Be Grateful

As-salāmu alaykum wa raḥmatu -llāhi wa barakātuh. I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah. And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. And upon his family, his companions, and those who followed them in good faith until the Day of Recompense.

And after this, Allah Almighty said in the Holy Qur'ān:

As we get closer to the end of the Gregorian calendar, we must as Muslims assess our 2016 year. And today for the Islamic calendar is the 30th of Rabī' al-Awwal, 1438, but because we live in this country and we are accustomed to the traditions and the mannerisms of their people, we also follow the calendar, of course, and with that there are a lot of traditions and a lot of habits of the west that do not fall necessarily in line with the teachings of Islam, and we will talk about that, inshā'Allah, but before we talk about that, we will take analysis of our last two months. What happened in the last two months? We saw that there was November, which was we saw Thanksgiving, and we had Black Friday, which for many it is a time where days and nights of dreaming and craving of the new gadgets and technology and the most best deals and sales are thought of. They are talked about in our family gatherings, and we are always busy and our minds are just engaged in the discussion about these things. Then we have our Christmas shopping, and then we have the sales and the deals. But the question comes to our mind: if we take stock of ourselves, are we more content than before? Do we have that إِطْمِئْنَانُ الْقَلْب?

That Prophet Ṣallallāhu alayhi wasallam, he said اَلْغِنَىٰ، غِنَىٰ النَّفْس — that true wealth is the wealth of the soul. So for you and I, brothers and sisters, we look at how have we really spent our time, because the reality of the situation for you and I is that we may not live to see the beginning of 2017, and for us, we have to fix the wrongs and make them right and shift, as Muslims, to make a better next year. We have in the current year we have highs and lows. Our īmān, our belief in Allah, they go up and they go down.

When Allah gives us a command in order to not do such thing and do a certain thing — such as Allah gave us a command of fasting as we saw in the month of Ramaḍān, and alḥamdulillāh by the faḍl and the mercy of Allah, we were allowed to fulfill that command of Allah — and on a daily basis, there is a command of not eating ḥarām, not looking at ḥarām, not talking ḥarām, and alḥamdulillāh by the faḍl of Allah, we are fulfilling that command, inshā'Allah.

But if we do not — if for some reason we fall, if for some reason Allah causes in our destiny to make mistakes and errors — do we sit there and start turning our back against Allah and thinking, "Hey, look, I'm gonna commit that sin anyway. I'm a bad person, you know? I'm just gonna stay with my same lifestyle and continue on that way"? But my brothers and sisters, this is the exact trap of Shaytān. This is what he wants us to fall into.

Allah, as is mentioned in a ḥadīth of Prophet Ṣallallāhu alayhi wa sallam:

(Sahih al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2499)

All of the children of Ādam are sinners. We make mistakes, brothers and sisters. That is the nature of the insān. But:

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 4251)

The best amongst those who sin are those who repent. So for us, we're thinking for a second when we hear this ḥadīth: "What? How can someone be the best of sinners?" No, it's not about who is gonna do the best sin. Like what happens nowadays — the youth, unfortunately, they compete against each other to see who will be the best at doing such and such evil deed. May Allah protect us. But the best of those who sin are the ones who turn in to repentance — they turn to Allah.

There's a ḥadīth of Prophet Ṣallallāhu alayhi wa sallam. He says:

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 4250)

These are such beautiful words indeed. The slave that, when he perpetrates a sin, that he commits a wrong against his own self, then he turns to Allah, then Allah turns to him.

Allah Almighty says in the Qur'ān:

"Say, O My servants, those that committed wrong against their own self..." This word here that uses إِسْرَاف — أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ — and we are gonna talk about that in a moment.

Allah Almighty says: "Say, O My servants..." — and I want all of you, brothers and sisters, to really feel this āyah. Ibn 'Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) and other mufassirūn (commentators on the tafsīr) — they say that this āyah, if anyone loses hope in this life, that this āyah itself is the greatest sign of hope for the believer.

"Say, O My slaves, those who have transgressed against themselves..." — Notice that Allah is doing nisba (attribution) to Himself. Not saying "O servants" — "O just random person" — but He's saying "My slaves," having that connection between you and I with Allah. How merciful Allah is!

Those that did إِسْرَاف (isrāf) against their own selves — that they did injustice, that they committed crimes against their own selves — what does Allah say?

"Do not be despondent" — do not have anxiety, do not have depression over the raḥmah (mercy) of Allah. How should we feel? We make mistakes day in day out. Our every second is in thinking of bad. Our every moment is in going towards bad. But what? Allah knows us better than you and I, and He says:

It doesn't end there. Allah didn't just say "don't be despondent from the mercy of Allah." Rather, He gives another added benefit. And what is that?

"Indeed, verily, emphatically, Allah forgives" — not just that one sin that you did, not that one action that you committed right now — but He forgives everything. يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا — "forgives all sins." إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ — "Indeed He is al-Ghafūr, ar-Raḥīm." Subḥānallāh!

Brothers and sisters, we look at the life of Rasūlullāh (Ṣallallāhu alayhi wasallam), and when we're saying that we commit sins, we don't use this as an excuse: "Oh, Allah is gonna forgive me anyway, so I might as well just do it." That's using a double standard and using it against Allah, and that's not fair. That's not justice.

We have to control our desires. So look at the example — the beautiful example — of our beloved Nabī Karīm (Ṣallallāhu alayhi wasallam). 'Ā'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) says that they would go months without the candle being lit in the home. They would not have meat to eat for weeks at a time. They would live off of barley and dates.

Why do I bring this up? When we're looking at our time — that we've been spending the last two months in this joy, in this luxury — we look back at our life, our model in our life, the example, Nabī Karīm (Ṣallallāhu alayhi wasallam), and we look at what we have. We have it all good, and we are still upset with Allah. What do we say? We say: "You know, I don't have that Benz. I don't have that S-Class. I don't have that iPhone. I don't have that Samsung." This is the concept of our souls not being content with Allah, and that is actually us turning our back against Him, because we have been commanded that we enumerate the blessings of Allah on ourselves.

Look at the example of a man, a companion of the Prophet (Ṣallallāhu alayhi wasallam), by the name of Mūsā ibn Umayr (may Allah be pleased with him). Who was this Mūsā ibn Umayr? I hope that you youngsters are listening because this really applies to us. He was a young boy in the prime of his youth, and he came from a very respected and rich and noble family. And this was in the pre-Islāmic days, where he would wear such garments and such clothes that even Gucci and Prada would not even be able to equal to that.

But what happened? What happened to this Mūsā ibn Umayr? Īmān in Islām penetrated his heart so deep that he was ready to sacrifice all of that for the sake of Allah.

It is mentioned about Mūsā ibn Umayr that when he would walk through the streets of Mecca, his fragrance would be so intense — his cologne, if you want to say that — when he would pass by the street, and if he left for hours, still people could smell that fragrance there. That's how much quality was even in the fragrance of Mūsā ibn Umayr.

But what happened at the time of his acceptance of Islām? His mother put him through torture. He went through so much hardship. And he was now in the worst of clothing. From the best of clothing, now he comes into the worst and tattered of clothes. From the best of scent, he comes into the scent of sweat and hardship.

And on top of that, what is one of the most important things that we remember about Mūsā ibn Umayr is that at the time of the Battle of Uḥud, when they were burying his body, they didn't have enough clothes for him to put the sheet and the shroud around his body to cover his body. He had such a small piece of a shroud that when they would cover his head and his upper body, his lower body would be exposed. And when they would cover his lower body, his upper body would be exposed.

So what did Rasūlullāh (Ṣallallāhu alayhi wasallam) do in turn? He said: "Take the leaves of the palm tree and put it on his body."

This individual — at the high and the climax of his youth and power — he could have maintained that status. But what did he look for? He didn't look for the status of this world. He looked for the status of the hereafter.

Indeed, the world has been created for you, but you have been created for the hereafter. And this is what the Saḥābah lived for. They didn't live for this world here. This world is the material. It's temporary. It fades away.

Ask those brothers and sisters who have passed away in 2016. And brothers and sisters, please move closer, inshā'Allah, as we have more brothers and sisters coming in. Jazākallāh Khayran.

Today, the verse of the Qur'ān is more ẓāhir (apparent) and evident than ever. Allah Almighty says:

Subḥānallāh! Brothers and sisters, this is a time of deep reflection. When we saw that āyah, Allah Almighty says to all of His slaves — those who had done إِسْرَاف (isrāf) against themselves, they did إِسْرَاف against themselves in these things.

And what are those things? إِسْرَاف means extravagance — turning away from Allah, not obeying His commands. What did they do إِسْرَاف in?

And keep in mind, before I translate this āyah, that by no means are the creation of this world bad. By no means does this dīn teach us to completely live away from the things of the dunyā and take a monastic life living in the caves. No. There has to be that moderation.

So this āyah says: "Beautified has it become to the people..." حُبُّ الشَّهَوَاتِ — "love of the desires and the vanities" — مِنَ النِّسَاءِ وَالْبَنِينَ — "from women and children" — وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ — "and piles and piles of gold and silver."

وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ — "and branded horses." Here, I like to think about horse power and the logos of the car companies — the branded horses. وَالْقَنَاطِيرِ الْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ وَالْحَرْثِ.

Here in الْأَنْعَامِ (al-an'ām) — meaning cattle — I think about the couches and the decorative garments that we have in our homes, all of those beautiful amenities that we have in our homes. وَالْحَرْثِ — "and the property."

ذَٰلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا — So all of these things have been beautified to us, in our eyes. They look beautiful. So don't say, "Oh, you know, I have to turn a blind eye and you know be a complete stranger." Allah naturally has created love for that in us. But then there is exceeding those bounds and those limits.

If you like iPhone, if you like Samsung, if you are doing good with it and khayr with it, then awesome — that's great. But if it's becoming a means of us turning away from Allah, may Allah protect us, then it becomes a harm and a damage for us.

And Allah says: ذَٰلِكَ مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا — "that is just the love and the beauty of this dunyā, the goods and the possessions." وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَآبِ — "But with Allah is the best of everything — the One who created all of this. With Him is the best."

What does Allah Almighty say in another āyah?

"No, listen. Ponder." إِلْمُ — Know. أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا — "that the dunyā that we live in" — لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ — "is a play and a pastime." وَزِينَةٌ — "and a beautification." وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ — "and a fight and a war amongst each other." وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ — "an increase of wealth and children."

See, Allah Almighty knows us — knows us better than anyone else in the whole universe. Allah Almighty ends this āyah:

"This dunyā, this world here, is nothing but مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ — a deception."

You know, when a mom and a dad — you know that a mom and a dad — they know a child better than anyone else knows their child. No one, no one in the whole galaxy, knows us better.