Taking Action - Ustadh Aqeel Mahmood

Taking Action: Implementing Knowledge in Our Lives

I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah. Now, one of the problems that we have as Muslims today — facing Western norms and Western society, and Muslims not just living in the West, but it's a problem which spans the whole globe — is the fact that it's as if we're living a dual identity.

It's as if we're living a double life. We come into the masjid for a lecture, for a khutbah, for a talk, for a seminar. And we hear the words of the lecturer or the speaker. And we take this knowledge in. And then when we leave the masjid, we don't act upon the knowledge that we heard. We don't implement the knowledge that we've heard in the masjid itself.

It's as if we leave the masjid and our minds are wiped clean from whatever we heard in the masjid. And it's as if it only pertains to us being in the masjid that we have to act upon the things that we hear. We leave the masjid and we don't implement what we hear and we don't implement what we learn.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He says in the Quran:

O you who believe, why do you say that which you don't do? It is greatly hateful in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — it's a big sin — that a person says something but he doesn't act upon whatever he says. He hears some benefit, he hears some knowledge, but he doesn't actually act upon the things that he hears himself.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also says:

Do you order the people to do righteous things, and you forget yourselves — you don't even think about acting upon the knowledge that you've heard yourself?

The Warning of the Hellfire for Those Who Don't Act

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was talking about the Day of Judgment. And he was talking about the punishments of the hellfire, because he saw them with his own eyes when he travelled with the angel Jibril in that miraculous journey that he went on. And he started to describe some of the things that he saw. And he said:

"I saw men whose lips were being cut with scissors made of fire."

And so he said to Jibril, "Who are these people, O Jibril?" And Jibril replied and said, "These are the khateebs from among your ummah. The khateebs from among your ummah who used to enjoin righteousness on the people and they used to forget themselves. And they used to recite the Qur'an — they used to recite the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — but they never understood what they used to recite."

Accountability on the Day of Judgment

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ talked about the Day of Judgment. And he described those people who'd be waiting for their books and for being held accountable for everything that they did and said in this world. And he said that a person will not be let go on the Day of Judgment — he won't be allowed to pass — until he is asked about specific things. Until he's asked about his life and how he spent it. What he did with his life that was given to him by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he'll be asked about his knowledge and what he did with his knowledge.

See, it's not enough for a person to just know things. Sometimes we hear a hadith. Sometimes we hear ayat about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala telling us to do something, or forbidding us from something. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ telling us to do something, telling us the rewards of doing something, telling us not to do something, to stay away from something. But yet we still go and do those things which we're not supposed to do — even though we know it's wrong. And when we know something is obligatory upon us, we still don't do it — even though we have that knowledge. So it's not enough for an individual just to know. He has to act upon the knowledge that he's been given by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Sayings of the Righteous Scholars

There was a righteous scholar of the past who was talking about this issue — this issue of not acting upon what you know. And he said: "I'll be afraid that I'll be asked, 'Did you learn?' And I'll say yes. And then I'll be asked, 'What did you do with what you knew? What did you do with the knowledge that you had? What did you physically do with it?'"

And the scholars of the past would say that the people won't be happy with a scholar who speaks but doesn't act upon what he says. And they won't be happy with someone who acts without knowledge either.

It is also said that Abu Darda radiallahu anhu said: "You won't be a scholar until you first learn that knowledge in order to become a scholar. And then you won't truly learn that knowledge until you act upon the knowledge that you've heard." So a person has to make sure — in order to retain that knowledge, in order to keep it — he has to act upon it. He has to go out and implement the knowledge that he's been given by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Ibn Rajab rahimahullah said that knowledge is the tree. And actions are the fruit of that tree. Knowledge, brothers and sisters, that you don't act upon is like wealth that you don't spend. It's like money that you have in a bank account — money that you're not even spending. It was said that just like you won't benefit from your wealth until you spend it, you won't benefit from knowledge until you act upon that knowledge that you have. There's no benefit for you — it's just information in your head — until you physically implement that knowledge.

And when you leave the masjid, for any type of talk, any type of lecture, any type of khutbah — whatever it may be — don't just leave admiring what was said. Don't just leave thinking about what was said and talking to others about what was said. Rather, act upon the knowledge that you heard. Implement it in your life.

One of the scholars of the past said: "Whoever goes out wanting knowledge, that knowledge won't benefit him. But whoever goes out wanting to act upon the knowledge that he hears, that will benefit him even if he hears something minor — even if it's something small, even if it's not some amazing thing that he hears. If he acts upon what he hears, that's truly what's going to benefit the individual."

Umar ibn al-Khattab radiallahu anhu said to the people: "Don't be deceived by the one who reads the Qur'an. Don't be deceived by the individual who recites the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." He said: إِنَّمَا هُوَ كَلَامٌ تُتَكَلَّمُ بِهِ — "It's just words that are read. Don't be deceived by that individual." But look at the one who acts upon the Qur'an. Look at the individual who, when he reads the Qur'an, understands what's being read and acts upon whatever's being recited.

Actions Are the Key to Jannah

Actions, brothers and sisters — and the importance of actions — is something which every single one of us needs to know. Actions themselves help us keep and retain our knowledge. One of the scholars of the past said: "We used to aid our memorisation of hadith by implementing and acting upon them." That's how a person retains his knowledge — there needs to be practical implementation of whatever a person learns and hears.

One of the scholars of the past said: "Knowledge is understood with good manners." If a person doesn't have the right adab, doesn't have the right etiquette, that knowledge won't register in his mind. And he said: "With knowledge, your actions are rectified." If a person doesn't know, his actions aren't going to be correct. And then he said: "With actions you will attain hikmah — you will attain wisdom because of the actions that you perform." One of the scholars also mentioned about the importance of actions: "A scholar will continue to be ignorant until he acts upon the knowledge that he has."

Performing actions — doing good deeds — is what's going to get us into Jannah itself, brothers and sisters. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

By time itself — He swears by time. Mankind is at a loss. You all know this surah. Mankind is at a loss. Man is a loser. Except for the one who believes and performs righteous deeds. See, it's not enough for a person just to know. In order for a person to be successful — for him not to be a loser in this life and in the hereafter — he needs to make sure that he is عَامِلٌ بِالصَّالِحَاتِ. He's performing righteous deeds. He's doing deeds that will make him enter into Paradise.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

And those who believe and they do righteous deeds — they are the inhabitants of Paradise. They are the ones who will enter Paradise. هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ — They will enter into it forever and ever, never leaving it.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

We will surely give them their reward in the hereafter — بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ — according to the best of what they used to do. Because of what they used to do in this world, that's how a person will enter into Jannah. Not simply by what he knows.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about those who will enter into Paradise and the angels who will greet them before they enter. And He describes what the angels will say and how they'll greet those who will be entering into eternal bliss. What will the angels say?

The ones whom the angels will take — they'll take their souls in a pure, good, and gentle manner. And then when they will enter into Paradise, the angels will say: "Peace be upon you. Enter into Paradise for what you used to do." Because of what you used to do. So actions, brothers and sisters, is what's going to get us into Jannah itself. And we need to make sure that when we leave the masjid — whenever we hear a piece of advice, whenever we hear a hadith, whenever we hear an ayah — it's not just enough to retain that knowledge, to hear it and admire it and think about how amazing it is. We have to act upon it if we really want to benefit from that knowledge.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ إِنَّهُ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ وَسَلَّمَ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Second Khutbah: How to Implement Knowledge

We talked about the importance of actions and how a person needs to implement what he's learnt and act upon the knowledge that he hears, so that it will be a cause for him to enter into Jannah. Because no one will enter into Jannah except by the deeds that they used to do in their life. Now how can an individual implement that knowledge? How can he practically go out and do actions? Because we're falling short in this category — and I advise myself before I advise anybody else — that sometimes we say things and we advise people, and we might mention a hadith or an ayah, but we don't really implement that ayah or that hadith in our own lives.

So how can an individual do this? What can we do to make sure that whenever we hear something we act upon it?

1. Sincerity — Ikhlas

The most important thing is sincerity — making sure that whatever we do with any act of worship, we're doing it for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. One of the companions said:

It may be that a person does a small deed — something minor, something small, something maybe some people might think is insignificant — but because of his intention, that action becomes enormous and huge in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, because of the purity of his sincerity, his ikhlas. And it might be the opposite as well — that a person does a huge act, he gives lots of money in charity, but his intention isn't for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and because of that, the deed in the sight of Allah — even though it was huge for that individual and for the people who saw it — because of his incorrect intention and because of his lack of sincerity, it's going to be tiny in the sight of Allah. It's going to be insignificant. It's not going to matter. It's not going to have any effect for him.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala purely — for His religion, for His sake.

When a person does something for other than the sake of Allah, he's not going to make as much effort. We always hear about sincerity, we always hear about how a person should do things for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and sometimes we get tired of hearing this all the time — we think, "Yeah, I've heard this before, I know this, tell me something else." But a person when he thinks this, he doesn't understand the enormity of this single point.

If a person gives in charity, or he's praying, because he sees some people there and he wants to impress them and he wants them to start praising him — once they start praising him, he's going to stop doing that action, because his job is done. He's got what he wanted from the people, which was their praise. Once they notice him, once they start to praise him, that's it — he's achieved his goal. But when a person does something for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he doesn't know whether his action has been accepted or not, and so he's going to continuously be trying. He's never going to give up. He's always going to be doing good deeds for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And part of this, brothers and sisters, is making sure that when we learn an ayah or a hadith, we don't hear it and then think to ourselves, "I know someone who does that forbidden act — now that I've heard this hadith, I'm going to go to that person and tell him about it." He might be falling short himself with regards to that same piece of advice, and yet he starts telling other people and using it as ammunition against them — even though he hasn't implemented it himself in his own life.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

O you who believe, save yourselves — and then your families — from the hellfire. Save yourselves first and foremost. Don't listen to a hadith or an ayah and then go looking at people who aren't doing that, and then start using that hadith as ammunition arguing against them and putting them down — when you're not even implementing this ayah or hadith yourself. Who are you to go and tell other people about an ayah or a hadith when you're not even implementing it yourself? Do you think you're better than the rest of the people? Do you think you're perfect and so high in might that you don't need to implement that hadith or ayah yourself?

A person needs to understand that he needs to implement that ayah in his own life:

Why do you say things that you don't do? Why do you say things to other people when you know you've got your own shortcomings? Nobody is perfect. So when a person hears some points of benefit, don't go around looking and aiming it at other people — first look at your own self. Look at how you can implement that hadith and that ayah in your own life, on yourself first and foremost, and on your families.

2. Achieving Ihsan — Excellence in Everything

Another way of implementing the knowledge that we hear, my dear brothers and sisters, is by making sure we have ihsan and we achieve excellence in every single thing that we do. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Achieve ihsan — try to achieve excellence in everything that you do — verily Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loves those who achieve excellence.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Look at the people who are below you with regards to this dunya." Because when you do this, you're grateful for what you have. You're thankful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You might have an old car that barely drives properly, and then you see someone who's walking everywhere — doesn't even have a car — and you're grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He's given you a mode of transport. Don't look at the person who has a nicer car than you, because then you're going to be ungrateful for what you have. You're always going to be looking at the next person, the next car, the next house, the latest trainers, the latest game — you're always going to be looking at that. You're never going to be satisfied.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: with regards to acts of worship, always look at the person who is above you — don't look at the person who is below you. Don't do an act of worship and then say, "I've done a lot more than most people do today. I've prayed some extra optional prayers. I've read a few pages of the Quran. I've done extra dhikr — and most people don't do that — so I'm good today. I've done enough today, alhamdulillah." A person should always look at the people who are doing better than him with regards to acts of worship, because that way he's always going to be improving his relationship with Allah.

Nowadays it's the opposite. When it comes to the dunya, we're looking at the people who are better than us, and we're never satisfied — there's always going to be someone who has a better car, more money, more children, a nicer house. And with regards to acts of worship, we're always looking at the person below us, as if the bare minimum is enough. We need to change this. The roles need to be switched. Our mentality needs to change.

3. Making Du'a to Allah

One of the ways an individual can act upon what he knows is by making du'a — by supplicating to Allah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would make du'a to Allah and he would say:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 925)

"Oh Allah, I ask You for beneficial knowledge, goodly and halal provision, and accepted deeds — actions that are going to be accepted by You, oh Allah." And this is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ making this du'a — somebody whose past and future sins were forgiven — asking Allah that He accepts his good deeds from him. And if that's the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then what situation are we in? We do a bare minimum amount and we think that it's enough — that we'll enter Paradise with the small amount of deeds that we have.

Umar radiallahu anhu said: "If an announcer came down from the heavens and announced to every single person, 'All of you are entering Paradise — except for one of you,' I would be afraid that that individual would be me. I would be afraid that that single person who's not going to enter into Paradise would be me."

Umar radiallahu anhu went to one of the companions who knew the names of the munafiqeen — he knew the names of the hypocrites during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And so he went to this person wanting to know who those hypocrites were. Why did he want to know? So that he could beat them? So that he could harm them? No. He was afraid that he was one of those people. He said to the companion: "Am I one of those people? Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mention my name? Was I one of those hypocrites that Allah revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ live amongst you?"

So with our actions — with acts of worship — we can't cut any corners. We can't afford to cut any corners. Sometimes we may feel weakness, we may feel laziness, when we don't want to do certain deeds. But a person should make du'a to Allah:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6367)

"Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from weakness and from laziness" — as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to make this supplication himself. So a person is encouraged to do good deeds.

4. Being Active with Social Issues

A person needs to be involved and active with social issues and social problems which are affecting the Muslims, regardless of where he lives — or the neighbourhood or the community that he's in. We have problems with drugs, we've got problems with alcohol, we've got problems with sexual grooming. These are serious issues. And I don't agree with those people who say it's a Muslim problem — sexual grooming is not a Muslim problem. It's a social problem. It's a problem which isn't just affecting Muslims. People are going around saying it's a Muslim problem — it's not a Muslim problem. It's a social issue, and we all know it's something which is wrong. No one's going to say it's something which is good. We as Muslims know it's something which is wrong, and no one's denying that. It's a serious issue — a social problem which everyone's facing. It's a problem in society itself.

And then you have people going into masajid giving out Bibles — if I went to a church and gave out a Quran, wouldn't they feel offended? It's disrespectful.

Du'a and Closing

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He rectifies our affairs and that He transforms and changes our knowledge into actions themselves, and as a result of this, we enter into Jannah.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُم بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ ۚ يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ — Indeed, Allah commands you to maintain justice, to do good, and to give to relatives. And He forbids immorality, bad conduct, and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.

Straighten your rows. Allahu Akbar.

Announcements

This week's Saturday lecture is entitled Poverty and the Homeless and will be delivered by Sheikh Abu Abdullah Abbas. The lecture will take place after the Maghrib prayer.

The weekly Urdu lecture will take place today after the Maghrib prayer.

The Sisters' Friday Circle will take place in the Old Library at 5:15pm. This week's topic is on wasting time.

On Thursday, 22nd May, the Sisters' Coffee Morning will be holding a mosaic art workshop.

Greenlane Masjid are organising a community clean-up of Small Heath Park and the surrounding areas. This is an ideal opportunity for you and your family to perform a community service. To register, please visit the Greenlane Masjid website.

Task Force Syria are organising a number of events to raise money for Syria. They are collecting all mobile phones to recycle, and all money raised will go to Syria. If you have any unwanted phones that are lying around, then please drop them off to the Masjid office.

A bungee jump for brothers will take place in the Masjid car park on Sunday, 8th June. To register, please visit the Masjid office.

Every week, we have a bake sale for Syria in the Masjid car park after Jumu'ah. If you wish to donate any food items, then please drop them off to the Masjid office before 1pm. Please visit the stalls on your way out and make a purchase to help the people of Syria.

Finally, we ask that you donate generously to the Masjid. After the help of Allah, we rely on your generous support. Buckets are situated at all exit points. We are still collecting money for Syria — please donate at the main Masjid office. Thank you.