In Service to Other

Khutbah Opening

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and seek His assistance. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil within ourselves and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Yet whomever He allows to go astray, none can guide him. And I bear witness that there is no God worthy of worship except Allah alone. He has no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger.

O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except in the state of Islam.

O you who believe, fear Allah and speak the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive your sins. And whomever obeys Allah and His messenger, he has indeed achieved a great achievement.

In Service to Others

Brothers and sisters in Islam, today our khutbah is about being in the service of others. Allah in Surah Āl-'Imrān described our ummah in a specific way and He said:

You are the best nation that was ever brought forth — لِلنَّاسِ — for humanity, for mankind. And the scholars say whenever you see النَّاس in the Qur'an it is referring to Muslims and to non-Muslims. So this verse is saying you are the best nation that was brought forth for the world — for Muslims and for non-Muslims alike — which means the verse is saying that the good that comes out of the believers should permeate into society, should affect everyone: should affect the Muslims and it should affect the non-Muslims as well.

For until recent years, the خَيْر that was coming out of the Muslim community only went back to the Muslim community and it didn't go outside of that, and so the community at large never felt the impact of what the Muslims were doing. There was one time here in America there was a masjid that was being built in a new neighborhood and the people in the neighborhood didn't want the traffic and the other things associated with the masjid, so they opposed the construction of this project and they took it to the city council or city hall and everyone presented their arguments. So a Muslim uncle got up and he thought he had a strong point and he said, "We have a right to build a masjid here, we have been a part of this community for 25 years." And then a woman, a non-Muslim woman, sincerely got up and she said, "You have been here for 25 years — I've been doing soup kitchen for 30 years and I've never once seen a Muslim volunteer and help."

And what that community made as a mistake — the good impact that they have — never reached anyone else. It just stayed within the Muslim community. But we are the best nation that was sent for النَّاس — for everyone, for Muslims and non-Muslims — so everybody should feel the effect of Muslims around them.

The Most Beloved People to Allah

In a hadith that is Hasan, narrated by al-Tabarāni, the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, al-Tabarāni — Hasan)

The most beloved people to Allah are the most beneficial to النَّاس — again, the most beneficial to people, Muslims or non-Muslims.

Balancing 'Ibādāt and Mu'āmalāt

One of the important things to understand in Islam is that the religion can be broken up into two parts: into عِبَادَات and مُعَامَلَات. The عِبَادَات are the acts of worship that you perform and the مُعَامَلَات are your dealings with people — how you behave with people, assisting one another — and we need both to succeed.

Some of the extremes we see in our communities: we see one person completely focusing on the عِبَادَات — so with the صَلَوَات and everything he is right on point — but whenever you speak to him it's an abrasive encounter, he's rude, he's harsh, he's crude in behavior because he focused on عِبَادَات and he doesn't put any weight or importance to مُعَامَلَات. And we have the other extreme in our communities: someone who has nothing to do with the prayers and the rituals, with the عِبَادَات — the worship between them and Allah — but they're extremely nice to everybody and they'll tell you, "I'm a good person, I should go to Jannah even if I don't pray." And they're missing the balance. The healthy balance: you have a relationship with Allah, but you also must have a good relationship with the rest of humanity as well.

So this hadith is so important because it emphasizes that the most beloved deeds to Allah — and if you were to ask people, take a guess, they will tell you قِيَامُ اللَّيْل, they will tell you قُرْآن, they're going to focus on عِبَادَات — but the most beloved of people to Allah: أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ, the most beneficial of them to other people.

So that could be by teaching — teaching here things in the dunya or the deen. If Allah blessed you with having a lot of knowledge that's beneficial, even if it's in the dunya, share that with others, pass it around immediately. Feeding people, clothing, sheltering. Marriage — by marriage meaning facilitating marriage for people, helping people get married. And we are so lacking in this area — we have so many young women who are trying to get married, so many young men, and there's nobody helping, making that connection whatsoever. And people will tell you some ridiculous things: "I don't want to help people get married because if they get divorced they'll blame me." Why would they blame you? Ten years later he's going to come look you up and blame you? Just effort — things like that — being beneficial to others.

The Most Beloved Deeds to Allah

Then the Prophet ﷺ continues, and the hadith is a very powerful hadith:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, al-Tabarāni — Hasan)

And the most beloved deeds to Allah: a happiness that you enter upon a Muslim — the most beloved deeds — or you lift or remove a difficulty that was upon them, or you settle a debt on their behalf, or you feed them when they are hungry and you give them some kind of food.

Then the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, al-Tabarāni — Hasan)

For me to walk with a brother of mine concerning an issue, an affair of his — something he needs to take care of. But notice the Prophet ﷺ said وَلَأَنْ أَمْشِيَ — meaning, for me to walk with my brother in this affair. And what's beautiful is that the scholars said you don't have to successfully finish the task or fix the problem for him — just to accompany him. And that's why sometimes someone might need to talk to you and you don't have a solution for them, and they might know that you don't have a solution for them, but they just need to talk, and just by them talking somehow alleviates or decreases the problem in their minds or in their hearts.

For me to walk with my brother in an issue or some affair of his is more beloved to me than to make اعتكاف — and that's when you stay in the masjid and you never leave — فِي هَذَا الْمَسْجِد — in this masjid. And what masjid are we talking about? The Prophet ﷺ is talking about his masjid, Al-Masjid Al-Nabawi, where the salah is multiplied by a thousand. For me to walk with my brother trying to fix an affair or help him with something is more beloved to me than to make اعتكاف in this masjid for an entire month — whether successful or not, whether you walk with him for a few minutes or for a few hours — more beloved to the Prophet ﷺ than making اعتكاف in that masjid for a month.

And then the hadith continues:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, al-Tabarāni — Hasan)

And whoever walks with — meaning assists — his brother in an affair or in an issue until it is taken care of, Allah will keep his feet firm on the day when the feet are not kept firm, meaning on the Day of Resurrection. This is the weight and the importance of being in the service and being in the aid of others.

The Story of the Factory Owner

A shaykh tells a story about a man who came to him — and this is a true story. A man came to him and this man owned a factory and he tells him, "My factory is not making any profit, so I am considering shutting it down. I'm not really making profit — it's just basically covering its expenses." So the shaykh asked him, "How many workers, how many employees do you have in the factory?" He said, "80." He said, "These are 80 homes that you're helping sustain and keep open. And if it's a man and his wife and if every home has about 3 children, then these are 400 people that are receiving provision from this factory." And then the shaykh said to him, "Don't you think that the factory continuing — meaning remaining open — is the greatest profit with Allah?"

Another way of looking at things: don't you think this factory remaining open and 400 people benefiting from it — isn't that the greatest profit with Allah? It's not just about monetary profit in this dunya. It's about people, it's about helping people, it's about being in the service of others.

The Science of Giving

Studies that were conducted by universities here show that they gave some people money and told one group to go buy themselves something nice, and they told the other group to buy something for someone else. Then they tested the level of happiness after that experience for each group, and the group that spent the money on someone else reported a higher level of happiness than those who just bought themselves some kind of trinket.

And that's why Allah says in Surah Al-Balad:

In this verse Allah is saying فَلَا اقْتَحَمَ الْعَقَبَةَ — meaning he never attempted the اقتحام. And الاقتحام is الدخول في الأمر الشديد — when you enter into something that's difficult. So Allah is saying: he did not enter al-'aqaba. And al-'aqaba is the word that's used to describe a mountain. Some of the mufassirīn said al-'aqaba is a mountain in the Hellfire. Others said it's 70 layers of the Hellfire. But Allah is saying that this person did not attempt this difficult mountain, this difficult task — he did not push against himself, fighting against his desires and his own needs and his lust.

So as an example, Allah says that he did not attempt al-'aqaba, and what would make you know what is al-'aqaba? He compared this task to climbing this mountain. What is climbing this mountain? فَكُّ رَقَبَةٍ — setting free a neck, meaning finding a slave and setting them free for the sake of Allah. And the Prophet ﷺ commented in many ahadith on the excellence of that. Or إِطْعَامٌ فِي يَوْمٍ ذِي مَسْغَبَةٍ — or to feed on a day of masghaba, a day of starvation and severe hunger. So this is like climbing that difficult mountain, and he did not climb that mountain.

What is climbing the mountain? Setting free a neck, or feeding on a day of severe starvation or severe hunger. يَتِيمًا ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ — an orphan ذَا مَقْرَبَةٍ, that is related to you. أَوْ مِسْكِينًا ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ — or a poor person ذَا مَتْرَبَةٍ. And مَتْرَبَة — Ibn 'Abbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, says هُوَ الْمَطْرُوحُ فِي التُّرَابِ — it's like to show you that التُّرَاب is like sand or soil or dirt, and this person is to that level — they're on the dirt — and so the word was named after that: مَتْرَبَة. So he's in a very difficult situation.

The Story of the Man in Debt

There is a true story that happened in one of the Muslim lands where this man tells it himself. He owed someone 7 million riyals and he had 1 million, and his business failed. So he told the man, "I'll give you 1 million and then I'll work on giving you the other 6 million," and that man refused. And in that country when you owe someone they throw you in jail. So he said the man refused and he threw me in jail.

I was sitting in jail with other people who were there because of debts, so I started speaking to each person — this person, how much do you owe? 50,000. This one? 70,000. This one? 100,000. He said, "I took my checkbook out and I started writing these people checks for that amount and telling them just go." And they would call the officer and they would show the check and they would go home. And he set free a whole group of people, and he remained in there.

So the officer told the person in charge, and that person in charge called him in and said, "You're in jail because you owe people money, but you're now settling other people's debts." So he explained the story: "I didn't have the 7 million and I offered to give him the 1 million and he refused it, so I'm in jail. But the 1 million that I have is enough to get these other people out of jail, and I got them out of jail." The story impressed the man so much he took it to one of the princes in the region, and then that man asked to meet with him personally, and when he explained the story he gave him a check for the 7 million and told him, "Go free." He then got the creditor and gave him the money and said, "Go."

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2699)

Allah is at the aid and the assistance of a slave or a servant so long as that servant is in the service or in the assistance of his brothers — and of course it means sisters as well.

And the Prophet ﷺ also said:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4941; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1924)

Those who are merciful — they receive mercy from the Most Merciful, Ar-Rahmān.

Examples from the Salaf

Abu Bakr al-Siddīq

We know the story of Abu Bakr after he became the Khalifa — he would leave immediately after Fajr. And one day 'Umar ibn al-Khattāb followed him and he sees him going to this old house, staying for a while and then leaving. So later on 'Umar goes to this house and knocks, and there's an old lady there. So he tells her, "Who is it that enters upon you every morning?" And she said, "I don't know who he is." So he tells her, "What does he do?" She said, "He comes every morning, he sweeps our house" — this is Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, this is the Khalifa with responsibilities — "he comes every morning and he sweeps our house and he milks all our goats and he cooks our food and then he leaves."

Ibn Taymiyyah

Another example is that of Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him. When Ibn Taymiyyah passed away, schools closed, the market closed, the whole city shut down so everyone could attend his funeral and everyone was saddened. But one of the amazing things is that a Christian man came and he was in tears. So the people asked him, "Why are you crying? Because he died?" — and Ibn Taymiyyah wrote volumes refuting Christianity — "Why are you crying?" He said, "I'm not crying because the man died." He said, "I'm crying because all the good that he used to do in the city — no one's going to do it anymore."

Second Khutbah

I say this saying and I ask Allah for forgiveness for me and for you from all my sins, so ask forgiveness — so the one who asks for forgiveness will be victorious. Ask Allah for His forgiveness; indeed those who ask for His forgiveness shall prosper.

All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon His trustworthy messenger and upon his family and companions.

Local Organizations Doing Good Work

Alhamdulillah, there are a number of organizations in this city that — in a good way — make you proud of the work that they do, that are reaching out and helping everyone: helping Muslims, helping non-Muslims. Outreach in the Barrio is one of them — responsible for feeding a lot of people. Muslim Hands for Humanity also feeding people and taking care of things.

And we have a masjid that many people are speaking about, and those who have visited have been impressed and they return for a second visit and others for a third — and that is Masjid At-Tawheed. And today we have the Imam of that masjid, Imam Qasim Ibn Ali Khan. The work that they do — and those of you who have visited them, you see — may Allah increase them in good and assist them to do better. They have shelters, they even have classes teaching skills, sewing — they do so much great work.

So if I'm not going to do that work myself, then I'm going to do my best to support those who do good work. And you can go with your own eyes and see the kind of work that they do. But this is something that's important for us as Muslims — imagine if the Muslims focus so much on constantly giving back, constantly doing their best to impact society, and then someone tries to say on television that Muslims are violent or this and that — people will immediately disbelieve that. They'll say, "I've seen Muslims — they're the most helpful, they're the kindest people — so there's no way I'll believe this information."

Masjid At-Tawheed is one of those exemplars — and we don't over-praise them in the sight of Allah — but today the Imam is with us, and he's going to need a few minutes of your time after the salah. And we understand the importance of this and we know what they do, and so the equation is simple: we know how much we have to support them, inshallah, after the salah.