20160715 - Second Khutba

Opening — Praise and Testimony

Alhamdulillah, we praise Him, we seek His help, and we seek His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. 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.

Allah, the Exalted, says — I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan:

By the Hour, man is in loss — except for those who believe and do righteous deeds and are steadfast in truth and steadfast in patience.

And I bear witness that our Master, our Beloved, and our Leader is Muhammad, His servant and Messenger and His chosen one from among His creation and His Beloved. He, peace and blessings be upon him, says:

There are two blessings that are neglected by many people: health and free time.

May Allah send peace and blessings upon our Master Muhammad and upon his family and companions and upon those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Judgment.

Taqwa — Fearing Allah as He Should Be Feared

My brothers and sisters, I advise you and myself to fear Allah, the Exalted. I advise you to obey Him. I warn you and myself against disobeying His commands and disobedience.

Allah, the Exalted, says:

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 say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive your sins, and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has won a great victory.

Praise to Allah, the Exalted.

Surah Al-Asr — Time and Its Weight

My brothers and sisters, last week it was Ramadan. We fasted and then we celebrated. It's gone. We are in Shawwal. The time, my brothers and sisters, as Allah, the Exalted, swears in Surah Al-'Asr — Allah says, by the time, the humans are in loss — think about who is the one who is swearing: Allah, the Exalted.

My brothers and sisters, this oath — Allah, the Exalted swearing by time — it should reflect in our minds. Imam al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: if the people look carefully and think about what Surah Al-'Asr says, it would be sufficient for them. You don't need anything else.

The Chain of Surahs: Al-Takathur, Al-'Asr, and Al-Humazah

If you look, brothers and sisters, at Surah Al-'Asr — the Quran is like a chain, a link one by one. If you look at the surah before, Al-Takathur, and the surah after Al-'Asr, which is Al-Humazah, and look at these two surahs — in Surah Al-Takathur before, Allah says:

What makes you — a human being — busy and competing with one another, until you visit the graveyards.

Human beings, Allah says, what makes you busy is competition. Like, brothers and sisters — if you have something very, very important tomorrow morning, like a test, and you need to study today, but you are busy watching movies or sports — when the time comes, you cannot answer anything.

Allah says what makes you busy — and prevents you from worshipping Allah and remembering Him — is the competition among yourselves. How long will that competition go? Hatta zurtumu al-maqabir — until you go and visit the graveyard. You never stop competing with one another until you are under the earth. Nothing can stop you.

As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says:

Nothing can fill the belly of the son of Adam except the dust.

Another hadith — the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: if man were given a valley of gold, he would wish and work hard until he gets another one. So that means you will never stop.

Another hadith — the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: as man grows year by year and gets old, everything ages with him except two things. These two things remain young and active throughout your entire life. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6420; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1047)

The two things are: al-hirs — eagerness and greed for this dunya — whether you are 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, or 80 years old, you will still be eager, running and rushing, active in order to acquire this wealth. And the other is hope — as you know, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: when you were in the belly of your mother, Allah has written the time you will depart from this life — maybe 40, maybe 60 years — it is written. But our wish and hope goes beyond our limit. If you ask someone who is 100 years old how many more years they would like to stay alive, they will wish to stay 10, 20, or 30 more years.

So these two things — as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said — the more you grow, the more they become active and young: greed for wealth and hope for long life.

That is why Allah says: what makes you busy is competition. And then in Surah Al-'Asr, Allah says: stop — stop that kind of thinking. I made you as a human being inclined to acquire money and wealth, but I am testing you — are you willing to get this wealth by right means or wrong means? There is nothing wrong with acquiring this dunya, but the test is how. Would you like to get it by cheating, by lying, by killing — which way do you want to get this dunya? This is the test. If you fail, Allah says you will see the hellfire.

The next surah after Surah Al-'Asr is Surah Al-Humazah. Allah says:

Woe to every scorner and mocker — who collects wealth and counts it, thinking that his wealth will make him immortal. No! He will surely be thrown into al-Hutamah.

Al-Humazah is the one who backbites others with words and speech, and al-lumazah is the one who mocks others by signals and gestures — standing behind them and making signals. Both of them, Allah says, are the ones who collect wealth by any means — right or wrong — and then start counting how much they have. Among the signs of the Day of Qiyamah is when you see a man or woman receiving wealth who doesn't even have time to count it — because any time they try to count, they lose more — so they just leave it behind and keep receiving and receiving and receiving.

What is the punishment of that person? Allah says he will be thrown into al-Hutamah.

The Three Levels of Loss in the Quran

So Surah Al-'Asr is between two losses. Allah says: by the time — and in this surah the word means a general loss, whether it is less or more.

In the Quran, brothers and sisters, if you read the word of loss, Allah has mentioned three types:

1. Khusr — a general loss, whether less or more. For example: if I have iman and amal salih but I left the other two conditions, my loss is somewhere in the middle — 50/50, half and half. If I have iman but I don't practice, my loss is perhaps 25%.

2. Khasarah — a deeper loss. This applies to the disbelievers and wrongdoers who forget Allah in this life. Allah says: as long as they are alive, every day, every morning, they increase in their loss. This Quran will not increase for the wrongdoers except loss — like if your income is 10,000 and you are working every day but you are losing and losing. What is the benefit of the job you are doing when you are in loss every day?

3. Khusran — the total and ultimate loss. Allah says in Surah Al-Zumar:

Say: the losers are those who will come on the Day of Resurrection having lost themselves and their families. Verily, that is the manifest loss.

Worship whatever you like besides Allah — let them know — the losers are those who will come on the Day of Resurrection while they have lost themselves. If you have a business and you lost your wealth, you can catch up — you can have another chance. But what if you lose your body? What if you lose your eyes, your legs, your hands — all of yourself? Those who lose themselves are the real losers. Not only that — they also lose their families.

My brothers and sisters, there is a type of punishment in the hellfire where the man or woman will stay there alone — they will never see anyone. No friends, no family — they will stay by themselves. Isn't that a great loss? Then Allah says: that is the real and manifest loss.

After Ramadan — What Have We Done With Our Time?

Ramadan has gone, has passed — it's gone. But who is the one who got the advantage? The one who fasted and stood before Allah.

My real brothers and sisters — if Allah gave you the opportunity to fast and stand before Him, say Alhamdulillah. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: if any one of you does something good in his life, he should say Alhamdulillah. But the other way around, he should blame none except himself.

My time — as a human being — time is running. We came into this dunya individually, and we leave this dunya individually. Allah says in Surah Al-An'am:

And you have come to Us one by one as We created you the first time.

When you come into this life, no one was with you and you had nothing with you — and the same way you will leave this dunya. You come to Allah one by one.

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: when you stand before Allah, the first question He will ask you is: what did you do with your time? What did you spend your time on?

Brothers and sisters — every one of us knows what he or she did in their life. In Ramadan and after Ramadan — what did you do in your life? And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says Allah will ask you especially about your youth — when you were young, strong, and healthy, what did you do in your youth?

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says — as recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari: most people do not take advantage of these two blessings — health and time. Time — you cannot stop it, you cannot do anything about it. You are here, and Allah gave you the choice of what you want to do with your time. And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says you will be questioned about what you did with your time.

The Question of Time on the Day of Judgment

My brothers and sisters, Allah said — about those who disbelieve — Allah will ask this question of them while they are in the hellfire, screaming and invoking Allah and asking Him to give them another chance. And Allah, the Exalted, will say to them:

Did We not give you a long enough life so that whoever wanted to reflect could reflect? And the warner came to you.

Didn't I give you an age, a time in your life? How many years have you been in this dunya? Didn't I give you a lifespan in which a lesson could have been learned by those who can reflect?

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says: if Allah gave one of you 60 years in his life, there is no excuse left — Allah has left no excuse for that person.

The Prophet's Du'a in His Final Years

My brothers and sisters — as soon as the righteous used to reach 40 years old, they would plan their time to do more and more. 'Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: in the last years of his life, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say every time:

Glory be to You, O Allah, and by Your praise — I seek Your forgiveness and I turn to You in repentance.

And he would recite:

When the help of Allah comes and the victory — and you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes — then exalt Him with praise of your Lord and ask His forgiveness. Indeed, He is ever-accepting of repentance.

Making the Most of Our 24 Hours

My brothers and sisters, time is not with us. These days you as a Muslim have 24 hours — we have to think: what am I doing in my life? Am I gaining or am I losing?

We have to have two things in our life. We have to perfect ourselves first — with iman and amal salih.

The Pillars of Iman

Al-iman is the arkan al-iman — as all of you know:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 8 — Hadith of Jibril)

To believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and in divine decree — both its good and its bad — from Allah, the Exalted.

Iman means that whatever happens in your life, we have to realize it is coming from Allah — not from anywhere else. You try your best — that does not mean you sit back and do nothing. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: do what you have been told to do, work hard — and whatever Allah sees in your heart, that is what He will do for you:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 7505; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2675)

I am as My slave thinks of Me, so let My slave think of Me as he wishes.

Whatever your intention is and whatever you work for — that is how Allah will be for you. If you neglect your time — if outside the masjid you have one face and inside the masjid you have another face — my brothers and sisters, that is not the right way.

Getting Out of Loss — The Four Requirements of Surah Al-'Asr

In order to get out of this loss, you need amal salih — anything that is good in your life in this dunya and the akhira is amal salih. And then, when you perfect yourself, you try to advise one another with the truth. Most people do not like the truth. Most of humanity does not like what is right. Say the truth — it is from your Lord. Whoever likes it will take it; whoever likes will reject it. It is up to them. But your job is to tell — to say the truth.

So when you say the truth, there will be hardship. That is why Allah says the fourth requirement: they advise one another to have patience — patience in their deen.