20160318-1st Khutba

Tazkiyah al-Nafs: Purifying the Soul Through Generous Giving

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. We strive to be worthy of meeting Allah ultimately. Likewise, Hajj and 'Umrah are means by which, if performed properly, we cleanse our nufoos and purge our nufoos and help dedicate our nufoos to Allah and focus more in our lives on the Divine. Likewise, dhikru Allah, kathratu dhikri Allah, and du'a lillahi are means by which we cleanse our nufoos, we purge our nufoos, and on and on.

Observing internally ourselves — muraqabatu ahwali qulubina — observing the internal conditions of ourselves, the ups and downs, the changes of moods and what type they are, watching that to make sure we always want that to be aligned with what Allah loves internally. That is a means by which we cleanse our nufoos, by the grace and bountiful merciful love of Allah. In addition to that, also spending of what we have — that we love and we want to have and we keep and we endear, we cherish — giving that despite our love, even legitimate love for it, and attachment to it, for we have things to take care of.

We have children, we have families, we have spouses, we have projects, and we want to keep. Especially when we're strong and powerful and young and wealthy, we want to keep. And part of being muzakka — part of being free from other than Allah — is to be free and liberated from that desire of holding inside of us. Giving despite the attachment is an act by which we cleanse our nufoos.

Zakah as Purification of the Soul

That is why, as many of you know, hafizakumullah, zakah is called zakah and the verb is tazakka. Zakah and tazakka means to purge, to cleanse. And zakah is a means by which — among many other benefits — the essential and most important one is it contributes to cleansing and purging what we are inside.

By giving and going against the drive inside of us of keeping — despite our love for that — that is a means by which we are liberated, as Allah teaches us.

Despite their love and attachment for that wealth, they give away of it. Allah tells us:

And the one who is sheltered and protected and guarded against the greed inside his or her own self — such indeed will be felicitous, such indeed will be muflih. The drive inside of me to be selfish and greedy and personally and selfishly oriented in terms of possessions — that I have, or intellectually and emotionally and philosophically and socially — many of us are shahi in that way. Intellectual shahi, not only financial shahi, but intellectual shahi, emotional shahi — emotional greed, intellectual greed, social greed.

Allah indicates to us that in giving, we are working — nas'a lil-taqarruib minhu 'azza wa jall wa li-nayli maridatihi wa al-qurb minhu 'azza wa jall. The pleasure and satisfaction of Allah with us is an ultimate desire, and we cannot draw nearer to the eternal beauty of the Divine, the infinite beauty of the Divine, if we are stained and filthy inside. The nafs is not muzakka.

The Parable of the Garden

Part of that, He says, for example in the many ayat in the Quran — as you know, my dear brothers and sisters, I remind myself first and then you — when He says:

And He gives the parable of those of us — may we be of them — who spend and give in ways that Allah loves, in many, many ways that Allah loves. The parable of those is like a jannah — they are like a beautiful garden located on a hill, not all the way upward where it is very cold, but on a hill where it receives fresh air and fresh good wind, and therefore with that it is ready to produce. And with that, generous rain falls upon it. And what does rain do? It cleanses, it purges, it helps grow. And then on account of that it produces double harvest, double harvest. And if there were no such generous rain, even light rain gives also well.

So a jannah and rain — your qalb, my qalb, inshallah, if we are of those who spend in the way He loves — would be like a beautiful garden located in this beautiful location, not too high, not too low, and it receives rain and fresh air and good wind. All of that to cleanse — it is a metaphor also, a beautiful symbolism that teaches you and me that by giving and spending, we are cleansing and beautifying our nufoos, our qulub, liberating our qulub from the ugliness of greed, the ugliness of selfishness. And we are contributing to our nafs to be liberated, to be able to do that which is beautiful, that Allah loves. Because when we are not liberated inside, we develop ugly characteristics, and the ugly characteristics will not lead to Allah — they will keep us distant from Allah.

Those Who Spend in Ease and in Hardship

He teaches us as well:

As Allah says again, He tells us that He has prepared — out of His Divine, Infinite, Merciful Love and Grace, we don't deserve it — that Jannah, the dimensions of which are all the Heavens and the Earth, prepared for those who have taqwa. Taqwa is where? Taqwa is inside of us. Where I am inside — my ahwal inside, my conditions, my phases, my states inside — what are they? He describes them by some of their characteristics, and He begins first with something that is, practically for many of us, very difficult to do:

الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ — those who spend generously and freely, give in the ways Allah loves, whether they are at ease or in hardships and difficulty, whether in prosperity or in adversity, whether they are rich or they are poor. 'Ajeeb — whether they are in need or they are in ease, He calls them muttaqoon, those who are liberated inside. Allahumma ij'alna minhum.

That act of giving when one is very rich — many of us, if we are very rich, we want to be richer and more powerful, to the extent that some who are very rich say it is a waste of energy and a waste of resources to give to those who don't work and who are lazy, and this and that — justifying to themselves their own greed. Sometimes it is more difficult to give when one is rich than when one is poor.

And those who are in need and in hardship and in adversity — they give, because when we are in adversity we fear to be in more adversity, and we want to have resources, so we think: keep, to keep adversity away. But those who are muttaqoon think in divine dimensions. What I have, He gave. What I lost, He took. As long as I didn't do that in ways that are immoral or unethical or illegitimate, it is He as Judge. And therefore by doing that, they are going against — whether rich or poor — this condition. They are striving against their own nafs, and that is tazkiyatu al-nafs, the cleansing and purging of the nafs.

Perhaps for some it is much easier to sit down in dhikr and in raka'at — walhamdu lillah, that is beautiful — but to give fi sabilillah, that is much more difficult. So there we need to work on that — li-tazkiyati nufusina bi-dhikrillah wa bil-du'a wa bil-salah, yes, wa bil-infaq fi ma yuhibbu Allahu from the ways of spending.

Giving Without Showing Off or Reminding Others

Allah tells us also that those who give and give out of love for Allah and do not do that to show off, or to be boastful, or to have their name mentioned, or to remind the world and the communities of their specialness and their generosity — those who do not do that for self-aggrandizement. Some people even come to the masjid for self-aggrandizement, not for mahabbatu Allahi and ibtighaa' ridwanihi and for the forgiveness of our sins. So He says:

Those who spend indeed in ways Allah loves, and thereafter do not follow that beautiful act with mann — "I have done, remember, remember I, you should have this privilege, that privilege" — reminding themselves and reminding the people of what they gave, as though they have forgotten that the one who truly owns is Allah, and we are His stewards and His vicegerents. SubhanAllah.

So that act will nullify the sadaqah, will make it nil, void, useless. For Allah is pure and loves purity. Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Acts like this are ugly — they are not beautiful. Even though the act of giving first seems to be beautiful, if the intent inside is ostentation, or mann — to remind others of one's generosity — that will unfortunately undo that beautiful act.

To give, to perform sadaqah, and then to cause harm and injury through words — insults and slanders and disrespect and anger and selfishness — after giving, and then going and doing wrong things carelessly or arrogantly: Allah says that is not what Allah wants, that is not the infaq we want. May our homes and our masajid be liberated from infaq with riya and with mann and other such diseases. For one dirham for the love of Allah — wallahi alladhi la ilaha illahu — is better than a million with riya and mann.

The Generosity of Allah: Spend and Do Not Fear Decrease

The ways of spending fi sabilillah — His 'ata' is kareem. He gives and He gives. We will always win in ways we do not anticipate. Do not give expecting a return — you may hope for that — but give without expectation, and Allah will always surprise you. Wallahi alladhi la ilaha illahu, He will always surprise us, and He always has for those who did and gave that way. For those who did not, the surprise will be the opposite.

So he, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said:

("Spend, O Bilal, and do not fear decrease from your Lord." — Reported in Musnad Ahmad and similar collections)

Was Bilal very rich? SubhanAllah — look to whom he says that: "Spend, O Bilal, and never fear from your Lord decrease in what you have." Well, if he says that to Bilal, radi Allahu 'anhu, who had basically nothing — what about those who have more? Walhamdu lillah.

Spend, O servant of Allah, O believer, O Muslim, and do not fear from your Lord decrease. Wallahi alladhi la ilaha illahu, I say it without deviation — no one who spent sincerely fi sabilillah, without showing off and without riya, has ever died poor. He dies and his heart is rich. He who gives fi sabilillah never dies poor — his heart is always rich.

The Many Beautiful Ways to Spend

The many ways to spend fi sabilillah are so many. The needy, the poor, the hungry, the clotheless, the naked, the destitute, the fearful, the frightened, the oppressed, the orphan — and you go on. Whoever they are, these are beautiful ways that Allah loves, and all of these are supported by hadith and ayat in the Quran. All of them are beautiful ways.

Among the most virtuous of sadaqat — subhanAllah — is siqayatu al-ma': bringing water to a community. Bringing light to a community — in those days, to bring a candle to a masjid is something very special, very rewarding. To bring water to the masjid or to the community is very beautiful and highly rewarding. Afdalu al-sadaqati siqayatu al-ma', as the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said as an example.

To the extent that he even tells us — and Allah is the one who reminds — a smile in the face of your brother and sister, versus frowning and versus cursing and versus disrespect and ugliness: a smile in the face of your brother and sister, and in general the face of any normal, good, average human being, is a sadaqah. Islahu dhati al-bayn — rectifying and mending relationships between relatives and between members of communities — is a great sadaqah, of the most beautiful sadaqat.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم also told us that intercession — to intercede for someone, for the sake of lifting a grudge, or for the sake of a good deed, or for freeing a prisoner — using your possibilities of intercession to help somebody be freed and helped, and so on and so forth — this too is beautiful.

Spending for the Houses of Allah

Now, of the very beautiful ways to spend fi sabilillah are buyutu Allah — He calls them buyutu Allah, baitu Allah, the house of Allah, the masjid. Imagine: all those other ways are beautiful — what about spending for the preservation, the building, the maintenance of the house of Allah, in which there is tawhid of Allah, and in which the emphasis is on the akhlaq of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وآله وصحبه وسلم? This is definitely the most beautiful way to spend our gifts from Allah.

Only the masajid of Allah are maintained by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and perform prayer and give zakah, and do not fear except Allah. It is possible that those will be among the guided.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 450; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 533)

He or she who builds for Allah a house — and Allah is free of all need from the worlds — Allah in exchange — no, not in exchange — in an act of His infinite merciful grace, you have a house, a dwelling in Jannah. For what? For a four-dimensional mud or whatever house on this earth — but for salah, for dhikr of Allah, for its maintenance and continuing to maintain it. Such is the reward from Allah.

Building masajid and maintaining masajid li-dhikr Allah — not for other purposes. Li-dhikr Allah, in which Allah is remembered, and we grow and we grow and we grow in this masjid to be heart-oriented with Allah — not taking the masjid as a means for self-aggrandizement or a means for more dunya. The essential purpose of the masjid is dhikru Allah.

We hope and we pray that we have such a masjid, and that we should do our best to spend of the best that we have to maintain the house of Allah.

Aqulu qawli hadha wa astaghfiru Allaha al-'Azim li wa lakum, fastaghfiruhu. Tuba lil-mustaghfirin. Alhamdu lillahi wa kafa, wa salla Allahu 'ala 'ibadihi alladhina istafa.

Second Part of the Khutbah

My dear brothers and sisters, this community — as far as I know, I have been here for a little more than a year — has been very generous for all other communities. May Allah bless you and reward you. Now it is time, as far as I am concerned — I have been here for a year — it is time for you to be that generous, and more, for your own masjid.

I pray and I hope that if these words are uttered sincerely, from Allah to Allah — if they are sincere, if they touched any sincere cord in your heart — I pray and I hope that you will attend the fundraising that will be taking place this month, around the 27th of this month, to take part in the ibadah of the tazkiyah of our nufoos through liberating ourselves from the attachment of wealth inside of us. Ameen.

Du'a

There is no god but You. May Allah have mercy on our dead, and heal our sick, and protect our families, and protect our children. O Allah, send us back to You in a beautiful return. May Allah have mercy on the oppressed Muslims everywhere. May Allah have mercy on them and protect their families and protect us and protect their children and grant us and them what You love and are pleased with, and fill our hearts and their hearts with Your pleasure, O Lord of the worlds.

O Allah, there are many of Your servants who complain of poverty and complain of injustice and complain of humiliation. O Allah, we ask You not to leave them and not to leave us to ourselves, and to heal us and heal them, and to provide for them, and to heal us in our hearts. O Merciful, O Lord of the worlds.

O servants of Allah — Allah commands justice and goodness and giving to the relatives, and forbids immorality, evil, and transgression. May you remember, and remember Allah who remembers you. Stand up for your prayer. May Allah have mercy on you.