20160429 - 1st Khutba

The Importance of Remembering Allah

Inna alhamdulillah wa nasta'eenuhu wa nastaghfiruhu, wa na'udhubillahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyi'ati a'malina, man yahdihi Allahu fala mudhilla lah, wa man yudhlilhu fala hadiya lah, wa ash'hadu an la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah.

Allah says:

"Remember Me, I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me."

Wa ash'hadu anna sayyidana wa habibana wa qa'idana Muhammadan abdullahi wa rasuluh, wa safiyyuhu min khalqihi wa habibuh.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 48, Hadith 2676)

"The mufarridun have gone ahead." They said: "And who are the mufarridun, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "The men and women who remember Allah much."

Allahumma salli wa sallim ala nabiyyika Muhammad, wa ala alihi wa as'habihi, wa man tabi'ahum bi ihsanin ila yawm al-deen. Amma ba'd.

My dear brothers and sisters, I advise you and myself with the taqwa of Allah, and I warn you and warn myself against disobeying His commands.

"O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims."

"O you who believe, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment."

Why Allah Created Us

My dear brothers and sisters, Allah — when He created us — He wants something for us. Allah says: We did not create the heavens and the earth playing, for fun. Allah has created you for a reason, and that is to remember Him. If you forget — if you forget to remember Allah — Allah will forget us, my brothers and sisters.

Allah says:

"Remember Me — I will remember you."

The Story of Ubayy ibn Ka'b

The Prophet ﷺ came one time to one of his great Companions, whose name was Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and said: "Ya Ubayy, inna Allaha amarani an aqra'a alayka Surat al-Bayyinah" — Allah has commanded me, ordered me, to recite Surat al-Bayyinah to you and you must listen. Ubayy said: Has my Lord mentioned my name to you? The Prophet said: Yes. When Ubayy heard the Prophet ﷺ saying, "Allah has mentioned your name to me," Ubayy started crying.

That is what it means — "Remember Me, I will remember you." Remember Me — I will remember you. It means all 24 hours, seven days, we have to remember Him.

The Hadith of Muawiyah and the Companions in the Masjid

The Prophet ﷺ, in a hadith in Sahih Muslim, came to the masjid of the Prophet ﷺ and saw a group of Companions sitting. He came to them and said: "Why are you sitting here?" They said: "We sit to remember Allah and to remember what Allah has bestowed upon us."

Then Muawiyah — in a later narration — said: "By Allah, I am making you swear in the name of Allah — did you not sit in the masjid except to remember Allah?" They said: "Yes, we sit to remember Him." Then Muawiyah said: "I did not make you swear because I had suspicion about you. There was a time when we were in the masjid of the Prophet ﷺ and we were sitting, and the Prophet came and asked: 'Why are you sitting here?' And we said: 'Ya Rasulullah, we sit to remember Allah.' And the Prophet ﷺ said: 'Are you sure — in the name of Allah — you sit here only to remember Him?' They said: 'Yes, ya Rasulullah.' Then the Prophet ﷺ said: 'I do not have any doubt or suspicion — I am not saying this because I suspect you of lying to me — but just now Jibreel came to me and told me: those who are sitting there, Allah is proud of them and He is mentioning their names to the angels.'"

That is why I ask you, my brothers and sisters — if you remember Allah, Allah will remember you. You are sitting here now to remember Allah.

And listen to what the Prophet ﷺ says — those who are sitting in the houses of Allah and listening and remembering Allah:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 35, Hadith 2699)

There is no group sitting in the house of Allah remembering Him, except that Allah will send down upon them a sakinah — the tranquility, the peace, the calm that everyone today is looking to have — and then the mercy of Allah will cover them, Allah will shower upon them His mercy, and the angels will surround them, and Allah will mention their names to the angels.

I am giving you glad tidings today, my brothers and sisters — all of you who are here — because of this hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, Allah has mentioned your name to the angels. What is better than that? "Remember Me — I will remember you." It means all 24 hours, seven days, we have to remember Him.

The Story of Mu'adh ibn Jabal

My brothers and sisters, it is not easy — do not take this lightly. The Prophet ﷺ came to Mu'adh ibn Jabal. As you know, Mu'adh accepted Islam while he was 18 years old, and the Prophet ﷺ passed away while Mu'adh was 38 years old. The Prophet ﷺ said that Mu'adh is a leader of scholars on the Day of Qiyamah, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "The one who best knows the halal and the haram is Mu'adh."

Mu'adh said: One time the Prophet ﷺ came to me and held my hand and said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1522; also in Musnad Ahmad)

"By Allah, O Mu'adh, I love you so much." Think — if the Prophet ﷺ says to someone "I love you so much," what would that human being feel? Mu'adh ibn Jabal! And then the Prophet ﷺ said: "Since I love you so much, I am going to give you good advice — every time when you finish your prayer, say: 'O my Lord, O my Allah, help me and assist me to remember You.'"

My brothers and sisters, if Allah will not help you, you cannot remember Him. That is why the Prophet ﷺ said to Mu'adh: every time you finish your prayer, ask Allah:

"O Allah, help me to remember You, to be grateful to You, and to worship You in the best manner."

We are living life these days — my brothers and sisters — as soon as we finish the prayer, we rush out and go. And we expect Allah will help us to remember Him. Allah will not change your conditions if you just come and leave and take it easily, if you do not take remembering Allah seriously. It will not come in your heart until you start. When we start remembering Him, Allah will help us.

Keep Your Tongue Moist with the Remembrance of Allah

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: "The subjects of Islam have become too many and too large for me — I don't know which one to hold on to. Tell me something special that I will hold and do all the time." And then the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3375; Ibn Majah, Hadith 3793)

"Your tongue should be moist all the time with the remembrance of Allah."

Ask yourself — we have to ask ourselves today: when I woke up, did I remember Allah or not? If I forget, that means Allah did not give me the assistance to remember Him. How do you get it? Through du'a.

Seek Help Through Prayer and Patience

Allah told us — since remembering Him is not something you can take easily, it is expensive — but Allah told us two things to do if we want His help. The next ayah says:

"O you who believe, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient."

Patience means, my brothers and sisters: to worship Allah, to remember Him, needs patience. If I cannot sit down five minutes or ten minutes to remember Allah, but then I can sit down to watch or discuss something other than Allah for one hour or two hours — you can put yourself on the scale. Who are you in front of Allah? In order to know who Allah is in your heart, you will find who you are.

And the Prophet ﷺ says: whatever you love — that is what you talk about. Think about the 24 hours — what did you talk about? That is what is dear to your heart. If Allah is the one you are talking about — when you are by yourself, when you are with your community — then you know that Allah is dear to you.

My brothers and sisters, Allah will be with you as long as you are patient, as long as you are sitting and remembering, as long as you are praying and you have patience. Allah will be with you. And the time will come when all of this will become easy for you. Otherwise it will stay difficult, and there is no way you can remember Him if you do not ask Him to help you.

The Prayer: The Greatest Form of Dhikr

My brothers and sisters, the main dhikr of Allah — to remember Him — is our prayer. Allah says:

"Establish the prayer to remember Me."

And remember, my brothers and sisters — among all the obligations that Allah has made compulsory on us, the Prophet ﷺ received the prayer while he was above the earth. Remember where the Prophet ﷺ was when Allah gave him the prayer — in al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj. He reached a place that no one reached except the Prophet ﷺ. Even Jibreel, when he was with the Prophet, told him: "Here is my place — I cannot move. You go by yourself." And the Prophet ﷺ went by himself and stood before Allah — and that is when Allah gave him the prayers.

That is why we say الله أكبر and we raise our hands. If Allah is the Greatest, then everything else — I am before Him. So remember, my brothers and sisters, when you say الله أكبر, you have to imagine where you are. And the Prophet ﷺ said: when you pray, do not spit in front of you — for if you do that, it is as if you are spitting toward Allah. That is how the prayer is — that meaning must come in our heart when we are in prayer. When you say الله أكبر, that is where you are. And as soon as you finish the prayer and say السلام عليكم ورحمة الله, you come back — as if from al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj. That is the meaning of the prayer.

And Allah gave the prayer to the Prophet ﷺ when he was going through difficulty — that was the year in which Khadijah passed away, and that was the year when his uncle died. And the Prophet ﷺ left Makkah to Ta'if, and the people of Ta'if drove him out, stoning him. He left and sat under a tree and made his long du'a. As you know, that is when Allah took the Prophet ﷺ on al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj and told him: "I will give you this prayer, and that is the connection between Me and you. If you are going through any troubles, connect with Me and talk to Me — I will help you."

My brothers and sisters, when we are in the prayer, we have to imagine and believe that Allah is with us. The Prophet ﷺ says — and this hadith is in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim — Allah said:

"I am as My slave expects Me to be. I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me by himself, I will remember him by Myself. If he remembers Me in a gathering, I will remember him in a gathering that is better than his gathering."

So when you are in the prayer and you remember Allah and you are in front of Him — what do you expect from Allah? It is up to you. Whatever you imagine, that is who He is for you. We have to take this seriously, my brothers and sisters.

The Living House and the Dead House

If Allah is in our heart — if we remember Him — believe me, Allah will guide us and He will show us what is right and what is wrong. And the Prophet ﷺ gives us the example of the one who remembers and the one who does not:

"The example of the house in which Allah is remembered and the house in which Allah is not remembered is like the living and the dead."

Think about it — if there is a dead person, a dead body, in your house, how would you feel? The house in which no one is remembering Allah — that house is dead. The house in which Allah is being remembered — that is a living house.

What kind of house do you want to live in? What kind of person do you want to be? Do you want to be a dead person walking on the earth, or someone who is alive — helping others, helping themselves, and knowing what they are doing? If you want that — remember Allah, my brothers and sisters.

The Message of Prophet Ibrahim from Al-Mi'raj

The Prophet ﷺ said: On the night of al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj, I met Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi al-salam). He said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3462; classified as hasan)

"I met Prophet Ibrahim on the night I was taken on al-Mi'raj. He said: O Muhammad, convey my greetings to your ummah, and tell them that Jannah has pure and perfect soil, sweet water, and its land is a plain leveled — and that its planting is: SubhanAllah, wal-Hamdulillah, wa la ilaha illAllah, wallahu Akbar."

Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi al-salam) is greeting you and saying to you: السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته. That is what the Prophet ﷺ said to you, my brothers and sisters. Ibrahim says: Iqra' minni al-salam — convey my salam to your ummah.

And then Ibrahim said: Tell your ummah — the Jannah, the soil of Jannah, is pure and perfect and the land is leveled. And to plant something in it is to utter and say:

How many times you say it — that is how much you plant in your place in Jannah. If you want more, say more.

And the Prophet ﷺ says: if Allah were to show the human being — when they say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ — what reward they would receive, it would be more than the heavens and the skies. You would not find a place to put it. Just by saying سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ.

Remember, my brothers and sisters — today, a small chip of a computer: if you were to print out everything that is on it, how many pages would you get? سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ is more than that. How many times do we say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، وَلَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ، وَاللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ? May Allah forgive us.

May Allah make us to remember Him. May Allah forgive us. May Allah make us to remember Him. May Allah forgive us and guide us. Ameen.