As-Siddiq Institute & Mosque (ASIM)
Praise be to Allah (swt) that we have reached another Friday. This is a blessed day, as Nabi Kareem (s) said:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ خَيْرُ يَوْمٍ طَلَعَتْ عَلَيْهِ الشَّمْسُ يَوْمُ الْجُمُعَةِ فِيهِ خُلِقَ آدَمُ وَفِيهِ أُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ وَفِيهِ أُخْرِجَ مِنْهَا وَلَا تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ إِلَّا فِي يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ
Abu Hurayrah (r) reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The best day on which the sun has risen is Friday. Adam was created on Friday and on it he entered Paradise and on it he was expelled from therein. The Hour will not be established except on Friday.” (Sahih Muslim: 854)
We are in this blessed day and Allah (swt) said in the Holy Qur'an:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
I have only created jinn and men that they may worship Me. (Surat azh-Zhariyaat, 51:56)
Allah (swt) created our father Adam (a) on this day, it is a good day, a blessed day. Allah (swt) created us and the spiritual creatures, jinn, for a reason: to worship Him, to know Him and to obey Him. Allah (swt) says:
فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُواْ لِي وَلاَ تَكْفُرُونِ
Remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful towards Me.
(Surat al-Baqarah, 2:152)
When Allah (swt) says, "Remember Me", what is it He is calling us to remember? What do we know about Allah (swt) and His Orders? What do we really know and understand about the lawful (halaal) and the forbidden (haraam) that Allah (swt) taught us in the Holy Qur’an and on the tongue of His Prophet (s)? What is it that Allah (swt) is calling us to? What does He want from us, why did He create us and why did He send His messengers Noah, Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Adam (a), Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and all that are in between?
In Surat ar-Ra`d, Surat at-Tawba and Surah Yunus, there are some verses and I begin with:
وَاللّهُ يَدْعُو إِلَى دَارِ السَّلاَمِ وَيَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
But Allah calls to the Home of Peace (and) He guides whom He pleases to the Straight Path.
(Surah Yunus, 10:25)
Allah (swt) is calling us all to the Home of Peace. How beautiful is this call, what other than this do we need to hear? O Christians! O Jews! O Muslims! O Buddhists! O Atheists! O Mankind! Allah (swt) is calling us to the Home of Peace! We all say that we are the true followers of our messenger: Muslims say Sayyidina Muhammad (s), Christians say Jesus Christ (a) and Jews say Moses (a). The reality is the One God is sending all these messengers with the same Message: Allah (swt) is calling all Mankind to the Home of Peace, calling us to stop all wars, because peace means no war. If we don't pay attention to our Holy Books, whichever Holy Book we follow, if we Muslims don't pay attention to this verse, if we don't listen to these words from Holy Qur'an that Allah (swt) is calling us to peace, then what are we following? Allah (swt) not asking us, He is inviting us, which is even higher, inviting us to His Paradise, which is an Abode of Peace.
لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَجَابُواْ لِرَبِّهِمُ الْحُسْنَى وَالَّذِينَ لَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُواْ
For those who respond to their Lord are (all) good things, but for those don’t respond to Him...
(Surah Ra`ad: 13:18)
“O Mankind! You either accept the invitation of the Lord of Heavens or you don't accept,” and, “He calls you to the Home of Peace, dar as-salaam.”
Allah (swt) is inviting us and there are those who will accept His invitation, they will RSVP. Some people will accept Allah’s (swt) invitation and some won’t. Allah (swt) says, “Be ready!” and how can we be ready?
يا بَنِي آدَمَ خُذُواْ زِينَتَكُمْ عِندَ كُلِّ مَسْجِدٍَ
O Children of Adam! Wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer. (Surat al-A`raf, 7:31)
“Wear your best ornaments.” What does this mean? It means wear your best clothes, perfume, “Clean yourself up spiritually and come to Me.” How do we do this? Allah (swt) says:
لَقَدْ جَاءكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ
Indeed, there has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. (at-Tawbah, 9:128)
“I sent you a messenger and he will teach you.” In fact, Allah (swt) says all Mankind got a messenger: before our beloved Prophet, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), there were the messengers of Bani Isra’eel: Moses, Aaron, Ya`qoob, Ishaq (a); then there was Jesus Christ (a) and other messengers, as Allah has sent a messenger to every tribe and village:
وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولٌ
To every people (was sent) a messenger. (Surah Yunus, 10:47)
How do we get our ornaments, our decorations? The messengers have them. The Prophet Muhammad (s) is the best decorated messenger and he is teaching us how to get the best decorations from Allah (swt) on that Day. Have we accepted the invitation, or do we even know there is an invitation? Do Muslims, Christians, Jews, all Mankind, every child of Adam (a) whomever they might be, do we all know there is an invitation from Allah (swt) to us? The ones who accept that invitation are going to have husnaa, Allah's paradises, mercies, delights, favors and gifts!
Allah (swt) is saying, “O My people! I am inviting you to My peace and if you accept My invitation I will decorate you!”
فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمِْ
Remember Me, I will remember you. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:152)
I will remember that you accepted My invitation and I want you to be in My Divine Presence, in the best dressing, honor, light, in the best place because you remembered Me! I want you to be beautiful in My Presence, not dirty, or sick.” Like Allah (swt) says in the Holy Qur'an:
فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ
In their hearts is an illness. (Surat al-Baqara, 2:10)
When you remember Him, He is going to make you clean and pure, so when we remember Allah (swt), He is going to give us the husnaa, beautiful things.
وَاشْكُرُواْ لِي وَلاَ تَكْفُرُون
Give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful towards Me. (Surat al-Baqarah, 2:152)
“Thank Me!” Thank Him for what? Thank Allah (swt) because He is dressing us! Look at us: we are humble, pious people trying to please our Lord. Isn’t that a favor? Of course it is, but are we thanking Allah (swt)? Some of us are, but some of us forget.
نَسُواْ اللّهَ فَنَسِيَهُمْ
They have forgotten Allah, so He has forgotten them. (Surat at-Tawbah, 9:67)
If we are not thanking Allah (swt), we are not remembering His favor on us. We have to be careful, we have to thank Him for the gift of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and we have to be thankful to all the messengers and prophets that came before him, from Adam (a) to `Isa (a), because they all called people to the Right Way, to worship of the Lord of Heavens. Allah (swt) is saying in the Holy Qur'an, “Remember Me, thank Me, wa laa takfuroon, don't be ungrateful towards Me (by disbelieving)!” Allah (swt) has dressed Nabi Kareem (s), and dressed him and dressed him! He made him the Best of Creation! All this honor, and what did Sayyidina Muhammad (s) say to Sayyida `Ayesha (r)?
صَلَّى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم حَتَّى انْتَفَخَتْ قَدَمَاهُ فَقِيلَ لَهُ أَتَتَكَلَّفُ هَذَا وَقَدْ غُفِرَ لَكَ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِكَ وَمَا تَأَخَّرَ قَالَ " أَفَلاَ أَكُونُ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا "
Allah's Messenger (s) performed salaat until his feet were swollen, so it was said to him, “You burden yourself like this, while your past and future sins have been forgiven?” He said, “Shouldn't I be a thankful servant?'" (Tirmidhi)
Look how Prophet (s) followed the Holy Qur'an, how he told Sayyida `Ayesha (r) that he was remembering His Lord and he was thankful for Allah's (swt) favors! He (s) is thanking Allah (swt) for creating him in the best of forms, in the best of lights, in the best of maqaams (stations), because he is a thankful servant.
We are talking about this and maybe it is too much. A Bedouin came to the Prophet (s) and said, “Give me something easy!” You are talking about invitations, decorations, remembering, thanking and this and that, please give us something easy. The Prophet (s) said, “Whenever you are doing something important, of value”, which is every action we do because every action should have some wisdom in it, “When you start doing something say, ‘Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem’.” Isn't that dhikr?
Adhkuroonee adhkurkum, whatever you are doing, whatever job you are starting, say, “Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.” The Prophet (s) gave us a formula: just say “Bismillah”, no need to think too much, you don't have to worry if you can't remember everything and there is too much information to digest. In his wisdom, Nabi Kareem (s) makes it easy for us with each Hadith, and if we follow it correctly that will lead us to Jannah. So he is saying, “Just say ‘Bismillah’ when you enter and leave the mosque and when you go home.
The second advice is whatever action you start, say “Alhamdulillah” and this is the shukr, thanks. So basically, if you say “Bismillah” and “Alhamdulillah” you have done your job: you have accepted Allah's invitation by remembering Him, thanking Him for His favors and believing in Him, just by saying “Bismillah” and “Alhamdulillah”!
We ask Allah (swt) to make us among those who always to begin with “Bismillah” and “Alhamdulillah”. If you can, it is even better to say “Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem” and use more of Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes; for example, if you want to say “Alhamdulillahi rabbi ‘l-`alameen” then say it, and if you want to say even more beautiful praises of Allah (swt), say whatever comes to your heart. So we ask Allah to include us among those who follow the instructions of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) by saying “Bismillah” and “Alhamdulillah” in everything we do.
Do we need to know how it works? If a farmer in the village uses electricity to power his stove or lights, does he know how the electricity comes to his house? No, he flips the switch, the electricity flows and he benefits. Similarly, do we know the subtleties and intricacies of what happens when we say “Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem”? No! Do we know what happens, or how it happens, or even when it happens? No! Do we need to know? No! Maybe Allah (swt) might open that knowledge for us, but if we don't know and we follow the advice, do we still benefit? Yes we do, because we just say it and leave the rest to Allah (swt)! Hasbun Allahu wa ni`ma ’l-wakeel. We ask Allah (swt) to make us among those who are always in dhikrullah and making salawaat on the Prophet (s) until our last breath on this Earth!
[Du`a]
[End of khutbah]
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