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Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani

27 October 2017 Feltham, London, UK

Jumu`ah Khutbah at Centre for Spiritual and Cultural Advancement (CSCA)

In the Name of Allah, The Merciful, The Beneficent. Praise be to Allah, Who has guided us to this and we would not have found guidance had Allah not guided us. (Surat al-A`raf, 7:43) I have no success without Him and I rely on none other than Him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone and without any partner, without anyone similar to Him, and without anyone who may be compared to Him, an attestation reaching out until the Day of Permanence.

And I bear witness that our leader, our support and our master Muhammad is His Servant, His Beloved and His Emissary, Allah Most High having sent him as a Mercy for the Worlds. May Allah Most High bless him, his Family, Children, Wives, Companions and Followers, and his Rightly-Guided Khalifahs after him, and his Deputies perfected in his obedience, especially on the Imams, truly the Khalifahs of the Emissary of Allah, the Commanders of the Faithful, their Excellencies Abu Bakr, `Umar, `Uthman and `Ali of glorious standing. And on the rest of the Companions and their Successors, may Allah Most High be pleased with them all.

O Believers who are present here! Fear Allah and obey Him! Allah is with those who fear Him and with those who perform good deeds. Allah, The Sublime and Most High, said in His Book which He sent down to His Chosen Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), "And We have only created Jinns and Mankind in order for them to worship us. I do not wish to have nourishment from them, nor do I wish for them to feed Me. Allah is The Provider of Nourishment, The Possessor of Firm Strength. Allah The Sublime has spoken truly.” (Surat al-Ziyaraat, 51:56-58)

Allah (swt) put His Name to be with the name of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and every time we pray, go to Jumu`ah, or sit talking to each other, we have to make salawaat on the Prophet (s). Bismillahi 'r-Rahmani 'r-Raheem.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِي لِلصَّلَاةِ مِن يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسْعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن

كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

O you who have believed! When (adhaan) is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu'ah, then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade. That is better for you, if you only knew. (Surat al-Jumu'ah,62:9)

يا عمر ما من عبد اغتسل يوم الجمعة للصلاة اﻻ خرج من ذنوبه كيوم ولدته امه، يا عمر ما من عبد خرج من بيته لصلاة الجمعة اﻻ شهد له كل حجر ومدر ويستغفر له كل حجر ومدر وكل تراب يمشي عليه الى يوم الجمعة ،ياعمر ما من رجل لبس ثيابه الطاهرة وخرج لصلاة الجمعة اﻻ نظر الله اليه وقضى له كل حاجة يريدها من امر دنياه واخرته

O ʿUmar, there is no servant who showers on Friday for prayer except that he leaves behind his sins like the day his mother gave birth to him. O ʿUmar, there is no servant who leaves his house for the Friday prayer except that every stone and pebble bears witness to him and asks forgiveness for him and every piece of earth he walks on to the prayer. O ʿUmar, there is no man who dresses in pure clothes and goes out for the Friday prayer except that Allah gazes upon him and fulfills for him every need he has in this world and the Next. (Al-Safuri, Nuzhat al-Majalis wa Muntakhab al-Nafaʾis)

“Yaa Sayyidina `Umar (r), the one who takes a shower for prayers on the Day of Jumu`ah will come out of his sins clean like the day his mother bore him.” These days our children don't care for Jumu`ah, only a few people do, but the streets are full of others that don’t. Prophet (s) said to `Umar (r), “It will erase all sins.” So as of right now, we can each say that we have no sins as we are sitting in this or any masjid attending Jumu`ah! If you claim you have no sins, it’s true: all sins have been erased, as Prophet (s) said. So keep coming and keep asking your children to attend Jumu`ah, take them with you, because not only will your sins be erased, their sins will, as well.

In Prophet’s time, there were no roads, there were only sand or pebble paths. Prophet (s) said every pebble and in fact everything in front of the one who goes for Jumu`ah will seek forgiveness for them! How did the Prophet (s) know that? He hears and sees it, but we don’t. As narrated in an authentic Hadith, when the Prophet (s) sat with Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Sayyidina `Umar, and Sayyidina `Uthman (r), someone gave him seven stones, which they heard make tasbeeh. When Prophet (s) passed the stones to the fourth Sahaabi (r), they stopped making tasbeeh in that one’s hand, they only spoke only in the hands of the previous three.

Sayyidina `Ali (r) was not there as the Prophet (s) had sent him somewhere, sometimes for days, and no one would knew where he was. May Allah bless our Grandshaykh, `AbdAllah al-Fa'iz ad-Daghestani (q), who explained that one day Sayyidah Fatimah (a) came to the Prophet (s) crying.

He (s) asked, “What is the matter, yaa Fatima?”

She said, “Sometimes my husband does not return for many days and I am worried he is seeing someone.”

Prophet (s) replied, “Be reasonable, yaa Fatimah. If I didn't send him to fight aliens and the most evil creatures, the worst of shayateen called “hasqus‘s-zanaadeer” who dwell between Heavens and Earth, they would have conquered the Earth, so don’t ask me when Sayyidina `Ali disappeared.”

Every pebble asks forgiveness for the servant on the road to Jumu`ah. It is better to keep some pebbles on the road, not level it with asphalt. We are not paying attention to that Hadith. If someone says to you, “I will give you a bag full of gold coins if you go from here to there,” you will go immediately! But now you are losing that benefit.

Prophet (s) said, “Yaa `Umar (r), if someone showers, wears clean clothes, and attends Jumu`ah, Allah (swt) will look at him (with His rahmah).”

So now we can say we are under that rahmah, and it does not mean to enter the mosque and afterwards quickly run away. As long as you stay in your place, you will receive that rahmah, because of the barakah of that Hadith and Jumu`ah! Sadly, we are not observing these Ahadeeth, although they are so simple and short, and they make people happy. Try to find them and spread the Message. People come with problems they want resolved, and Prophet (s) told us when Allah looks at us, all our difficulties will be resolved.

Wa qadaa kullu haajatin yureeduha min amr ad-dunya wa ‘l-Akhirah. Allah (swt) will grant us His mercy on everything we want in dunya or Akhirah!

Prophet (s) said:

لا يجتمع ملأ فيدعو بعضهم ويؤمن سائرهم ، إلا أجابهم الله

A group of people do not gather together [concerning Islamic matters] where one of them supplicates and they all say ‘Ameen’ but that Allah answers their prayer. (Al-Hakim narrated; at-Tabarani)

Usama bin Zayd (r) narrated:

قلت : يا رسول الله لم أرك تصوم من شهر من الشهور ما تصوم من شعبان

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have never seen you fast in any month as much as you fast in Sha`baan.” (Nisaʾi)

Sayyidah `Ayesha (r) said Prophet (s) fasted the whole month. So stand during the nights of Sha`ban, stand in prayer and fast the days.

Prophet (s) once asked, “Do you want me to tell you who are Ahl an-Naar and who are Ahl al-Jannah?”

The Sahaabah (r) said, “Yes,” and they always hoped to be from Ahl al-Jannah. Do you? Yes! That is why we come for Jumu`ah!

Sayyidina an-Ayis ibn Wahab (r) heard the Prophet (s) say in congregation:

ألا أخبركم بأهل الجنة كل ضعيف متضعف لو أقسم على الله لأبره ألا أخبركم بأهل النار كل عتل جواظ متكبر

Shall I tell you about the People of Paradise? (They are) every weak and enfeebled person; if they swear to Allah, they fulfill it. Shall I tell you about the People of Hellfire? (They are) every diseased, stubborn and arrogant person. (Tirmidhi)

Prophet (s) said, “Those who are weak and unhealthy in their speech will go to Hellfire.” So keep your tongue straightforward, as it is so easy for us to say bad things about people. Then he (s) asked, “Do you want me to tell you about the People of Heaven? They are every weak and humble person who takes care of their family.” Inshaa-Allah all of you are humble. Then he asked, “Do you want me to tell you of the People of the Fire?” They said, “Yes.” The Prophet (s) said, “Those who are arrogant, proud, and do not listen to anyone.” Masha’Allah, if any of you were like that, you would not come here or to any masjid in the world as Prophet (s) said Allah will give Paradise to those who go to the masjid.

`An Abi Abbas bin Asabin (r) said:

مَرَّ رَجُلٌ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، فَقَالَ لرَجُلٍ عِنْدَهُ جَالِسٍ : مَا رَأْيُكَ فِي هَذَا ؟ ، فَقَالَ : رَجُلٌ مِنْ أَشْرَافِ النَّاسِ ، هَذَا وَاللَّهِ حَرِيٌّ إِنْ خَطَبَ أَنْ يُنْكَحَ ، وَإِنْ شَفَعَ أَنْ يُشَفَّعَ، قَالَ: فَسَكَتَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ثُمَّ مَرَّ رَجُلٌ آخَرُ ، فَقَالَ لَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : مَا رَأْيُكَ فِي هَذَا ؟ ، فَقَالَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ، هَذَا رَجُلٌ مِنْ فُقَرَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ ، هَذَا حَرِيٌّ إِنْ خَطَبَ أَنْ لاَ يُنْكَحَ ، وَإِنْ شَفَعَ أَنْ لاَ يُشَفَّعَ ، وَإِنْ قَالَ أَنْ لاَ يُسْمَعَ لِقَوْلِهِ ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : هَذَا خَيْرٌ مِنْ مِلْءِ الأَرْضِ مِثْلَ هَذَا

A man passed by the Messenger of Allah (s) and he (s) said to the man sitting next to him, “What is your opinion of him?” He said, “He is a man from the noble classes, by Allah, if he makes a proposal for marriage he will be accepted, and if he intervenes in something, it will be respected.” The Messenger of Allah stayed silent. Then another man walked past, and the Messenger of Allah said, “What is your opinion of him?” He said, “O Messenger of Allah, this man is from among the poor Muslims: if he makes a proposal for marriage he will not be accepted, and if he intervenes in something, it will not be accepted, and if he speaks, he will not be listened to.” The Messenger of Allah said, “This man is better than the earth being full of the first.” (Bukhari)

One day a man passed by the Prophet (s) and sat next to him, then another person passed by and continued on his way. Prophet (s) asked the one who sat, “What do you think of that person?”

He said, “Yaa Rasoolullah (s), he comes from a very high social class.”

Today we run after those people and want to be near them, but we don’t know that nearness is near fire.

So Prophet (s) asked, “What is your opinion of the person who passed by us?”

He swore an oath, “If this man proposes to any girl, the parents will gladly give her hand in marriage.”

Then was not like today, when they ask, “How many gold coins and camels will you give?” and that person has nothing to give. Prophet (s) kept silent.

Then another man passed by and he (s) asked, “What about this man?”

The Sahaabi (r) answered, “This man is very poor and if he were to ask for a lady’s hand in marriage, they would throw him out, and if he tried to support someone, no one would listen to him.”

Then Prophet (s) said, “That man who doesn't have anything is better than the one who is wealthy, because his love for Allah (swt) and His Prophet (s) does not leave his heart.”

So to Awliya and angels, that person is better than the arrogant, wealthy one. May Allah (swt) keep us under His Prophet (s) dunya and Akhirah and thabbitna `ala al-imaan. We just now mentioned that Hadith, so remember that you are under oath that we accept Allah (swt), Prophet (s), angels and all the Books Allah (swt) sent. Because of that oath, all of our sins have been erased, as Prophet (s) mentioned in the Hadith. So remember that when you go out from here, as you will be tested; how many munkar, forbiddens will you encounter? Try to turn your gaze away so that you may keep that Rahmatullah on you.

[Closing Du`a.]

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