:

They agreed — our ulama and our ancestors and Salaf — that to spend this night in 'ibadah is mustahabb, mandub — individually, at home or in the masjid, individually. That is mustahabb. But they differed about 'ibadah on Laylat al-Nisf being done congregationally in the masjid — let's say in salah together. That they differed about. Some say it is makruh, some say it is mustahabb.

Of those who said it is mustahabb are the Tabi'un — like the great Tabi' Khalid ibn Ma'dan, and Luqman ibn 'Amir, and the imam Makhul, may Allah have mercy on them. And the imam and the shaykh of Imam Ahmad — Ishaq ibn Rahwayh. And later on the Imam al-Shafi'i. And before him, Sayyiduna 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz. All of these and more have opined and practiced the fact that it is even congregationally mustahabb to do that. While others have opined, may Allah have mercy on them, that to do that congregationally is makruh — reprehensible. But to do that individually, they all agreed it is a night during which Allah, by the texts, expresses Himself to His creation in and through His attributes of rahmah and mawaddah.

Exposing the Heart to the Special Gifts of Allah

So as Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ taught us in another hadith, we should allow our hearts to be exposed to the occasional special gifts of Allah — nafahat Allah:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat lil-Tabarani; referenced by scholars of hadith)

To Allah belong some special gifts during the days and the hours and the times of His creation — so expose yourself to it. And this is a month, and that is a night, during which — may Allah help me and you — may we be able to expose our hearts to the loving mercy and the merciful love of Allah.

Closing: Du'a for the Ummah and Our Community

My beloved brothers and sisters, in this context — and in the context of what I started with:

And in the context of rubbama ataaka famana'ak, wa rubbama mana'ak fa'ataak — and in the context of mata futiha laka babu al-fahm fi al-man'i 'ada 'aynu al-man'i 'ata'an — that which I already explained.

In that context and in the context of this blessed month — please pray for each other, please pray for one another, please pray for the Ummah of Sayyidina Mawlana Muhammadin صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَآلِهِ وَسَلَّمَ. Please pray for your parents — our parents, your parents — whether living or dead. Please pray for those who are suffering and in pain and in misery and in anxiety and in depression and in fear, everywhere and anywhere in the world and especially in the Muslim world. Pray for them. Don't forget them.

I know inshallah you won't forget — not making a big fanfare and not making a big noise does not mean we forget. We must not forget. The du'a of a silent person, sincere with Allah, could be much more beloved to Allah and much more effective with Allah than the du'a of a congregation whose hearts are dispersed. Keep sincerely all of them in your du'a. And keep each other and one another in du'a sincerely. Learn to be sincere and loving for one another — and not grudgeful and hateful and arrogant and deluded.

And with that, please remember some of our particular brothers and sisters in our community. Like — as I mentioned before — the maternal aunt of Sheikh Arsalan: may Allah grant her shifa. And his grandnephew: may Allah grant him shifa. And our dear brother Sheikh — his wife and his daughter: may Allah grant them shifa. And also our dear beloved brother Bilal, his son Samir: may Allah grant him full shifa, and may Allah grant the family — inshallah ta'ala — steadfastness and a heart that is connected always to Allah despite the challenges of this dunya, and there are challenges in this dunya.

And also our dear brother Shaukat — his grandson, a little grandson, three years old, son of his daughter. And I know personally that beautiful couple — their son, three years old, is in a very serious illness. Please keep him in your du'a. And his name is Bilal as well. May Allah grant him shifa. May Allah grant him shifa. And may Allah make him a means of goodness and joy for all of his parents — as well — inshallah ta'ala — for all of us. Inshallah.