Traps of Shaytaan : Smoking & Music - Ustadh Aqeel Mahmood

Khutbah al-Jumu'ah — 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.

Amma ba'd: Verily the best of speech is the Book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad ﷺ, and the worst of matters are those which are newly invented, and every newly invented matter is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.

Recognising Shaytaan as Your Enemy

Allah says in the Quran:

Verily Shaytaan is to you an open enemy, so take him as your enemy. Before a person can protect himself from Shaytaan, he needs to first of all realize that Shaytaan is his enemy in the first place.

And from the tricks and from the deceptions of Shaytaan is that he will make attractive those things which are forbidden to us. And he will make us think that certain things that we're doing — things that we think are acceptable, things that we think are the norm, things that are so common and we're surrounded by them — that we think that they're things which are halal. There's nothing wrong with them. It's normal. Everyone's doing it. So Shaytaan makes us think and he tricks us into thinking that something which is haram, something which is forbidden, is in fact something which is allowed, and there's nothing wrong with it.

And I want to mention two vices which are common in society today — things which many people do, and some even think that it's something which is normal. There's nothing wrong with this. It's harmless. It's okay to do. That's how common it has become in society today.

The First Trap: Smoking

The first of the things I'm going to mention is smoking. Allah mentions in the Quran:

Do not kill yourselves. And He says:

Do not use your own hands to destroy your own selves.

Many years ago — 40 or 50 years ago — when smoking became common, the scholars would say that it was something which was disliked. It was makruh. They never forbade smoking outright. Why? Because they didn't know the harmful effects of smoking. When scientific research came out and people started to realize the harms that it has on the body — the fact that it causes lung cancer and many other illnesses — and many of you know the harmful effects of smoking. You all know the problems that it causes. It's not something which is a secret anymore.

And even though we know this, certain trends, certain traditions, certain imports — we think that they're okay because they're coming from specific countries, because they're coming from Islamic countries. For example, shisha, smoking shisha, and hookah bars and hookah lounges. People think this is something — there's nothing wrong with it. It's safer than cigarette smoking. It's safer than tobacco. It's okay. It's something harmless. We have Muslims doing it in Arab countries. They're wearing thobes, they're wearing shimagh, and they're smoking this thing. There can't be anything wrong with this. It must be okay.

But we don't look at the individuals who are doing this act. Rather, we look at what Allah and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ have said with regards to these types of things. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, when he decided to fight those who refused to give zakah, and he declared that he would go to war with those people — Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said to him: How can you fight people who say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ? None of the companions were with Abu Bakr at the beginning. But Abu Bakr was in the right, even though he was on his own. So it shows us that just because a majority are doing something, doesn't make it something which is allowed, doesn't make it something which is justified.

The Danger of Shisha

This illness which has become so commonplace today — people smoking shisha. Shisha is a form of smoking where the tobacco is mixed with certain herbs and certain spices, and it goes through a system where it mixes with water, and you inhale that smoke. People think that because water is used as a filtering system, it's something which is less harmful than cigarette smoking, than tobacco smoking. Yet if we look at the research, we'll see that smoking shisha is actually worse than smoking cigarettes. It's actually more harmful than smoking the everyday cigarettes that we buy from the shops. They say a person who smokes shisha for one hour is similar to a person smoking 100 cigarettes.

A person who smokes shisha — who goes to a shisha lounge with his friends and he's smoking shisha for one hour — it's equivalent to someone smoking 100 cigarettes. So it's not something which is a healthy alternative. It's not a good alternative. It's not a halal alternative to smoking. It is in fact worse, and it's causing more problems for you and for your health. When the tobacco mixes with the water, more smoke is made, and you're inhaling more smoke than you would inhale with cigarette smoking. So it's actually causing more problems for you and more of a health problem.

So brothers and sisters, we really need to be aware of these types of illnesses and diseases and these types of tricks from Shaytaan when he repackages certain things and makes them look attractive, calls them by names which we don't normally use to deceive the people, to make the people think these things are harmless.

And even things which are associated with this — a person may say, "Well, I go to hookah lounges but I don't smoke it." But even the people you're around, the people you socialize with — those kinds of people are not going to be people who are going to bring you closer to Allah. They're going to be people who are taking you further and further away from Allah.

How to Quit Smoking

A person needs to know how he can stay away from smoking. What steps can he take in order to make sure that he stops himself from smoking and he quits smoking — whatever type of smoking it may be.

First and foremost, the person needs to realize that it's something which isn't allowed. Because if someone is saying it's something which is harmless, it's not forbidden, it's okay — he's not going to make that extra effort to stop himself from this disease. He needs to realize what he's doing is wrong. They say the first step for an addict is to realize that he's addicted to something. To realize that what he's doing is wrong, that what he's putting into his body is something which is harmful to him, and to recognize this. Once he recognizes this, he can take the necessary precautions and the necessary steps.

Also, a person needs to be aware of who he's socializing with, who he's mixing with. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4833; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2378)

A man is on the religion of his friend, so look at who you become friends with. Look at who you're socializing with. Look at those people that you're with — your friends. How are they influencing you? What things are they saying? What things are they doing? Are they influencing you in a good way or in a bad way? A person needs to be careful of those people that he socializes with.

And when you do something which Allah has forbidden, something which is haram, then it's going to take you away from Allah. It's going to lower your iman. It's going to take you away from the happiness and the bliss that you would want in this world and in the hereafter. As Allah says:

Whoever wants the reward of this world, whoever wants the good of this world, then verily with Allah is the good of this world and the good of the hereafter.

The Second Trap: Music

The second trick and the second deception of Shaytaan, and the second thing which is so common that people seem to think it's something which is harmless — it's no big deal, it's not a problem, it's not having an effect on me — and that second thing is listening to music. Something we're surrounded by. Wherever we go, we go to the supermarket, we go shopping and we hear it in the stores. We're at home and we watch television and we hear music. We're in the masjid for the salah and someone's mobile phone goes off and it's music playing, subhanAllah. It's something we're surrounded by, something which it's as if we've become immune to this problem. It's as if this problem doesn't affect us anymore.

Allah says in the Quran:

That there are those people who purchase lahwa al-hadith to misguide and to take the people away from the path of Allah. When the companions came to Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, the famous scholar of the Quran, they asked him: "What is lahwa al-hadith? What does this mean?" And he replied and he said: Wallahi — by Allah, the One Whom none has the right to be worshipped except Him — this means music and singing. He swore by Allah — one of the greatest companions of the Messenger of Allah — and he said: this is music and singing. Something which takes the people away from the path of Allah.

So first and foremost, before anything else, music in and of itself is something which takes a person away from the path of Allah. It takes a person away from the remembrance of Allah. And if a person is being taken away from the remembrance of Allah, then he's not going to live a happy life.

Allah says in the Quran:

Whoever turns away from My remembrance, then he will have a constricted life — a very difficult life, a hard life. It's not going to be easy for him. He's going to have problems. He's going to be depressed. He's going to be sad. And on the Day of Judgment, We will raise him up and he will be blind. He won't even be able to see. Allah will take his eyesight away from him on the greatest day, on the most frightening day that he will ever face.

Imagine if one of us woke up in the safety and security of our own homes, surrounded by our family, totally secure — and we wake up and we open our eyes, there is still darkness. We can't see anything. We become blind. How afraid would we feel? How scared would we become? How much would we panic? And this is in our own homes, in the comfort of our own homes, with people who we know. Imagine on the Day of Judgment, brothers and sisters, being raised up blind — not being able to know what's going on around you, not knowing where your family is, not knowing what's happening, with all the sounds that you're hearing.

And he will say:

"My Lord, why have You raised me blind when I was someone who could see in this world? Why can't I see now?" And Allah will say: "This is because — just as in this world when Our ayat came to you, when Our verses came to you, when Our proofs came to you, you refused them, you forgot about them, you neglected them — and today you will be forgotten about. You will not be remembered."

The Effects of Music on a Person

So first and foremost, this is something which isn't allowed in Islam. It's not allowed for us to listen to music. And many people think it's something which is harmless — it's okay, it's just sounds, it's not having an effect on my iman, it's not having a problem with me spiritually. Brothers and sisters, not only is music having an effect on you spiritually and with regards to your iman, it's having an effect on you mentally, and it's having an effect on you emotionally, and it's having an effect on you even physically. It changes the way you move. It changes the way you walk.

With regards to a person's emotion — when music is played, it plays with a person's emotions. How many times have we seen a person who listens to a specific type of music, and because of that music he starts to cry, he starts to become sad, he starts to become upset? And how many times have we heard music being played and the individual who listens to it becomes happy as a result? So it's having an effect on him emotionally. It's changing the way his mood is, the way his character is, the way he's feeling. Your emotions are being dictated by the music that you're listening to.

And not only that, but also mentally — it changes a person. Scientists say that when a person listens to music, it has an effect on his body. The windpipes widen, and the heartbeat increases when he listens to music. And if he listens to harder music — hard rock, for example, or another type of music with a faster beat — then his heart starts to beat even faster. And when his heart starts to beat faster and he has these changes in the body, what does he want to do? He wants to move around. This is why when you go to gyms, for example, they play music. It gets a person going. It increases the heartbeat. He wants to do things. And this is why in nightclubs, for example, you see people dancing to the music. So you're being controlled by the music that you're listening to. Your movements are being dictated by what you hear.

You see people in nightclubs dancing — not because they're hearing nothing. It's because of the music that they're dancing. It's the music that causes them to move in certain ways. And that's why when the music stops all of a sudden — there's a power outage, the music cuts off — what happens? Everyone stops dancing. No one carries on dancing. And they all start complaining: "What happened to the music? Where did the music go?" And then when the music starts again, they start dancing again. And if it's hard music, their movements become more erratic, more physical. And if it's softer music, their movements change, subhanAllah. Our bodies are being controlled by the music that we listen to.

And even people who listen to music while they're sitting down, or even in their cars — it has an effect on their body. They're moving certain parts of the body. You go down a road at night and you'll see people in their cars with the music blaring, and parts of their body are moving — their heads moving up and down with the music, tapping their hands against the steering wheel. So the music that a person listens to has an effect on him, not just emotionally, but also physically.

It's not something which is harmless. It's not something which doesn't have an effect on the body. A person needs to take precautions with regards to this. He needs to realize its dangers and the problems surrounding this — and the fact that music takes him away from the remembrance of Allah. When a person thinks to himself, "I'm going to do a good deed today. I'm going to go and be good to my parents. I'm going to go and give charity. I'm going to go and read some Quran. I'm going to go and start praying to Allah" — he never says this when he listens to music. It doesn't have that effect on him. It has the opposite effect. It takes the person away from the remembrance of Allah and from the worship of Allah.

How to Stay Away from Music

So now that we realize and we recognize the harms of listening to music, we need to know and understand and take the necessary steps to stay away from this. What can we do to make sure that we stop listening to music — knowing that it's causing a harmful effect not just on our iman and our Islam, but also on our physical, emotional, and mental state?

First and foremost, a person should read and listen to the Book of Allah. Read the Quran. Allah says:

Verily, by the remembrance of Allah will the hearts find true tranquility and peace. Only with the remembrance of Allah.

A person who listens to music thinks he's happy when he hears the music. But when the music stops, he becomes sad. And before you know it, he's someone who is addicted to music. He can't stop listening to music. He doesn't feel happy, he doesn't feel satisfied until he listens to music. And this is an illness that he has — an addiction. He won't feel happiness until he listens to music, and he ends up listening to music day and night. Before he goes to sleep, when he wakes up in the morning — he has to listen to music. It's like a fix for him. He can't achieve happiness except without this.

So a person needs to listen to the Quran, needs to recite the Quran, be surrounded by the Book of Allah. And the scholars, they say: when a person listens to the Quran and when he has Quran in his heart, then music cannot enter into that heart. And the same is true of the opposite — you cannot have music and Quran in the same heart. It's not possible.

That's why some people — and we ask Allah that we're not from those people — when they hear the Quran, they have a dislike for it. They don't want to listen to the Quran because they're too busy listening to music. They have a dislike for the Book of Allah. And a person who listens to the Quran a lot — who doesn't listen to music — when he hears music, he has a dislike for it. He doesn't enjoy it. Because he has this attachment to the Quran, to the Book of Allah.

So a person needs to surround himself with the Book of Allah, with the Quran. Wherever he is — on his mobile phone, get rid of any music you may have. Put some Quran on there. And alhamdulillah, nowadays there are many different reciters who recite many different surahs of the Quran. So much variety. There's so much opportunity for a person to listen to the Book of Allah. Get rid of it in your cars. Don't have any music in your cars anymore. Every time a person gets the urge to listen to music, he should put the Quran on — put the words of Allah on so that they may penetrate the heart. Because when a person goes into the habit of listening to music, the more he listens to it, the harder it will become for him to stop. A person needs to cut off from this illness.

Also from the ways of staying away from this illness of listening to music is by looking at who he socializes with, as we have mentioned. Looking at who he becomes friends with, the people who he surrounds himself with. Are they people who listen to music? If they are, then he needs to stay away from them. Advise them first and foremost in a good way, in a nice way. And if they refuse, then you need to look out for your own self — save yourself and your families from the hellfire. Be concerned about your own selves. Avoid those people who are going to make you listen to that music.

Because when a person listens to a song, he might have heard that song ten years ago, and it might have been ten years before he heard it again — but when he hears that song again, he'll remember those lyrics. Even though it's been such a long time, he still remembers them. And that's why it is said that music and singing is the Quran of Shaytaan. Because once a person hears a song and once he learns those lyrics, it never goes away. It's always with him.

From the benefits of listening to the Book of Allah, listening to the Quran, is that as a result of this he will receive the mercy of Allah. If a person listens to Quran in his home, on his mobile phone, while he's in his car — this deed will cause Allah to show His mercy on you. And how many of us would want the mercy of Allah upon us? When our friends show mercy to us, when our brothers show mercy to us — our fathers, our mothers, our sisters — when they forgive us after we've made a mistake, how grateful do we feel, how happy do we become? Now how happy would we become if we knew that Allah's mercy was coming upon us — that Allah was being merciful to us because we were doing this deed?

If a person stays away from listening to music and listens to the Quran, to the Book of Allah, he will have the mercy of Allah. Allah says:

When the Quran is being recited, then listen to it and keep quiet, so that mercy may be shown to you — so that the mercy of Allah will be given to you.

We ask Allah that He protects us from these vices of Shaytaan.

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

Second Khutbah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى أَشْرَفِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ، نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ.

From the tricks and deceptions of Shaytaan is that he will try to target those people who are weak and vulnerable — those people who may be isolated and don't have good people around them. Many of our youth, those of us who are in college, those of us who are in universities, tend to be in a certain crowd where it weakens their iman. They may have certain problems and certain issues — for example, with regards to their Muslim identity, with regards to taking certain celebrities, singers, actors, footballers, and sports people as their role models. They'll have other issues with regards to Islamic finance, student loans — these types of problems. And it has an effect on their self-esteem. They don't have high aspirations. They have an inferiority complex.

And so this is why the brothers at the masjid have decided to hold an event this Sunday called Winners and Sinners, for students aged 16 to 24 — focusing on this age group, focusing on the issues that they have to deal with day in and day out. Because this is a time when a person might leave his home and go to another city or another area to study, and he's away from home, he might be away from his Muslim brothers and sisters. So his iman is low, he's being faced with all kinds of troubles and dilemmas. And so this event, taking place this Sunday inshallah here in the masjid — Winners and Sinners — I advise all of you who are aged between this age group, or you know someone who is being affected because of the people that he's surrounded by, the area that he's in. Maybe he was someone who was a good brother, a practicing brother, but when he left and went to a college or university, his iman decreased and his Islam wasn't as strong as it used to be. This event is for those people. I really advise brothers to try and come to this event. If they want to register, they can register after the salah by the entrance of the masjid or in the office.

We ask Allah that He makes our youth the future leaders of this ummah.

فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ الْجَلِيلَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ، وَادْعُوهُ عَلَى نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَعْلَى وَأَوْلَى وَأَكْبَرُ.