Key Characteristics of True Believers | Jumuah Khutbah | Ustadh Mohamad Baajour

Du'as for the Departed and Sick

Just a few du'as. Sister Nafisa Jahangir passed away in Pakistan. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ. اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لَهَا وَارْحَمْهَا وَعَافِهَا وَاعْفُ عَنْهَا وَأَكْرِمْ نُزُلَهَا وَوَسِّعْ مُدْخَلَهَا. Ya Allah grant her the highest place in jannah and forgive all her sins.

Similarly, our beloved brother Masood, he's a very regular musalli at epic. His mother passed away in Bangladesh. He had to leave immediately. May Allah have mercy on her and forgive all her sins, Ya Rabb, and give her family the patience. Then we have the brother Siraj Malik is in the ICU requesting du'a and also sister Farida. We ask Allah to give them complete shifa.

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. In everything that we say and everything that we do. Ameen Rabbil Alameen.

The Successful Believers

I don't want to be just a believer. Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen. If you are in this room, you are a believer. I want to be from the successful believers. I want to be a successful believer. And who can be better than Allah to give us the characteristics of successful believers? Nobody. Our creator is telling us in the Quran, named the surah after the believers. And in it, he started it by telling us who are these successful believers.

So as I am going by these characteristics, I want every single one of us, when we finish a characteristic, to tell himself, check. Yeah, this one is good. Let me go to the next. And if you feel that you have no check, check yourself and come back to yourself before it's too late.

Allahu Akbar. Successful are the believers. Who are they, ya Allah? Who are they, ya Allah? I want to be from the successful believers.

First Characteristic: Khushu' in Salah

The ones who have khushu'a in their salah. One second here. Allah, he did not say, successful are the believers who pray. Because if that's the case, Allahu Akbar, check everybody.

How is your salah, my brother? How is your salah, my sister? Shaykh, every week, every week you're gonna talk to us about salah. Now you know why. Out of all the characteristics, Allah started them with salah, and ended them with salah. How is your salah? How is the khushu'a in the salah? How is your focus in the salah? How much attention do you put in the salah? How fast is your salah? How slow is your salah? How is your fatiha, ya akhi? الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ - yalla, yalla, I just wanna get it over with. I'm done.

You pray brother? Alhamdulillah. Rasulullah ﷺ told us, the reward we get from the salah is proportional to how much khushu'a, attention, focus, we put in the salah. You focus for 10%, that's all you get from the salah. You focus for 20, you get 20. You focus for 70, Allahu Akbar, you get 70. But if the whole salah, you were thinking about work, and wife, and husband, and kids, and this, and money, you just get the fard out of the way. But did we achieve the reason and the purpose of the salah? No.

How's your salah, my habibi? You know, some of us, because mashallah, there's a lot of youth, may Allah protect our youth. Some of the youth, they would say, you know what? When I graduate, when I get married, when I have my first baby, after Ramadan, you should see my salah. When I grow up and I go to hajj, I grew up knowing that hajj is for 50 and above. Alhamdulillah, when I came to the States, I know it's not. It's for, whenever you can afford it, you can go to hajj. And this is a great sign that we see always, our youth are going to hajj. So many people think, you know what? When I come back from hajj, then my salah will be great.

My beloved brothers and sisters, in a few minutes, we will be praying janazah on a 37-year-old man. Younger than most of us. May Allah have mercy on him. May Allah give his family the patience. What's your excuse? Last week was 19. Three months before was 10. When is the intention? When did you tell yourself, you know what? Khalas, that's it. I'm going to fix my salah. This salah of expression, going up and down, and I have no clue what I did.

All the time, my main question is, Ya Shaykh, explain to us, how when we forget in the salah, what do we do? This is the main question of everybody. Because we are always distracted. Because we treat the salah as just a ritual, done. If it's not a check, my brother, my sister, please, I beg you, let's work on it before they pray on us.

Second Characteristic: Avoiding Vain Talk

And the one's second characteristics, wake up for the check. And they stay away from vain talk, and our scholars said, here, all the major sins are under اللَّغْو. They stay away from vain talk. They do not waste their time.

When they see some ignorant, vain, wasted talk, they say, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ ya akhi, I have no time for this. I could spend my time in remembrance of Allah. I could spend my time in reading the Qur'an, visiting a brother who's sick. You're sitting down here, and you're backbiting so and so, and you're slandering so and so.

Every word we utter, we are responsible for. Please ya akhi, stop.

And some of our scholars said something so beautiful. He said, if you want to be خَاشِعٌ فِي الصَّلَاة, stop the لَغْو, because it came right after it. Stop the waste talk. Keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah.

Ya ikhwan, last week or the week before, I spoke about the danger of backbiting. Backbiting is handling the most person that you hate on a golden platter, your حَسَنَة. On the day of judgment. I can't give my mother a حَسَنَة, but I will give him or her tons of حَسَنَات, whatever he requests. Because I was backbiting them. I was saying things about them in their absence that they do not like to be said.

Allahu Akbar. Watch your tongue. If it's good, Bismillah. If it's not, stop. No matter how juicy are the information or the topic, stop. Check or no check?

Third Characteristic: Fulfilling Zakat

And the ones who fulfill their zakat, they pay their zakat. Many of us, we know the dues of the zakat. Wallahi, I wish we treat zakat like taxes. So scared from the IRS, but we're not scared from Rabbul Samawati.

I gave a brother some money and he did not give it back to me. Can I consider it zakat? We want to run away from zakat as much as we can. Ya habibi, إِنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ. When you gave the brother that money, that was not intended for zakat. It was intended for something beautiful, amazing, help a brother in need.

And the worst question ever. I remember my sheikh, when he got that question, he start crying. When a person ask him, can I give zakat to my mother? إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ. When it reaches that point, that you ask a question, can I give zakat to my mother? Wake up my brother, something is wrong with you. This is your mother. This is your father. Without them you will not be here. You're asking if you give them zakat? These are your responsibility till the day you die. You should be proud that you got the honor of taking care of your parents. Proud. And thank Allah for giving you the opportunity. He did not give it to your brother or to your sister, He gave it to you. Be honored that He chose you. You're asking if you can give them zakat?

(Sunan Ibn Majah)

You and your wealth belong to your father. But that does not mean on the other side also some parents abuse this hadith. They said, all your income is to me. No, Habibi. That does not mean that. When the time for zakat comes, one year passes, and the amount that is left after one year, Bismillah 2.5%. 2.5%. $100,000 - $2,500 a year.

Fourth Characteristic: Guarding Chastity

These three ayat are talking about the people who are chaste. They protect their chastity. Shaykh, my husband is cheating on me. Don't you get scared that you die while you're in that process. الْأَعْمَالُ بِالْخَوَاتِيمِ - Actions are judged by the way they end. Don't you know,

Just one ayah. For everybody who's addicted to pornography, I just want you to put on your background of your phone, or wherever you watch that filth, put, أَلَمْ يَعْلَم بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَىٰ. Put it as a background. Don't you know Allah is watching you? Because you will not do this next to your wife. You will not do this next to your parents. How dare you do it in front of Allah?

They are away from zina, homosexuality, and anything that lead to that.

Don't even come close to anything that might lead to zina. Now we see people engaged. Engaged, no nikah, no aqid qaran, no katib kitab. Just engaged. They hold hands, and they go out with each other, and they have dinner. Ya habibi, that girl to you is just like that girl to me. Nothing yet. Nothing. On what basis are you going out with her? Alone.

Only with their spouses. And whomsoever transgress after that, whomsoever go and fulfill his desire in anything other than his spouse, they are the transgressors.

Fifth Characteristic: Honoring Trusts and Covenants

And the ones that fulfill their vows, and they fulfill their covenants, they are honest. When they give you a promise, they keep that promise. When they sign a contract, they abide by the contract. You can imagine how many things are in ibadat. And look what Allah has picked.

Amanah, I gave you an amanah. I want to come back from hajj and find my amanah the same. I gave you my car, my house keys, the same. And when I give you an ahad,

When I give you a covenant, when I sign that contract, khalas my neck is on the line. These are the ones, one of the characteristics of the successful believers.

I trusted you. Many people do not know that this is one of the amanah. I trusted you with a secret. I told you something that I did not tell anyone. I opened my heart and vented to you. It became a secret, it became an amanah. And then you went around and you said, I'm going to tell you something, but please don't tell anybody because I promised him I'm not going to tell anyone. You have broke the amanah. No check for you. This is an amanah.

Especially the youth. They think it's a joke. When they trust each other, and one of them goes and betrays his friend. And he goes and tells the others, No, I trusted you. I opened my heart to you. And it took me a long time to trust someone. And then you did this to me. Do you know the damage you have made?

Sixth Characteristic: Guarding Their Prayers

And the last one. Ya Allah, we spoke about salat before. No, no, no. That was the khushu' in the salat. Here, they pay so much attention for the salat. If he or she misses fajr, as if they lost the dunya and everything in it. They cannot imagine that a salat time passed and they did not pray. When the time for the next salat comes and they have not prayed the other salat, they have a mountain on their back. They want to look anywhere. They want to park the car, go to the fitting room. They want to do anything to pray. Because they cannot understand, they cannot believe that they can miss a salat on its time.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 527)

Ya Rasulullah, what is the most beloved ibadah to Allah? Praying on time, on time.

The Prescribed Times for Prayer

There are many people, they come at night and yalla, they pray them all together and they feel, alhamdulillah, I pray. Habibi, this is not Islam. This is your own custom made deen. Islam said:

On prescribed time. This is my time. I am the master. And I said, pray now. And you said, ya Allah, I have no time for you now. When I have the time, I will pray. Isn't that what we're saying? Even though we're not saying it. Isn't that what we're doing? I don't have time now. When I have time, when I finish my movie, when I finish my basketball, when I finish my soccer, when I finish my video game, then I will pray. It's on my time. لا إله إلا الله

The Battle for Fajr Prayer

Check. How's your fajr, my habibi? How's your fajr? The shaytan is going to do everything possible to make you not pray the fajr. Brothers and sisters, he keeps telling you, ya Allah, sleep. There's a long time for shurook. And if you decide to go to jama'a, not one shaytan, a tribe of shayateen, they stand at the door. Where are you going? Wake up your wife and pray together at home. This is considered jama'a also. Forget about jama'a in the masjid. It's far, it's cold, it's hot, gas is high.

Rajul, masjid. Men, masjid. We pray in jama'a. Of course, salah at home is allowed and permitted. But I want 27 times more. If they tell you work at home and get paid $1,000 a week. But if you come to the office, $27,000. Wallahi, knowing you and knowing me, I will sleep in the office. But when it comes to salah, ya Allah, إن الله غفور رحيم، إن الله كريم.

The Inheritors of Firdaws

After Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned, look at the reward for these things, it's not easy. After Allah mentioned all these characteristics, what did He say?

Allahu akbar. So not only I am a successful believer, but I will also become from the inheritors of the dua that we always make. Ya Allah, grant me the firdaws al-a'la. Here you go habibi, here you go. The characteristics to get to the firdaws al-a'la. At the end of the whole thing, these above, are the ones who inherit the firdaws, in it they will stay eternally, forever. Forever, not a week or two weeks vacation, not a year vacation. Forever in the firdaws with complete na'imun muqeem, forever bliss. Allahu akbar.

Akhlaq and Deen Go Hand in Hand

Now, if you notice something, and believe it or not, this is my topic. Allah subhana wa ta'ala, He did not say, قد أفلح المؤمنون الذين يصلون، ويزكون، ويحجون، ويعتمرون، ويقرؤون القرآن، ويدعون، ويتصدقون. Listen please carefully, because this is extremely important. Because we narrowed our deen to salat and siyam.

Allah subhana wa ta'ala said, قد أفلح المؤمنون. Okay, we got that. First, ibadah. The most important ibadah. What's after that? Akhlaq. Deen. Akhlaq. للزكاة فاعلون. Deen. وعن اللغو معرضون. وهم لفروجهم حافظون. Akhlaq. وهم لأماناتهم وعهدهم راعون. Akhlaq. وهم على صلواتهم يحافظون. Deen.

What is that message? What's that message, ya akhi? Wallahi, yakhwan, please listen carefully. If you want to take one thing from this khutbah. Akhlaq and deen go hand in hand. Akhlaq and deen go hand in hand.

(Muwatta Malik, Book 47, Hadith 8)

Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, innama. Hadith started by innama. Innama adat hasr. It means, whatever comes after it is exclusively. Innama bu'iththu. I was exclusively sent to do what, ya Rasulallah? Li utammima makarimal akhlaq. To perfect good manners. I was only exclusively sent to perfect good manners.

When Worship Becomes Ritual Without Character

So you pray, and you fast, and you lie, and you cheat, and you go home and beat your wife, and the wife curses her husband, and the son curses his father, and close the door in his mother's face, and yells at her. What is this salat?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He said, "Salat prevents from fahsha' and evil kabair."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1903)

Siyam, fasting. Rasulallah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, "Whomsoever his fast does not stop him from qawl al-zuhr, from false talk, and acting upon it, there's no need, Allah has no need for his stopping his eating and drinking."

Take from their wealth, zakat. For what? To purify them. So they can be clean from the ignorance and selfishness, which are bad manners.

No illicit behavior. No bad talk. No argument in hajj.

So my salat and my ibadat are supposed to improve my manners. And this is where the problem of the ummah. We do all these things are rituals. Rituals. The salat did not do anything to me. I've been praying for 20 years. I still go home and yell and scream, and have no manners.

True Manners in Action

What are the manners? Smiling face all the time. Kindness to others. When it comes to the parents, you favor them over your own needs. Your mother or your father ask you for something that you don't feel like doing. This is birr, to go do something against your desire for your parents. Respect and honor many people in the masjid. The most beautiful faces, always in the masjid. And the wife comes and tells me, "Wallahi ya shaykh, you should see him at home." If you want to know who you are, I have to ask your wife, because she knows you the most. And if you want to know about the wife, ask the husband. These are the real you.

When we have great manners, Ya Rasulallah, what is the heaviest thing in the scale? Good manners. Ya Rasulallah, who is the most beloved person to you? The one with the best of manners. Ya Rasulallah, who is guaranteed the highest place in Jannah? أحسنكم أخلاقا. The one with the best of manners. Who gets the level of a person fasting all day, up all night? The one with the best of manners. Akhlaq and manners, they go hand in hand.

The Woman Who Had No Good in Her

A man came to Rasulallah ﷺ, and he said, "Ya Rasulallah, I have a neighbor. I know of a woman, listen carefully and I will end with this, she fasts all the optional fast. Monday, Thursday, three white days, Ashura, Arafa, everything. But Ya Rasulallah, she hurts her neighbors, she hurts her neighbors with her tongue."

Keep in mind, this woman does not only pray the five daily prayers and fast Ramadan, no, no, no, this is nothing, this is done already. She is way, way up there, fast the optional fast, and she does something that many of us do not do. But Ya Rasulallah, she harms her neighbor, not she beat her, no, no, with her tongue. She curses her, she does not reply the salam, she spreads rumors against her, whatever.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 73, Hadith 58)

There is no khayr in that woman. Ya Rasulallah, she prays qiyam. لا خير فيها. Ya Rasulallah, she fasts all the days. لا خير فيها. Is there any stronger dalil that the importance of the akhlaq and the deen go hand in hand?

Du'a

May Allah improve our akhlaq. May Allah give us the right understanding of our deen. O Allah, forgive us our sins and our transgressions in our affairs. Make our feet firm and help us against the disbelieving people. O Allah, make us reach Ramadan. O Allah, make us reach Ramadan. And make us among those who fast. And make us among those who stand. And make us among those who are saved from the fire. O Most Merciful. O Allah, our Lord, grant us good in this world, and good in the hereafter. Save us from the torment of the fire. O our Lord, do not leave our hearts after You have guided us. Grant us mercy from Yourself. Indeed, You are the Bestower.

And peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions. And stand up for your prayer.