Jumu`ah Khutbah
O Believers who are present! Allah said in His Noble Book:
يس وَالْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ عَلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem. YaaSeen, wa ’l-qur’ani ’l-hakeem, innaka lamin al-mursaleen, `ala siraatin mustaqeem.
Yaa Seen. By the wise Qur’an, Lo! You are sent on a Straight Path (YaaSeen, 36:1-4)
O Muslims, Believers! For people who are in love with God, Allah (swt), today is a good day. Today is Friday and we know from history that on this day, Allah created Sayyidina Adam (a). And it was a Friday when Allah (swt) our Lord in Heavens, saved Noah (a) and his believers from the flood. On this day, Allah (swt) our Lord, saved Abraham (a) from the fire of Nimrod. On that day also Allah saved Moses (a) and his followers. Allah (swt) our Lord, saved the Prophet (s) from the hegemony of the tribes of Quraysh. On Friday, Allah created many of the prophets and gave this day as a holiday for Muslims and believers.
To those who are looking for a message, God has sent many messages on this holy day. We are also in the month of Rabi` ul-Awal, in which Prophet (s) was born. In ten days it will be his birthday. In this month, believers must enjoy and be happy by showing their love to Sayyidina Muhammad (s), whom Allah described in the Holy Qur'an:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
Wa maa arsalnaaka illa rahmatan li ’l-`alameen.
(O Muhammad!) We have sent you not except as a Mercy for all the Worlds. (Al-Anbiya, 21:107)
Allah is saying, “We have sent you as a mercy for humanity.” This doesn't mean we are not believers in Jesus (a)! Not only do we believe and accept Jesus (a), but all other prophets as well, such as: Moses, Abraham, and Noah, peace be upon them. We are people who accept everyone, and who like to make things easy. If you create too many differences or make things difficult, then there will be too many problems. In order to make things easy, Sayyidina Muhammad (s) has mentioned in a hadith:
عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: ألا أخبركم بأهل الجنة كل ضعيف متضاعف لو أقسم على الله لأبره, ألا أخبركم بأهل النار كل عتل جواظ مستكبر
Alaa ukhbirukum bi ahli ’l-jannah? Kullu da`eefin mutada`afin. Law aqsama `ala Allahi la-abarrahu. Alaa ukhbirukum bi ahli’n-naar? kullu jawaathin mutakabbir.
O my Companions! Do you want me to tell you about the people of Paradise?...
Of course they would like to know about Paradise. Some people think by building their palaces in nature, among trees and rivers, they are going to be in a paradise. That is not even a plastic paradise compared to the paradise you will be rewarded. When Allah (swt) opens to you heavenly knowledge, you will see things you cannot even imagine. These so-called “paradises” here, mansions they describe as a paradise, are like a drop in an ocean.
I visited a paradise in Istanbul. They built it to imitate what is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. You can see rivers under the building and the palace itself has been built from carved woods that are from 1,000 to 2,000 years ago. Everything you can imagine is in that place. Yet you may live there sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety years, but eventually you will go, but from heavenly Paradise you will never go.
You live in your body already and that is your paradise. You must know how to decorate it, but we are unable to decorate what Allah honored us to have as a body. God wants us to decorate it but we are not, as our ego is much too big. How can we decorate it? Follow what the Prophet (s) said, “Do you want me to tell you about the people of Paradise?”
That could mean the Paradise in the Next Life or it could be this body that Allah gave you as a paradise. It’s not like Hollywood stars who turn fifty or sixty and then they are finished. When you turn your body into a paradise, it will keep reminding you through the soul that, “You took care of me.”
عن حارثة بن وهب رضي الله عنه: قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: ألا أخبركم بأهل الجنة؟ كل ضعيف متضعف لو أقسم على الله لأبره
Alaa ukhbirukum bi ahli ’l-jannah? Kullu da`eefin mutada`afin. Law aqsama `ala Allahi la-abarrahu.
As related by Harith ibn al-Wahb (r), the Prophet (s) said: Shall I inform you about the people of Paradise? (They will be) every weak and oppressed person. Were he to swear by Allah, Allah would fulfill his oath. (Narrated by Haritha bin Wahb. Bukhari, Muslim)
You can reach that by humbling yourself, by accepting everyone, but if you are not able to do that, then you are not of them. The people of Paradise are like fish in the ocean. Do you know how to swim, and float (on the surface)? When you are able to relax completely and not resist the water, then you can float. It means psychologically you trained yourself not to fear the ocean; fear makes you to sink. But when there is no fear of the water and you submit completely, you float like a dead person. When a dead person struggles in the ocean it takes him down, but after a while they float up to the surface. A dead person knows that submitting to the ocean can make you float up!
So we have to submit in every action we are doing, but how? By being humble. Prophet (s) said, “Be da`eef, acknowledge your weakness.” People are not acknowledging their weaknesses, instead they are proud and arrogant. If we acknowledge our weakness, then we will understand that we must be humble. If we don’t, we will remain seated on the chair thinking ourselves to be very high, such as what is happening today in some countries of the Middle East. Many countries now are coming against their presidents who have been sitting on the chair for over thirty years. They were not acknowledging they have to leave it, to leave people feeling peaceful. Humble yourself! If you lose it, so you lose it, what is the problem? Leave it! What is the big issue? If you want to live your life and other people’s lives as well, you cannot.
The Prophet (s) mentioned 1400 years ago, if you want to be among the people of Paradise, be humble! It is not to be humble by sitting on the floor and then sitting on the chair, no. Humility is demonstrated through your actions. Listen to what other people say to you, and be a wise person. We will explain this in another session, but now this is Friday and the khutbah must finish.
And the Prophet (s) said, “Do you want to know the description of the people of Hellfire?” meaning mahroomoon, those from whom honor has been withheld. He said, “Those who are not given that knowledge and enlightenment and cannot see it are ignorant and arrogant, kullu jawaazhin mutakabbir.” They think they know everything, but in reality they only want to attack, they don’t want to accept. All Sufi people, or Muslims, or those who believe in Jesus, Moses, Abraham, or Noah (a), you are of the best if you accept others, not only by building bridges but by accepting what they are saying. In this way we save us and them. That is why the Prophet (s) said, “Do you want me to tell you about the people of Hellfire? They are those who are ignorant and arrogant.”
You might say, “How am I ignorant? I am educated,” or, “I live in a village and do farming. I am milking, making cheese, and raising chickens. It is better than those who are trying to create bacteria and viruses and contaminate the world with all the smoke that comes from their factories.” Education is not about the one who went to university or learned farming. Ignorance is related to whether you listen to others or not. Do you accept advice and listen?
The Prophet (s) said, “Don’t be ignorant of other people's cultures. If you learn other people’s culture, you will not be ignorant.” For example, there are many things in the Arab culture that you cannot find in other cultures. If you don’t study each others' culture, you might run into problems. We are not going to discuss this now. It is enough to say we have to be careful. We will end with another hadith of the Prophet (s).
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ أَتَدْرُونَ مَا الْمُفْلِسُ قَالُوا الْمُفْلِسُ فِينَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَنْ لَا دِرْهَمَ لَهُ وَلَا مَتَاعَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الْمُفْلِسُ مِنْ أُمَّتِي مَنْ يَأْتِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِصَلَاتِهِ وَصِيَامِهِ وَزَكَاتِهِ وَيَأْتِي قَدْ شَتَمَ هَذَا وَقَذَفَ هَذَا وَأَكَلَ مَالَ هَذَا وَسَفَكَ دَمَ هَذَا وَضَرَبَ هَذَا فَيَقْعُدُ فَيَقْتَصُّ هَذَا مِنْ حَسَنَاتِهِ وَهَذَا مِنْ حَسَنَاتِهِ فَإِنْ فَنِيَتْ حَسَنَاتُهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يُقْتَصَّ مَا عَلَيْهِ مِنْ الْخَطَايَا أُخِذَ مِنْ خَطَايَاهُمْ فَطُرِحَ عَلَيْهِ ثُمَّ طُرِحَ فِي النَّارِ . رواه مسلم والترمذي
`an Abi Hurayrah (r) anna rasoolullahi (s) qaala atradoona maa al-muflis? Qaaloo al-muflis feenaa man laa dirham lahu wa laa mataa`. Faqaala inna’l-muflis min ummatee man yaatee yawm al-qiyamati bi-salaatin wa siyaamin wa zakaatin wa yaatee wa qad shatama hadhaa wa qadhafa hadhaa wa akala maala hadhaa wa safaka dam hadhaa wa daraba hadhaa fa-yu`tee hadhaa min hasanaatihi fa in fanayta hasanaatahu qabl an yuqdaa maa `alayhi aakhadha min khataayaahum faturihat `alayhi thumma turiha fi ’n-naar.
The Prophet (s) said:
Do you know who the muflis (bankrupt one) is? The muflis from my Ummah is one who comes on the Day of Judgment having performed prayer, fasting, and giving zakaat. However, along with all of this, he abused this person and slandered that person, ate the wealth of this person and unlawfully spilled the blood of that person. These people will take from his good deeds. If, however, his good deeds become exhausted, then their sins will be put upon him and he will be thrown into the Fire. (Muslim and Tirmidhi)
You have to be very careful. Have you heard this before? Everyone thinks that if they worship, meditate, attend such gatherings, then they are okay. they think, “I pray my five prayers, therefore, I am a believer.” He said, “No, even if he prays and fasts, he is not rewarded.” Why? Because he is backbiting others. Do you know backbiting? It is to speak bad about others. God said in the Holy Qur'an:
وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ
Wa laa tajasassoo wa laa yaghtab b`adakum b`adakum ayyuhibbu ahadukum an yaakulu lahma akhihi maytan fa-karihtumooh.
And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would abhor it. (al-Hujurat, 49:12)
So we have to be very careful, not to say anything bad about each other; that is how we can save ourselves. The Prophet (s) prohibited speaking badly about each other.
May Allah (swt) forgive us and bless us, and may Allah teach and guide us to the right way.
Yaa fawzan li ’l-mustaghfireen astaghfirullah.