The Only Thing I Can Rely On

Opening — Khutbah al-Jumu'ah

All praise is due to Allah, and his praise and blessings and peace be upon our prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, his family, his companions, and his followers until the Day of Judgment. I bear witness that Allah is the only one worthy of worship, and Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم his last and final messenger.

The Only Thing We Can Rely On

My brothers and sisters,

When a person goes sometimes into a time where there is so much pain, so much difficulty — when a person calls and he can only hear the echo of his own voice, and he can only hear his own whining and feel his own tears — at that moment, the only thing you say is يا رب، يا الله.

When your sins are so heavy or too many, when you feel like your heart is taken over by darkness, when you know your bad habits have become so strong and so tight on you that you can't change — and you feel like you know, I'm doomed — at that point, the only thing you can say again is يا رب.

When you see things around you that you have no control over — terrible things, horrible things in the world — and you feel powerless. When you hear people screaming and confused, with a lot of confusion and no clarity and sometimes no hope in this materialistic world, and in the materialistic things and means that you deal with — at that point you call and you say يا رب.

When rich people rely on their wealth. When strong people rely on their health. When powerful people rely on their status. When countries rely on their armies. When people rely on their supporters and fans, and the people around them — their family members or whatever. But sometimes the believer feels that all these things are useless, and the only thing that I rely on is يا رب.

The Distance Between Heaven and Earth

Ali ibn Abi Talib was once asked: what is the distance between the heavens and the earth? He said:

(Attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, reported in various Islamic sources)

An answered supplication. You say يا رب and Allah immediately answers your du'a. There is no distance when it comes to Allah.

Nothing More Honorable Than Du'a

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3370; also reported in Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 3829)

There is nothing more honorable to Allah than supplication. Praying and supplicating is something Allah has honored so much, and He honors the person who asks Him. And that is the complete opposite of us human beings — because Allah is not like us.

When you keep asking someone, they get bored. You know how my kids drive me crazy — "Baba!" "Yes." "Baba!" "Yes." "Baba!" — خلاص, you get tired. "Mama, I want this, I want this, I want this, I want this" — you know what, I'm not going to give it to you, or I'm going to give it to you just to get rid of you. SubhanAllah. If somebody comes and asks — see how our nature is — somebody comes, "I need help." They come again, "I need help." Come again and they need help — you say خلاص, I can't help you. I'm sure you're bored of me by now — how many times I've asked you to donate to the masjid! That's the nature of human beings.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3373)

The children of Adam get angry and frustrated when they are asked. But Allah is actually the opposite — Allah is angry at those who never pray to Him. Allah loves to see you praying to Him and asking Him, as many times as you want, at whatever time you want.

One of His generosities is that Allah opens that door for you 24/7. It doesn't matter if it's midnight, midday, early morning, end of the day, sunset, sunrise — whatever — 24/7 this access is yours. Give me anything in the world that is willing to have that kind of access for you. And guess what — it doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't matter what your background is, and it doesn't matter even how good you are to Him.

Allah even answers the call of those in distress — even if they are non-believers, even if they are sinners. What kind of mercy and what kind of generosity is this?

I always say — I don't know if you've heard me say this before — you know how when you call customer service and they tell you, "Your call will be answered in the order it was received"? Can you imagine if you prayed to Allah and the angels said your call will be answered in the order it was received? No. And the beautiful thing is, everyone feels that he is calling Allah personally.

The Month of Du'a — Ramadan

That's one of the beautiful things about this month of Ramadan — it is the month of du'a. That is why Allah, in the middle of the verses that speak about Ramadan, says:

Some of the scholars of Quranic commentary (mufassirun) noted that throughout the Quran, whenever the phrase comes — "They ask you about..." — Allah always says: "Tell them, O Muhammad..." — قُلْ يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْمَحِيضِ قُلْ, يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْأَهِلَّةِ قُلْ — always there is a قُلْ. But not with this verse. When they ask you about Me, I am near — there is no قُلْ. Because Allah did not want to place anyone between Himself and His creation, between Himself and the du'a — not even His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم.

It is a beautiful thing. Allah said: "When they ask you about Me, I am near." He didn't say, "Tell them, O Muhammad, I am near." Because Allah doesn't want anyone in the middle. He said: "I am near, immediately. Just call upon Me."

You don't need anyone to go in between you and your prayer to Allah. That's why they say: there is no atheist in the foxhole. I don't know if you know what that expression means. A foxhole is basically the trench you dig when you're in a fight. They say there is no atheist in that position, because everybody prays to God at that point — because they see death in front of them.

The Story of the Man in the Masjid

I remember once watching an interview with a rich businessman. He was asked about his experience, how he makes his millions of dollars. And he mentioned a story — that he walked into a masjid, and he saw somebody in a very desperate situation, praying, crying. He said he approached the man and said, "What can I help you with?" And the man told him: "You know, my wife is in the hospital. In that country, you have to pay for the service — the free hospital is only for nationals. But if you're a foreigner, you have to go to a private hospital. I don't have the money to pay for her, and she has to have her gallbladder removed." Whatever the amount was, it was very easy for this rich man.

The interviewer asked him: "Give me something that you will never forget in your life — an incident that changed the way you think." And he mentioned this story. He said: "When he told me that, I gave him the money. And I gave him more." And the man said: "No, I only want the amount that I need." Then the man said: Alhamdulillah — he thanked Allah first, then thanked the businessman.

He said: "I was impressed by this man. First, he's not greedy. Second, he thanked Allah before he thanked me — I really noticed that and I appreciated it. So I felt like this is a trusted man." So he took out his personal business card — his personal number, no secretary, nothing — and said: "This is my personal cell phone. Call me whenever you need help, and I will always be there for you."

The man said: "Thank you, I don't need your card." And he didn't take it. The businessman was wondering why. Then the man said: "When I need help, I will call the One who brought you to me."

He said: "At that point, for the first time in my life, I felt so small and so little. This man felt like a giant to me."

You know why he's a giant? لأنه يأوي إلى ركن شديد — because of his trust in Allah. He became a giant in his eyes because of how he relied on Allah.

The Wisdom of Mutarrif ibn Abd Allah

There is nothing more honorable than du'a. Du'a is based on admitting your weakness and His completeness — admitting your need and admitting that He is in need of no one.

Mutarrif ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Shikhkhir — who was from the best of generations, the son of a great companion, and one of the wisest men you can ever read about — said:

تذكرت مع جماعة الخير فإذا الخير كثير — "I was looking at the good deeds, and I found that there are so many good deeds to do in Islam, in the Sharia. So many things bring you closer to Allah."

Prayer, fasting, charity, reading Quran, being good to your parents, being good to your children, to your family, to humanity — whatever good deeds you can think of.

(Attributed to Mutarrif ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Shikhkhir, reported in various classical sources)

He said: "All of this is in the hand of Allah. And you have no power or authority over what Allah has in His hand — except through one access: to pray, 'Ya Allah, grant me this. Ya Allah, give me this. Ya Allah, open my heart for that.' So I realized at that point that all goodness is gathered in du'a. All good deeds can be approached through du'a."

Allah said: "Pray to Me and I will answer you."

Nur al-Din Zanki and the Arrows That Never Miss

Nur al-Din Zanki lived during the time of the Crusaders — a time of war. And when you are in war, what would you think is most important to invest in? As a ruler in a time of military conflict, you would want to build up your army and your generals.

Yet he, may Allah have mercy on him, used to spend a generous amount of money on students of knowledge, on the righteous people — even if they were poor, even if they were not generals or soldiers. He was told: "If you spent this money on your soldiers and commanders, you would be better off." He supported his military too, but he said:

"By Allah, I seek victory not only through my generals and army, but also through those people whom I support." They asked how. He said:

"These people fight for me while you are sleeping in the night. Because those people stand up in the night and pray and make du'a. They shoot arrows that never miss the target. While your arrows sometimes miss the target and sometimes hit it."

May Allah have mercy on him. That is why they used to call du'a مجانيق الضعفاء — the catapult of the weak. And Imam al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, said: it is سلاح المؤمن — the weapon of the believer.

The du'a is like the arrow that you shoot. Sometimes the arrow travels so far that you don't see it hitting the target. But it will reach its target at one point.

May Allah make us among those who honor the du'a and be honored by the du'a.

Aqoolu ma sami'tum wa astaghfiru Allah li wa lakum fastaghfiruh.

Second Khutbah — When Du'a Is Not Answered As Asked

الحمد لله وحده، والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعده. أما بعد.

I want you all to remember that not always is the best thing for you what you specifically ask for. Not always. You might ask for something and think it's the best for you — and it's not. You might pray for something to happen to you in this world and wonder why you didn't get it.

Remember that Allah sometimes does not give you what you ask for because He knows that the thing you are asking for will be something bad for you in the future. You might pray for a child — a boy or a girl — and never receive one, because Allah knows that if you were given that, it might be a source of so much fitna for you. Or that money would have corrupted you. Or that position would have corrupted you. Or that career would not have been the best for you.

So many times Allah knows the future — which you do not know. Allah knows what never happened and how it would look if it did happen. That knowledge of Allah is what has saved you.

Three Ways Du'a Is Always Answered

Also, sometimes Allah does not give you what you want — and in return, Allah saves you from something bad that was supposed to happen. Because any du'a you pray that was not answered in the form you requested, Allah will make that du'a the reason for protecting you — maybe from a disease, maybe from an accident.

That is why they say: البلاء نازل والدعاء صاعد يتصارعان — your du'a ascends and pushes away the calamities that might strike you.

And maybe, because He knew that the reward of your good deeds on the Day of Resurrection will only come with that du'a that you gave — and the thing you asked for was not given. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told us that when you make a du'a and He does not answer the particular thing you asked for, Allah gives you in return rewards. And Allah knows that you need those rewards on the Day of Judgment more than whatever position, car, child, luxury, healing, or any other thing you asked for.

Allah knows what those people need on the Day of Judgment is far more than what they need in this dunya. That is why Allah has saved it for them.

(Reported in various classical Islamic works, attributed to narrations regarding the Day of Judgment)

People on the Day of Judgment would say: "I wish all my du'as had not been answered in the dunya, and that I had instead received them in the form of reward" — not only to be saved from Hellfire, but to be elevated in status in Jannah.

When Du'a Is Withheld as a Mercy

Sometimes He didn't give you what you want because Allah sees that maybe there is a source of haram income — maybe you are not giving your zakat properly — or maybe there is a desire, a haram desire, in your heart that has taken over.

He kept you away from what you want because He wants to see you praying more, coming closer to Him.

And maybe there are connections — ties of kinship — that you cut: cousins, uncles, relatives, brothers, sisters, in-laws. You cut ties with people you were not supposed to cut ties with. And Allah holds back from you so that you reconnect — so He can connect you with what you want, so you re-evaluate your relationship with people.

Allah grants an answer — not necessarily in the timeline you have set for yourself. It is His time. Not necessarily for the particular thing you asked, but in the way He wants to give it to you.

You might say: "What's the point?" The point is that you will never be wiser than Allah. You will never be more merciful towards yourself than Allah. You will never claim that you know yourself better than Allah — we discover ourselves every day. So if He knows you better, and He is more wise than you, and He is more merciful than you — then you should have full trust when you raise your hand and say يا رب.

The Certainty That Makes Du'a Powerful

And finally, I want to say: one of the greatest causes for a du'a being answered is certainty — اليقين. How much your heart truly believes in what you're praying for.

Once someone told Sufyan al-Thawri — I'm not the biggest fan of this example, but it makes a point — he said: "Sometimes I feel I'm not worthy of having my du'a answered. I'm not a very good Muslim." So Sufyan said:

"O man, if Allah answered the du'a of Iblis — Iblis prayed to Allah after he became a disbeliever: 'O Lord, delay me until the Day of Resurrection,' and Allah answered the du'a of Iblis — do you not think He would answer your du'a? No matter what sin you commit, you're not going to be worse than Iblis. So don't worry — just pray."

Sufyan al-Thawri's Seventy Du'as at Arafat

And better than that, what Sufyan al-Thawri himself did — he is a great scholar, known to be a great man of du'a. He prayed seventy times at Arafat — seventy times he made this du'a:

"Do not make this the last time we meet at Arafat." And Allah never deprived him of Hajj. The last Hajj he made, he was ninety years old, and that night someone said to him: "Why didn't you make that du'a tonight?" He said: "I felt shy before my Lord — after seventy years He has not denied me — I'm too old now, خلاص, I'm tired." And he passed away after Ramadan, before the next Hajj. May Allah have mercy on him — he is known as the Amir al-Mu'minin fi al-Hadith, from the scholars of Makkah, who settled there at the end of his life.

Others Who Have Already Prayed for You

I will end with this. Whenever you make du'a, I want you to remember that before you even pray to Allah, there are others who have prayed on your behalf.

Someone asked: who are they?

The first are the angels surrounding the Throne of Allah. The higher the level, the closer to Allah, the better — and these angels, who are the closest to Allah, Allah said about them:

The carriers of the Throne are making istighfar — saying: "O Allah, forgive the believing men and women."

And Nuh (Noah) prayed for you before you prayed for yourself:

He prayed for the believing men and women. And Ibrahim (Abraham) prayed for you:

And Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم:

"Ask forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and women." And he did.

I want you, at the end of this month, when you make du'a, to have full conviction that Allah hears you, is near to you, and that du'a is about the connection — it is about that opportunity to come closer to Him. It is the opportunity to be able to speak to Him. It's not just about the answer.

(Attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab, reported in various classical sources)

Umar said: "My main concern is the du'a — not the answer of the du'a." Because Allah will not let it go to waste.

Closing Du'a

May Allah forgive our sins. May Allah — in this gathering — not let any one of you leave with something you wish to have in this dunya and in the akhira that is good for you and your family, unless Allah grants you that thing. And I ask Allah to grant us healing and grant us honor in this life and the next. And I ask Allah to make it easy for our brothers and sisters who are suffering around the world, and to make it easy for those who are in need of help — all kinds of help. And I ask Allah to forgive the believing men and women, the living and the dead.

Qumu ila al-salah, yarhamukum Allah.