Jumu`ah Khutbah at As-Siddiq Mosque
O Muslims, Believers! Everyone of us is trying as much as possible for our children to study and for our parents to allow us to study. Grandparents make their grandchildren to study. Most people are studying for the requirements of their lives, but they are forgetting to study for the requirement of their afterlife. Very much is concentrated on dunya and very little focus is on akhirah. That is one of the major issues we face today. Why? Because of "modernity," which pushes you towards secular studies. But if you are in a country that doesn't practice a modern lifestyle, you might find people studying Islamic studies. We are not saying don't live in a modern world, but Allah (swt) will call us and ask, did we study for akhirah? I know we cannot answer that, because we can't say we did. Akhirah is not just fasting and praying, but it also is behaving well and not backbiting, and so we have to learn all these moral behaviors besides fasting, praying and zakaat.
I just came back from a trip to Africa, passing through schools for orphans and non-orphans, where you see the major academic priority is Islamic studies: memorization of Holy Qur'an, studying the ahadeeth of Prophet (s), up to learning about the necessities of Shari'ah and usool ad-deen (rules of the religion) and what comes with religion. The focus is on that, and then along with that they have secular studies. But unfortunately in today's life, the focus is only on how to be a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer or whatever. And that is the major issue for us, our parents and grandparents. The memorizing of the Holy Qur'an is completely minor and there is minor learning in how to make wudu or other basic issues, and not to go through any kind of moral excellence, behavior and discipline.
There in Africa, you see them so poor. One school I saw, you would not put your goats and sheep in such a place; you would want to give your animals a better style of life, especially your dogs. The culture today is how to have a dog running through the house. You would not put even your dog in such schools! And you find young boys and girls studying Islamic Shari`ah and Qur'an memorization. We saw that, and they are happy with their lives. We were going on the road to a school, the road is dusty, between alleys, with sewers on both sides, and in the middle there was an open ditch with sewage flowing, and you can see everything in it.
And we say "modernity." What is modern? They are modern; we are not modern! They are modern, because they can live that life and be happy. See if you can live that kind of life. Allah (swt) on the Day of Judgment will give them a "modern" Paradise. There is a modern akhirah, not like in dunya, where you live in a palace until you die. There, every day you have a new palace, if you raised your children on `ilm of Qur'an.
In Surah Baqarah of Holy Qur'an, Allah (swt) said He taught Adam (a) all the names; the names of jinn, ins (humans) and angels, in order to show the honor He gave to humans, and we are not keeping that honor. Thumma `aradahum `ala 'l-malaaikah, then He said to the angels, "Tell me the names of these creations I created," and they were not able to. Faqaala anbioonee bi asmaa'i haaoola'i, "You say you are angels (high-level creatures), then tell Me the names! What are these?" Wa `allama Adama 'l-asmaa kulluha, "He taught Adam (a) all the names of all Creations." That means Sayyidina Adam (a) knew the name of every person, through Allah's teaching. Allah (swt) did not teach him directly. In the tafseer of this ayah by Sayyidina ibn Abbas (r), it states that Allah (swt) created an angel that did not know the other angels and the other angels did not know him, and he taught Adam (a) all these names.
Allah (swt) asked the angels, "Tell me these names!" And the angels said, laa `ilma lanaa illa maa `allamtana, "We don't have knowledge that You did not teach us." If the angels said, "We cannot," what are you going to say to Allah (swt) on the Day of Judgment? If Allah (swt) asks, "Did you learn My Holy Qur'an?" What will you say? "We cannot?" Allah (swt) said to study.
Prophet (s) said, Qaala Rasoolullah (s) `ulama ummattee ka-anbiyaa Bani Isra`eel. "Knowledgeable people, the wise ones among my ummah, are like the prophets of Bani Isra`eel." I don't like to say scholars, but "wise and knowledgeable people." And Prophet (s) said, al-`ulamaa warathatu 'l-anbiya, "Wise and knowledgeable men and women are inheritors of the prophets." Are we inheritors of the prophets? Yes, if we are wise and knowledgeable men and women. That is what we will be asked about. We are not going to be asked if hydrogen and oxygen makes water. Is Allah (swt) going to ask you that? Is He going to ask how to make an atomic bomb to kill others? Is He going to ask you about how to wrap yourself with explosives and kill innocent people? Is that knowledge? That is not knowledge of Islam, that is going to take us to punishment!
O Muslims! Islamic knowledge is a duty on every muslim and muslimah. I see people many in the United Kingdom and other countries taking two or three years of their lives to study Shari`ah. Are we encouraging our children to study Shari`ah after college and to go overseas? Here there is no way to study, as they will teach you all kinds of ideologies that are not accepted. There are places in Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East where they teach you correct, classical Islamic ideology, the Islam of the Ahlu 's-Salaaf, the people who came after the Prophet (s), not false "Salafiyyah," that are claiming that today. Prophet Muhammad (s) said, "We are a nation that is moderate," nahnu ummatan wasata. We are not extreme or violent.
Allah (swt) sent Sayyidina Khidr (a) to Sayyidina Musa (a). When Musa asked to see Allah, he went over the limit. You cannot do that, so Allah (swt) sent him a test. "You must think you are the highest `alim, but I am sending you to one of my servants." When Musa asked to see Allah (swt), Allah said, "Look at the mountain, and when I send My Manifestation on it, if it doesn't shatter, you can see Me." Falamma tajjalla rabbuhu li 'l-jabala j`alahu dakkan wa kharra moosa sa`iqa. And when Allah (swt) manifested His Beautiful Names and Attributes on the mountain, the mountain shattered into dust and Musa (a) fainted.
He was remorseful, so Allah (swt) said, fawajadaa `abdan min `ibaadinaa aataynaahu rahmatan min `indina wa `allamnaahu min ladunna `ilma. "We taught him, 'You are going to meet, yaa Musa, with one of My many servants." And Sayyidina Musa was not able to carry that knowledge. Read it in the Holy Qur'an in Suratu 'l-Kahf (chapter 18). You can see in the commentary its meaning and see how Sayyidina Musa (a) was not able to follow the knowledge of Sayyidina Khidr (a). Khidr said, Innaka lan tastati` ma`yya as-sabra "You cannot be patient with the knowledge Allah gave to me, it is something; but because of what you said, Allah (swt) is showing that He can make one 'abd know everything."
If that is the case with Sayyidina Musa (a), one of the five main prophets, then what do you think of the Prophet's (s) knowledge? Allah (swt) taught him `ilm al-awwaleen wa 'l-akhireen, "knowledge of all things before and after." Prophet (s) said, addabanee rabbee fa ahsana taadeebee, "Allah perfected my discipline." Allah (swt) disciplined him and perfected his conduct, which means there is no limit to that perfect discipline and knowledge, and in every moment Prophet (s) is ascending in that perfection! That is not like us. When we try to discipline our children according to our discipline, it might be on scale of 1-to-100, minus 100 %, or minus one-trillion! Wa 'ttaqullah wa yu`allimukumullah, "Be sincere and Allah (swt) will teach you."
O Muslims! Be sure you learn; we are not saying, "Don't learn." Yes, study secular studies, but be like people overseas who study Islamic studies. Believe me, you will not put your pets in those schools. People there are so happy to study. I was so surprised that they have a roof of tin, full of holes; if it rains, the water leaks. The school is very small with 25 students, one on top of the other. And on the blackboard there is very beautiful handwriting in Arabic, which are shuroot faraaid al-wudu, conditions of ablution. They specified seven conditions; do we know them? No. These six or seven-year-old children are learning the conditions of ablution, and we are fifty or seventy years old and we don't know these conditions. Who is better to Allah (swt), you or them? We can't say, but what we mean to say is, try to put in your vision the need to read the Qur'an. We need to learn about Islamic issues; it is no problem how old you are. Read, there are books in English and in Arabic. Don't say, "I have no time." We cannot lie to Allah (swt), we have a lot of time! And if we have taqwa, ittaqullah wa yu`allimakumullah, "Fear Allah (swt) and you will be taught by Him."
Du`a.
(End of khutbah)