Go Back & Pray Because You Didn’t Pray | Jumuah Khutbah | Ustad Mohamad Baajour | EPIC Masjid

Introduction and Du'a for the Sick and Deceased

His father-in-law is very sick, requesting du'a.

And also the mother of our brother, Mas'ud Ahmed, passed away in Pakistan. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive all her sins, and grant her the highest place in Jannah. Ameen.

Opening

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

My dear brothers and sisters, I ask Allah Azza wa Jal who gathered us in this masjid to gather us Yawm al-Qiyamah with Sayyid al-Mursaleen Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Ameen. Ya Rabbil Alameen.

Before I start I see a lot of spaces and there's a brother standing outside. If you could just please move forward and fill up the spaces. May Allah bless you and protect you.

The Unique Nature of Salat

Every obligation that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ordered us to do, He gave it to Jibreel alayhi salam and Jibreel alayhi salam came to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and from Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to mankind. Except one obligation. Except one obligation, Allah Azza wa Jal raised Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to the seventh heaven and informed him of that obligation.

That obligation that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said it is the amood of the deen. It is the most important pillar after shahadah. That obligation that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's last words, his last wasiya was that obligation. That obligation that if it is done properly it guarantees Jannah. That obligation is the salat. The salat ya akhwan.

As salat as salat. These were the last words. Imagine your father is passing away, your mother is passing away and on her deathbed she mentioned something. Take care of your brother, take care of your sister, make sure she gave you a wasiya. She saved the best for last. How about the best man ever created? His last words were as salat as salat. Salat, salat.

The Hadith About the First Question on Judgment Day

Every year at this time I take advantage of the presence of many people on vacation and I bring up this topic because unfortunately we see a lot of neglect on this topic. Now I want you to imagine that you were told that you have a test and the outcome of the test will decide if you are going to be happy the rest of your life in this dunya or you going to be miserable. The result of the test will decide your happiness or your misery.

And let's assume that this test in math, English and science. And the teacher said whatever you get, whatever you get for the math I will consider it also for the English and the science. If you pass the math then automatically you have passed the English and the science. Anybody with a brain, anybody who is sane will focus and concentrate and study a lot math because that determines the rest of his life. Can you imagine how much focus he or she are going to put on that test and specifically the math?

Now our teacher, the teacher of this ummah, Muhammad ﷺ said:

(Sahih at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 413)

Allahu Akbar. Rasulullah ﷺ said, the first thing me and you and every Muslim will be held accountable for on the day of judgment, the first thing is as-salat. If it is good, everything will follow. Siyam will follow, sadaqah will follow, hajj will follow, umrah will follow, hafidh of the Quran will follow, dua will follow, everything will follow. وَإِذَا فَسَدَتْ and if it's corrupt, it is messed up, it is done with laziness, it has no soul, the rest will follow.

Wallahi ya akhwan, wallahi this is a very scary matter, very scary matter. Everything is depending on this salat and now here, not 50 years will be good or 500 years will be good. No, my eternal life is depending on this salat. My eternal destiny is depending on my performance of that salat.

Self-Reflection on Our Salat

So the question is, how's your salat ya akhi? My dear brother, my dear sister, how is your salat? Let me rephrase, how much would you give your salat from 0 to 10? 2, 4, 7, let me rephrase, am I, are you ready to present this salat with pride and joy if you were determined to meet Allah tomorrow?

Ya akhwan, this is coming. Yesterday I got a phone call, I swear by Allah from this minbar, 20 years old, you're gonna hear the janazah very soon, it's either Monday or Tuesday, 20 years old, gone. So don't be fooled, the sheikh's talking now, I'm only 17, I'm 23, I'm 36, I still have a long time, I still am, oh I forgot, I'm going to hajj and I'm come back, everything's clean, subhanak ya rabbi, all this tasweef, procrastination is from the shaitan, my rest, the rest of my eternity is depending on that salat.

So ya akhwan, let's focus and concentrate and relook at our salat. I'm gonna discuss two matters only, you know, when I was growing up, I found, remember in the days of the CDs, there was 128 CDs, the sheikh is explaining how to achieve khushu and salat, and you're talking about around 120 hours, and I'm gonna try to make it in 15 minutes. And so I'm gonna pick two matters, which is, I noticed that many of us suffer with these two matters.

First Matter: Praying on Time

Number one, praying on time. Praying on time.

A man came to Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam and he said, ya Rasulullah, مَا أَحَبُّ الأَعْمَالِ إِلَى اللهِ. What is the most beloved a'mal to Allah? And keep in mind, why did the Sahaba used to always ask about the most beloved a'mal to Allah? Why? First, because they love Allah. Second, they knew the time is very short, very limited. I don't have much time, so ya Rasulullah, please tell me, what does he love the most? So with this 5, 10, 15 years, I want to do it. I don't have much time, it could be tomorrow. So please tell me, what does he love the most? We all see this question always repeated by many Sahaba, right?

So ya Rasulullah, what is the most beloved a'mal to Allah? You should be so grateful for that Sahaba who asked that question. الصَّلَاةُ عَلَى وَقْتِهَا. Salat on time. Salat on time. Ya Rasulullah, what's next? بِرُّ الْوَالِدَيْنِ, being good to the parents. Ya Rasulullah, listen carefully. What is next? الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. Salat on time came before jihad? Salat on time came before my parents? الصَّلَاةُ عَلَى وَقْتِهَا. Salat on time.

What Does Salat on Time Mean?

What does Salat on time means? What does it mean? It means that every Salat and alhamdulillah, Allah from His mercy, He did not give us a window of five, six, seven minutes, and then after that He will be punished. No. Fajr, you have til shurook, to pray it and it will be considered on time. Duhur, you have til asr, and so on. But the sooner it is to the beginning of the time, the better. But as long as it's done before the next Salat, you are safe.

But if it is neglected, let me ask you a question. When I pray, whenever I want to pray, what am I doing? What am I saying? Allah azza wa jal said:

The Salat has been prescribed on the believers at a certain time assigned by me. I want to wake up and pray Fajr whenever I wake, whenever I woke up. I woke up at 7, I pray at 7. I pray, I woke up at 11, I pray at 11. I am, Duhur came and I'm at work, khalas, when I go home, I will pray them all together. Duhur, asr, maghrib, and isha, and I will make sure they have tarteeb. Duhur first, and then asr, maghrib, and isha.

When I do this, what am I doing? Maybe you don't want to hear it, wallah, and maybe it sounds very very harsh, but what I'm doing is, ya Allah, I don't have time for you now. When I have time, I will pray. If you meant it or not, that's what it means. Allah said pray now, you're saying no, now I'm busy, now I'm sleeping, now I have a game, now I'm playing video game, now I have a soccer. Allah said now, now, only now, Salat is better than sleep. And you're saying with rudeness, sleep is better than Salat. You continue snoring.

Who is the master? Wallah, if you are the master, if I am the master, do whatever you want. But wallah, we are not, we are abid, we are slaves to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. And the slave is supposed to say, سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا, we listen and we obey. Pray now, hadir سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا. This is what Islam means. You submit to the order of Allah, not to your wills and desires.

The Example of Salat al-Khawf

Ya akhwan, listen to this surah an-nisa. Allah azza wa jal told Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Ya Muhammad, open your ears and your heart, please. Ya Muhammad, when you are performing jihad, what does that mean? I am in the battlefield, arrows are flying towards me, the swords are swinging above my neck, everybody's screaming and yelling. When you are in that state, Ya Muhammad, and your sahaba, and the time for Salat comes, let a group of people pray while the others guard them. When they finish, the guards will pray and the people who prayed will become the guards.

Ya Allah, let me finish, Ya Allah, the jihad. I'm not watching a movie, Ya Allah. I'm not watching a game, Ya Allah. I am not in a meeting. I'm performing jihad. Can I please when I go back home? No! Now! Allahu Akbar.

If there's anyone on earth that is excused to perform Salat on time, it will be the Mujahid. We all agree on this. Allah prescribed something called Salat al-Khawf, Salat of fear. It's different than our Salat, it has some difference, but still, now, now.

So my brother and sister, when you hear this, please, I beg you, tell me, what is your excuse? What is it? A meeting? What is it? What is it? A game? What could it be? What could it be more important than this? Allah revealed ayat that will be recited till the day of judgment, telling every Muslim, stop everything and go and pray.

What are you saying when you do that? You are really, not only saying, you are admitting and showing that Allah is first in your life. And if you want to know your status with Allah, check the status of Salat in your life. If all your schedule is around the Salat, and you're always concerned, if I leave now, when we are outside, Asr is gonna come, so we're gonna pray here, or no, no, no, let's postpone the trip, the dinner, I'll see you after Maghrib, all your plans are around the Salat, Allahu Akbar.

But if, oh yalla, khalas, it's okay, إِنَّ اللهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ. When we go home, we'll pray all together. This is not, this is not what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have ordered.

Conclusion of First Part

My brothers and sisters, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he said, if you want to know what is your status with Allah, check what is the Salat status in your life. If you want to know what is yours with Allah, check what is Allah's with you.

Say this and ask Allah for forgiveness, and ask Him for forgiveness. He is the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Second Khutbah

In the name of Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the one who has no prophet after him.

So just like I said, because of the time, I'm gonna take two matters. Number one, praying on time. And I beg you, ya akhwan, wallahi, when you put Allah first, when you put the Salat first, you see the barakah in your life. The barakah in that, in that transaction or that deal you were so worried to miss, you will see so much barakah in it.

Slow Down and Perfect Your Prayer

Because everything that you're worried to miss is in the hands of the one you're standing in front of. Second, slow down. That's the second biggest problem. Slow down, ya akhi. Slow down when you're praying. Where are you going? Where are you going? Really, really, where are you going? What is it, what is it that is so important that you cannot extend your Salat 30 seconds or one minute or one minute and a half? Because that is the difference between a good Salat and a quick Salat.

The Hadith of the Man Who Was Told to Repeat His Prayer

You know, I always think about this hadith and I get so scared. This man, this sahabi was so lucky. We all know the hadith, it's in Bukhari. Rasulullah was sitting in the masjid, a man walked in, الله أكبر. He prayed two rakah and he came to Rasulullah and said, السلام عليك يا رسول الله, وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته. Go back and pray because you did not pray. الله أكبر.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 793)

Finished? السلام عليك يا رسول الله, وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته. Go back and pray because you did not pray. الله أكبر. For the third time, the man conducted his Salat, came back to Rasulullah ﷺ and Rasulullah ﷺ repeated the same statement and then the man said, Ya Rasulullah, that's all I know, علمني, teach me.

A Frightening Reflection

Before I continue, I want to ask you and myself a question. Imagine after I die at 60, 70, 50, 30 and I'm so excited I have four years of Salat and I go and stand in front of Allah and I found out I was the same guy but there was nobody to tell me go back and pray because you did not pray. Imagine after 50, 60 years and I'm standing and I'm so happy and proud I have whole account full of Salat and then it turned out, هباءً منثوراً, scattered dust. رب ارجعون, ya Allah bring me back, I'm gonna fix my Salat. كلا, it's too late, I sent you a guy on November 28th to remind you to slow down.

I wonder if Rasulullah ﷺ sees me or you pray, would he say, mashallah, الله أكبر or he would tell me, go back and pray because you did not pray. What you have done right now, I have no clue what it is but this is not what I taught you. Imagine, Rasulullah ﷺ is telling him, not one pretending sheikh, Rasulullah, he said go back and pray because you did not pray. I don't know what you just did, I have no clue. And what did he tell him? Go back and pray because you did not pray. He did not say go back and pray. 50% of that Salat was accepted. No, you did not pray.

The Prophet's Teaching on How to Pray

Ya Rasulullah, علمني. And the scholars call this hadith, the hadith of really teaching how to pray. He said, when you make wudu and you walk into the masjid and you face the Qibla, you say, الله أكبر and you read ما تيسر من القرآن and you read whatever you know from the Quran and then, listen carefully my brothers and sisters, and then he said, اركع حتى تطمئن راكعاً. Make ruku until you are at peace in ruku. ثم ارفع رأسك. Then go for سمع الله لمن حمده. حتى, here's our biggest problem. Yallah! Yallah! You get up for ruku and boom! Dive into sajda. اعتدل قائماً. Stand up حتى تعتدل قائماً. Then go to sujood. حتى تطمئن ساجداً. Until you are at peace in sujood. Then ارفع حتى تستوي وتطمئن جالساً. Then lift up from the sujood until you are at peace sitting.

Look at the word طمأنينة, سكون طمأنينة. Tranquility is repeated in every move. That's why the scholars said طمأنينة, tranquility is a pillar of salat. What does a pillar mean? Like the Fatiha. Is there a salat without Fatiha? No. Similarly, there's no salat without طمأنينة.

The Worst Thief

Yallah! Yallah! And the shaytan came to me. I'm praying so fast. And he came to me and said, at least you are better than your cousin. He doesn't pray. Right? And he start making me compare myself to the people who do not pray. He doesn't make me compare myself to my brother whose salat is amazing. No, no, no. إن أسوأ الناس. Rasulullah ﷺ told us. The worst thief. The worst thief. Thief, thief. Who's the worst thief, ya Rasulullah? الذي يسرق من صلاته لا يتم ركوعها ولا سجودها. The one who steals from his salat. He does not complete its ruku and he does not complete its sujood.

(Ahmad and others)

Hudhayfah radiyallahu anhu, he walked into the masjid one time and he saw someone doing the express salat. He came to him after the salat and he said, if you die on this state, فقد مت على غير ملة محمد. Look how serious is this topic. If you die praying like this and you think that you're praying, you would die out of the millah, out of the ummah of Muhammad ﷺ.

Standing Before Allah

I will finish with this. SubhanAllah Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah, he said, every person stands in front of Allah twice. Once in this dunya in the salat and once in the akhira when he's held accountable. If you fix the first, the second will be very easy. And if you mess up the first, the second will be very difficult.

Ya ikhwan, as-salat was-salat. Please focus, slow down. When I'm saying سبحان ربي العظيم, when I'm saying سبحان ربي العظيم, I am praising Allah, right? When I'm saying سبحان ربي الأعلى, I am praising Allah with the best, right? You tell me, I beg you, tell me, what kind of praise is this? سبحان ربي العظيم، سبحان ربي العظيم، سبحان ربي العظيم، سبحان ربي العظيم، سبحان ربي العظيم، سبحان ربي العظيم. If you gave me a gift and I said, thank you, thank you, thank you, how do you feel? What do you say? What kind of thank you is this? What kind of thank you is this? How about the one who gave me everything I have? Everything I have. سبحان ربي الأعلى، سبحان ربي الأعلى. I'm praising Allah. Take your time, ya ikhwan.

The Successful Believers

May Allah make us from the people الذين هم في صلاتهم خاشعون. قد أفلح المؤمنون. قد أفلح المؤمنون. Successful are the believers. What is their first characteristic, ya Allah? What is the first characteristic of the successful believers? الذين هم في صلاتهم خاشعون. The one who has khushoo in their salat. May Allah make us among them, ya rabb al-alameen.

Ya Allah, do not take our soul until we have perfected our salat, ya Rabb. Ya Allah, do not take our souls until you are pleased with us. And may Allah send His peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and companions all together. And stand up for your prayer.

Announcements

Please come from the multipurpose hall to the hallway. And the people in the hallway, come to the main hall please. Look down, make sure foot to foot, shoulder to shoulder. Close the gaps.

Insha'Allah on December 11, there will be a historical announcement. No money you're going to give me that will make me tell you what it is. Or maybe we can negotiate. There's a big announcement on December 11. You will come here after Isha insha'Allah ta'ala. You will hear all about it. And also in January, if you would like to go with me, there's a few spots left. I'm going to Umrah. I'm taking as many of you with me. So please, if you are interested, you can check in the front. JazakumAllah khair. Please don't forget the masjid with your donation. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.