20160318 - 2nd Khutba

Opening — Praise and Testimony

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, we ask for His help, we ask for His forgiveness, and we ask for His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. And whosoever He misguides, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is our Master, His servant and Messenger.

As for what follows, O people, the truth is the Book of Allah. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, our Master, peace and blessings be upon him and his family.

O you who have attained faith — as Allah says in the meaning of the text — be reverent of Allah, have awe in your hearts for Allah, be Muttaqi, be aware and conscious of Allah, in a way that is worthy of who He is, of His essence, of His attributes and names, of His acts and deeds, of His bounties and favours, of His justice, of His benevolence. Be mindful of that in a way that is worthy of who He is, worthy of His infinite beauty, worthy of His infinite majesty — jalal — and worthy of His innumerable, never to be counted, favours.

And make sure we do not die — وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ — we do not die except in a state of Islam, in a state of loving surrender of our souls and spirits, of our hearts and minds, of our deeds and words, of our feelings and emotions, of our drives, of our likes and dislikes, of our preferences, of our priorities. But all of that, when we leave this dunya, we leave in loving surrender to Allah of all of that.

Tazkiyah al-Nafs — Purifying the Inner Self

And that requires that we are inside that way. And to be inside that way, and to achieve that, and to ultimately, when we have to leave this world and leave this dunya, that our hearts are indeed in this condition of loving surrender to Allah. They are free and liberated from other than Allah.

And in order to achieve that, in order for us — as we must seek that — to achieve that, Allah offered us so many ways by which to achieve that. By which to achieve ultimately what is termed also in the Qur'an and in the Sunnah:

The cleansing and the purging of our inner selves, so that they become indeed fully, voluntarily, willingly in loving surrender to Allah. تَتَزَكَّى أَنفُسُنَا لِلَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ

Tawheed

And in order to achieve that, there is Tawheed of Allah, which is most essential. The affirmation, the active affirmation — or the active affirming — of Allah's oneness in our lives. And we work actively to have that inside of us. Not only memorized or spoken or philosophical only or dialectic only. تَوْحِيدُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ — to work through that is the most essential means of تَزْكِيَةِ نُفُوسِنَا.

Salah

And within that, الصَّلَاةُ شُرِّعَتْ لِتَزْكِيَةِ النُّفُوسِ — Salah is for the tazkiyah of the nafs. When we perform Salah the way we should, and strive to perform it the way we should. Not as a burden to get rid of. Not in a hypocritical way. Not in a superficial, external, mechanical way. But when we do that:

As Allah says, and thus Salah is and becomes a means of self-purification, of reforming ourselves inside.

Sawm — Fasting

Fasting — deliberately and voluntarily withholding from something that the nafs loves and wants to eat freely and immeasurably — to withhold for an entire day and for many days. That is a means by which to learn and develop beautiful characteristics of the nafs: of self-restraint, of spiritual awareness, and of many other features.

Hajj and 'Umrah

Allah legislated for us Hajj and 'Umrah. The performance of Hajj and 'Umrah are a means by which to cleanse our drives inside, our selves inside, our ego. To cleanse that, and to go through that trip through hardships that are physical, hardships that are emotional and psychological and mental and financial. To go through that against the drives to do otherwise. That is all means by which to cleanse our nufus.

Dhikr — Remembrance of Allah

ذِكْرُ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ, frequent utterance of the attributes of Allah and the mention of Allah — through the many adhkar that we know and that we have been taught by Rasulullah ﷺ and by Allah — is a means by which to cleanse our nufus: كَثْرَةُ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ تَصْفِيَةٌ لِّلْقُلُوبِ تَطْهِيرٌ لِّلْقُلُوبِ تَزْكِيَةٌ لِّلْقُلُوبِ.

(Related from the Prophet ﷺ — see Musnad al-Bazzar and al-Bayhaqi's Shu'ab al-Iman)

As Rasulullah ﷺ is related to have said: everything has a means by which to be cleansed, and the means by which the hearts are to be cleansed is ذِكْرُ اللَّهِ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى.

Du'a — Supplication

الدُّعَاءُ, the turning toward Allah in supplication — imploring Allah and being present in that pleading, our qulub being present, not absent, sincere and honest, not insincere and dishonest. The dhikr, the du'a, is a means by which to connect to Allah and to cleanse our nufus.

Infaq fi Sabilillah — Giving in the Way of Allah

Many, many means — including also الْإِنفَاقُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ — to give fi sabilillah. Not to withhold, not to hoard and hold, but to give freely in the ways Allah loves, in the many ways Allah loves. الْإِعْطَاءُ رَغْمَ شُحِّ النَّفْسِ وَرَغْمَ رَفْضِ النَّفْسِ ذَلِكَ وَرَغْمَ حُبِّ النَّفْسِ لِلْمَالِ أَنْ يَتَصَدَّقَ الْإِنسَانُ وَهُوَ فِي ذَلِكَ الْحَالِ هُوَ تَزْكِيَةٌ لِّلنَّفْسِ وَتَرْقِيقٌ لِّلنَّفْسِ

Doing that despite the attachment and the love we have to hold and to keep — well, sometimes legitimately of course — despite that, when we do that and we go against that drive of withholding, that is cleansing the nafs. That is cleansing the nafs.

Especially when we have that drive to love it and to hold it — and who does not want to have, who does not want to possess — those days are gone. And yet despite that hubb, despite that love, if we have and we give, that is a means by which to release and liberate our nufus from the yokes and the chains of miserliness and greed, which are ugly characteristics that keep us away from Allah.

That is why Zakat is called Zakat. Zakat — as you all know, one of the pillars of Islam — is called Zakat. Zakat means to purge, to cleanse, to purify, to multiply. فَزَكَّى وَتَزَكَّى — tazkiyah is when you do that pertaining to your own self, to my own self — I cleanse my own self. زَكَّيْتُ وَتَزَكَّيْتُ بِمَالِي — and therefore the meaning is there, inherent: that when we do that despite the love to hold, we are cleansing ourselves. Allah created that as a means by which we spiritually and morally cleanse and are raised by giving.

That awful abode of Jahannam will be spared for whom? For the person who has Taqwa, who is described by Allah: يُؤْتِي مَالَهُ يَتَزَكَّىٰ. Yatazakka is a description, or a state, of the giving of wealth. This is a person who gives of his or her wealth yatazakka — to cleanse his own self. الْإِعْطَاءُ وَالْإِنفَاقُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ مِنْ أَوْجُهِ تَزْكِيَةِ النُّفُوسِ — which we often forget. Yes, Salah is, Sawm is, Hajj is, Dhikr is, Du'a is — and so on — and الْإِنفَاقُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ مَعَ حُبِّ النَّفْسِ لِلْإِمْسَاكِ — to give fi sabilillah while the nafs loves to hold and to keep — and we always legitimize and intellectualize why we do what we do of keeping and withholding.

Allah tells us:

Indeed, those who are protected — by the grace of Allah and by His inspiration — are protected against the shuh, the inner greed of their own selves. Shuh — financial shuh, emotional shuh, intellectual shuh, social — of any kind. The internal greed of keeping and not desiring to give and to share — that is shuh. And then we either externalize it, or we fight it inside and we keep it inside, and we ignore it and we don't actualize it. فَإِذَا عَمِلْنَا بِشُحِّنَا صَارَ بُخْلًا ظَاهِرًا — and then if we act in accordance with that inner greed, it becomes external obvious miserliness — bukhl.

And Allah says: when we are protected against this characteristic of inner greed, that is the person who is felicitous — al-falah. Felicity, true noble happiness and joy and freedom belongs to the one who is like that: وُقِّيَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ.

Sayyiduna 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, in one of his Hajj, when he was in tawaf, the only du'a he was making around the Ka'bah in his tawaf was:

O Allah, protect me and shield me against the shuh, the inner greed of my own nafs. They said: that is the only du'a? He said: this is all — if Allah protects me against the shuh of my nafs, I have all. Did you not read Allah saying: وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ? That is all I want. Indeed, and that is all-inclusive of du'a.

Allah also says:

He gives the parable — and He is the source of all wisdom — that the parable of those believing men and women who give and do not withhold, who give فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ — in the ways Allah loves, in the modalities that Allah loves — those who do that, that example is the example of a Jannah. They are like a garden located on a hill — not on a high mountain too cold up there, nor too low — a high hill where the air is fresh, the winds are generous, and on top of that there is generous rain falling on this location, on this garden. And then imagine the result: فَآتَتْ أُكُلَهَا ضِعْفَيْنِ — the harvest after that is double. So this is the example of those who give — like a garden upon whom generous rain falls, located in this beautiful place where there is fresh air and generous winds. And what does beautiful air do? It cleanses. What does wind do? It cleanses the air and brings good clouds. What does rain do? What does water do? It cleanses also, and it nourishes, and it causes good harvest.

So when we give فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ as believing men and women, that is a means of cleansing our qulub and making them ready to produce and to give. فَالْإِنفَاقُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ تَزْكِيَةٌ لِّلنُّفُوسِ تَزْكِيَةٌ لِّلنُّفُوسِ — keep that in mind. Because again, I repeat: to keep and to withhold is a trait and a character of the nafs that is stained and ugly and cannot be close to Allah. It is not a free nafs. And to get closer to divine beauty we need to cleanse, to be beautiful, to get closer and closer to Him in the spiritual sense. And thus we have to be liberated from the attachments we have — excessively, often — to possessions and to wealth of all sorts.

The Characteristics of the Muttaqun Who Give

Allah also says:

Race toward a Jannah offered to you by Allah, the dimensions of which are the universes, the heavens and the earth — prepared especially for the muttaqun. And He describes characteristics of the muttaqun — and taqwa, where is taqwa? Taqwa is an internal characteristic. So He says those who, in their taqwa — the first characteristic He mentions:

They spend freely fi sabilillah whether in prosperity or in adversity, whether they are rich or poor, whether they have plenty or they have less. But they do give generously. Imagine a person who is needy or poor and gives — that is a sign of someone who has conquered something inside. Despite his or her need, he gives. Not only does he not ask, but he gives despite need, or under difficult and harsh circumstances, whether they be psychological or social or economic or financial. And yet that person gives. That is a person who must have conquered something very serious inside. And to do that is to have conquered that.

And second: sometimes those of us who are rich, it is even more difficult for them — or for us — to give when we have a lot more, because when we have a lot more we begin to develop the sense of using that for more power, to the extent that some people say: "Giving to the needy and the poor is a waste of resources." That is why it is said: الجُودُ حَسَنٌ وَلَكِنَّهُ فِي الْأَغْنِيَاءِ أَحْسَنُ — generosity is beautiful, but coming from the rich it is even more beautiful. Because the more we have, the more we actually want to keep. If you own a thousand dollars, zakah is twenty-five dollars. If you own a million dollars, zakah is twenty-five thousand dollars. Now one begins to recount — twenty-five thousand dollars, that is the salary of a year's work of sometimes even a teacher — "I am going to give that?" We begin to withhold when we have more. If it is ten million dollars, then zakah is two hundred and fifty thousand dollars — it is called a quarter million dollars. Because a ghani, a rich person, might have to conquer more inside himself or herself than a poor person pertaining to the attachments we have for wealth.

That is why generosity is good for poor or rich — but from the rich it is even more beautiful. For both: a rich person, alhamdulillah, has to struggle to cleanse his or her own nafs from that unnecessary, excessive attachment to wealth. And the poor person has to do that too, but it is easier for a poor person — because a poor person does not have as much as a rich person.

The Best Sadaqah

And Allah teaches us also through Rasulullah ﷺ. For example, when he was asked what is the best sadaqah, he answered:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1419; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1032)

The best sadaqah, what it means in this text, is when you give a sadaqah while you are saheeh — healthy — and shaheeh — in a condition in which you love wealth and you want to keep it — while also fearing to fall into poverty and having hopes and desires and projects to be richer, تَأْمُلُ الْغِنَى. A sadaqah under these conditions — that is one of the most meritorious of charities with Allah.

Because some of us, if we have wealth, we wait until we grow older — now we are not saheeh, we are weak and saqeem, and therefore we do not have as much personal drive for personal things as when we were healthier and younger. So now, before we die, we start giving because we do not have that attachment anymore to wealth in general. And that is not wrong of course, but it is not the best either. The best, as Rasulullah ﷺ said, is we give when we are strong and young, when we have wealth and aspirations, when we fear to fall into poverty, and when we have actual projects to make more — in that condition, give. Allahu Akbar. Allahumma ja'alna minhum, Allahumma ja'alna minhum.

How to Give — With Sincerity and Humility

And then he teaches ﷺ overall that when we give, we have to give in the way Allah loves — in the modality, bil kayf, in the way Allah loves. Some of us may give but for self-aggrandisement — for my name to be mentioned, and for me also to remind the community or to remind the society: "You see, I contributed. I gave. I expect this treatment and that treatment. I expect the first line in the rows. I expect when somebody is invited that I should be invited. I expect to be acknowledged and recognized." People do that in all cultures unfortunately. But Allah says: do not do that. I do not want that. Allah is pure and beautiful; He accepts only that which is pure and beautiful.

And if I give in this way — and some of us give and then after that we abuse others with words and with slander and with disrespect and with arrogance and with lack of humility — then our sadaqah is rendered nil, muhbatah. For Allah says:

Those who give فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ — not fi sabilin-nafs, not for the sake of the self — and then thereafter they do not follow that beautiful act of giving with mann — reminding others of their generosity, "I have done, I have given, I expect that type of treatment" — implicitly or explicitly — or with أَذًى, an injury through the ways we speak and the ways we behave after doing something good. That will render nil and useless our sadaqah. Do not do that. And know that little فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ is much greater with Allah — much more rewarding in this dunya and in akhira — than plenty stained and without the proper tahqiq of intention inside of us.

For example, he ﷺ teaches us that one dirham can outweigh a hundred thousand. Spending one dirham can be better than spending a hundred thousand, given the conditions we mentioned. I spend one dirham with sincerity, with humility, with true love for Allah — that is the only thing I could spend, and probably all I had. This is more beloved to Allah, more rewarding, than if I spent a hundred thousand while inside of me I am arrogant, deluded, and ostentatious, expecting special treatment in return — or I follow that with injury. That is not worth even one dirham, though it is a hundred thousand, as Rasulullah ﷺ teaches.

Bilal and the Command to Give Without Fear

And then the result of all of this — first of all, all of this belongs to Allah. You and I belong to Allah. What we give belongs to Allah. It is in our stewardship, in our trusteeship. We distribute it because it is Allah's. Never forget that — it belongs to Him. I am only a means of what Allah has given to me.

So Rasulullah ﷺ says to Bilal — and Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him, was a poor man, a poor Sahabi, but a special and grand Sahabi — he was not rich in the time of Rasulullah ﷺ at all. And he tells him ﷺ:

(Related in Musnad Ahmad and other collections on the authority of Bilal ibn Rabah)

Spend, O Bilal, and do not fear from your Lord decrease. Bilal, who does not have much — give, and never fear that Allah will give you less or decrease your wealth. What about those who have more, walhamdulillah? Those should do even more and better.

And by Allah, the One other than whom there is no god — a person who lives in this way inside, and gives in this way, will never die poor. Will never die poor. Those of us who live with that yaqeen fillah, with that tawakkul 'alallah, with that generosity, with that sidq ma'Allah — and do not fear that Allah decreases — and Allah gives — this person is always rich inside. And when he or she dies, will die rich inside, and maybe both inside and outside. But at least, and most importantly, dies rich inside. يَعْنِي الْغِنَى غِنَى النَّفْسِ — richness is the richness inside. I can have a lot in my possession and feel poor, and I can have the least in my possession and feel rich. And that is what Allah promises.

I say this and ask Allah for forgiveness. Seek forgiveness, for indeed Allah is the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Second Part — The Many Forms of Giving

All praise is due to Allah. May Allah's peace, blessings and salutations be upon His chosen servants. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our Master and our Prophet Muhammad, the opener of what was closed, the seal of what has preceded, the helper of truth through the truth, the guide to Your straight path — and upon his family, according to his true worth and immense stature.

There are many ways — أَوْجُهٌ كَثِيرَةٌ لِلْإِنفَاقِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ — many ways that Allah offered us to cleanse our nufus. Expanding in His love: feeding the needy and the poor, clothing the unclothed and the naked, bringing solace and relief to the diseased, to the sick, to the orphan, to the homeless. Helping somebody to be relieved from suffering and pain — socially, or psychologically, or economically, or in any sense. All of that, the ahadith of Rasulullah ﷺ and the ayat teach us — all are meritorious forms, awjuh, of charities and sadaqat.

Even smiling in the face of your fellow human being — especially in the face of your fellow Muslim brother or sister — smiling instead of frowning and being cruel and impolite and irreverent and rude, and there are people like that in the midst of all of us. تَبَسُّمٌ فِي وَجْهِ أَخِيكَ — from your heart — Allah says that is a sadaqah.

كَلِمَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ — a good word, a gentle word, a word of patience, of forbearance, of benevolence — generosity of word — is a sadaqah. Helping a person to load something onto their mount — nowadays we have cars — is a sadaqah. To rectify and mend relationships between two feuding, conflicting sides — conflict resolution between those who are in conflict — is a sadaqah, as Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4919; al-Tabarani, al-Mu'jam al-Awsat)

And likewise, shafa'ah sadaqat al-lisan — to intercede for someone, to advocate on someone's behalf to obtain a good outcome for them — all of these are means by which we can be in a state of sadaqah.

Now, this you all know — most of you know — but sometimes we forget and we do not practice. So do remember. And I remind myself first.

Giving to the Houses of Allah

To spend in the houses of Allah — if what I mentioned you absorbed and understood about meritorious ways, if you appreciated that — then what about when He calls it My bayt, My house, and we spend in that way, to build houses for Allah? And Allah is in no need on this earth. And to maintain them in the way they ought to be maintained at each time and in each culture and each condition — for our Rasulullah ﷺ said: whoever builds a house for Allah on this earth, Allah will build for him or her a house in Jannah. Allahu Akbar. You build a mud house here for Allah, and you have a house in Jannah — the ultimate bliss, the ultimate happiness, the ultimate beauty.

And then to maintain the houses of Allah — the meaning of all of that is: those who maintain and uphold and fill the houses of Allah by their benevolent, kind, generous, dhakir presence — not hypocritical, abusive, cruel presence; we do not want that in the masajid, in the buyut of Allah — but those who fill the buyut of Allah with their kindness and benevolence and generosity and softness and politeness and beautiful character and beautiful akhlaq and patience and forbearance, and maintain the houses of Allah for what they need of all sorts of legitimate, moral, and beautiful needs — those, He says, are the muhtadun — those are the truly guided ones.

My beloved brothers and sisters, yes, to stand for my family is good with the right intention. My house, and if I do that — then what about that house called the house of Allah? And it is He who gave me and you the health and the know-how and the wealth and the power and the ability and the strategies to plan — all of that. Does He not deserve the best I can give?

Closing — A Call to the Community

My beloved brothers and sisters, I say this, and I am sorry for having taken a lot longer than anticipated. But first to remind myself and you: first of all, with the principles of the tazkiyah of our nufus — of which is giving, in addition to salah and dhikr and du'a and so on — giving despite wanting to keep.

And secondly: our masjid, alhamdulillah, is now in need of such contributions. You have been a community — I have been here for a year with you, more — a community that has been described as very generous to all other communities and to all other peoples and avenues of those who come seeking khayr. You have been doing that. May Allah reward you. Now your masjid needs you. And of course, sadaqah is first to go to those who are nearest of kin and closest to you. Your masjid deserves more of your benevolence, more of your sadaqah, more of your infaq, than any other masjid outside — especially if your masjid is a masjid of those who uphold the essence of the tawheed of Allah and uphold and promote the akhlaq, the virtues and the merits of Rasulullah ﷺ.

And thus, by this, I intend to remind myself and you to attend next week's — inshallah ta'ala — donation drive, infaq drive, for our masjid. And that, inshallah ta'ala, if my words have touched any sincere chord in your hearts, I will see you there on that day, inshallah ta'ala next week.

I say this and ask Allah to make us from those who listen to the words and follow the best.

O Allah, purify our hearts. O Allah, beautify our hearts for You, and on the Day of Judgement let us stand with the truth of servitude in Your hands. Make us from those who listen to the words and follow the best. O Allah, our Lord, be pleased with us and make the best of our days and the happiest of them the day we meet You. O Allah, do not make us from those who only listen to the words.