As-Siddiq Institute & Mosque (ASIM)
Jumu`ah Khutbah
A`oodhu billahi ‘s Sami` al-Aleem min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillaahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
O mu`mins! O believers! Alhamdulillah, another day, another week, another Friday, another Jumu`ah. May Allah (swt) always keep us on iman and Islam until our last breath. When that will come is unknown. Allah (swt) knows when that last breath will come when Sayyidina Azra`eel (a) will come to collect. What you have, as they say in Arabic, is `aariya, temporary. You have borrowed it. Allah (swt) has given something and has blown something inside this body and that is how you are up.
I don’t know if you noticed but probably the people who are into their gardens know. Two days ago there was frost. We had a plant outside and the next morning the plant was down, completely in sajdah, not moving. It was upright. The flower on it was upright. The stems were upright. What was in it? Why was it upright and straight one night with shining beauty and then the next day when the frost hit, we couldn’t see anything anymore. It was all done and dull with no shine anymore. What was in it? Allah's (swt) Qudrah was in it, His Power.
How do you think you are walking? How do you think you are talking? How do you think you are standing, by yourself? Allah (swt) has allowed you, has given that body permission to act, to move, to say, to taste. That is all a ni`mah of Allah (swt), His Favors upon all of us, upon all creation. We are up by Him. When He takes that Power away, we are nothing, literally. You are a motionless person. You cannot say, “I am powerful. I’m strong. I’m rich.” Where are you? Who is the Rich One now? Who is Ghani? Allah (swt), Al-Ghani. Who is the Powerful One now? Allah (swt) is Al-`Azeez, the Powerful, the Majestic.
But insaan has become stupid, not using their minds. When somebody doesn’t use his mind, he is stupid compounded. Allah (swt) has not given some people that much intelligence but the intelligent ones, the people that think they are so intelligent, you are not using your intelligence. You are not using your intelligence. You have made yourself stupid by yourself.
The one who claims he is powerful is stupid. The one who claims, “I am rich and I can do everything I want,” is stupid. Understand. Did you see that plant? What happened to it? That power of life from Ismu ‘l-Qayyoomiyya, the Name, Al-Qayyoom, by Him everything is up. That is how you are alive, O insaan. May Allah (swt) forgive us and allow us to understand our Lord’s favors upon us.
Rasoolullah (s) is our master who is shining light to humanity so they can see their way. You don’t know what to do anymore. You cannot see your way. Nowadays what’s happening in the world, in your family, in your home, outside your home, in your city, you cannot understand it anymore if you don’t have something to guide you, a shining light. If you walk in the darkness or you drive in the darkness, first you will hurt yourself and then hurt others. You need a light to guide you.
What did these heavenly books, these heavenly messages come for? For you to pack them on a shelf? For you to only post them online--whenever you need to, you look and post something from it? No. It’s for us to have it as a shining light. It is your car lights. It shows you the way.
Our master turned one day and recited from Surah as-Saba`, which is a very special surah. I was there along with some other people. He looked at us and said:
لَقَدْ كَانَ لِسَبَإٍ فِى مَسْكَنِهِمْ ءَايَةٌ جَنَّتَانِ عَن يَمِينٍ وَشِمَالٍ كُلُوا۟ مِن رِّزْقِ رَبِّكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لَهُۥ بَلْدَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ وَرَبٌّ غَفُورٌ
There was, for Saba, aforetime, a Sign in their home-land - two Gardens to the right and to the left. "Eat of the Sustenance (provided) by your Lord, and be grateful to Him: a territory fair and happy, and a Lord Oft-Forgiving. (Surah Saba, 34:215)
The people of Sheba, Saba` which is an old tribe in Yemen. It’s a Biblical tribe. It’s mentioned in the Bible. It’s mentioned in the Old Testament, in the Torah and the Qur’an. There were people there known as the People of Sheba. There was a sign in the place they lived. Allah (swt) said, “There was a sign about My Favors upon them.” What was there? Jannah. Paradise.
Jannah means garden. What is a garden? Trees, fruits, rivers, water, life, enjoyment, pleasure, delights. That is Paradise. That is Jannah. Allah (swt) said, “I have given them a Jannah.” How many paradises are there on earth? In how many places do you see rivers, forests, trees, gardens, fruits? Everywhere. The whole world is a Jannah, O insaan, O human being. The whole world is a Jannah. Everywhere you go, you will see the mountains, the rivers, the gorges, the waterfalls, the fruits and the trees. Everything Allah (swt) has created for a human being is a Jannah for him. Not only in certain areas are there gardens and trees and fruits and rivers. Allah (swt) has given you paradises.
Here in Michigan we have a paradise, gardens and rivers and fruits and everything, as well as other states, Europe, Africa, Asia. Everywhere you go, Allah (swt) has given you water and has given you nature. That is the Jannah. That is the Paradise you need, O insaan.
Allah (swt) is saying, “I have given these people Paradise.” What did they do? Laqad kaana lisaba`in fee maskanihim aayah. Jannatani `an yameemin wa shimaalin.“I have filled the right side of their town with gardens. I have filled the left side of their town with gardens.” Koollu mir-rizqi Rabbikum. “Eat, drink, delight as you please. Whatever you want, I have given it to you.” Wa ‘s-shkooru ’Llahu. “And thank Him.”
Acknowledge what your Lord has given you, O human being. Acknowledge what your Lord has offered to you. Allah (swt) has given you every possibility to enjoy yourself in this world. What does Allah (swt) want from you, O insaan? O Jew! O Christian! O Muslim! O Sikh! O Hindu! O Atheist! O Wicca followers! O Naturists! O, whatever it is! What does the Creator want from you or whatever you think created you?
They think nature created them. They think the stars created them. They think the Osiris created them. They think I don’t know who created them. Everybody has their own mindset’s god. Okay, what does God want from all of you? . “I just want you to give your thanks.” Allah (swt), the Creator, wants from the Jew, the Christian, the Muslim and all the rest to be thankful to Him, that’s it. He’s not asking you for the gold of this world. He’s not asking you for the silver of this world. He’s not asking you for the mansions in this world. He’s not asking you for anything.
He says, wa ‘s-shkoorulahu. “I have given you Jannah on earth. Wherever you go, there is a Paradise if you look correctly.” Everywhere you go there is a Paradise for you, O insaan. What does the Creator want from you? He wants you to thank Him. He wants you to acknowledge what He has created, what He has given to you. What do you do? What are human beings doing nowadays? He is destroying what God created. He is burning what God created. He is ruining what God erected. You are doing the opposite. Instead of giving thanks to Allah (swt) and being happy with the little land they have, being happy with the area that they’re living in, or being happy with the town or city they’re living in, they are burning what Allah (swt) created.
They’re burning human beings. They’re burning nature. They’re burning the planet. They’re going to burn the planet soon. They’re burning everything that Allah (swt) has created for their enjoyment. When they discarded thanking Allah (swt), when they left saying, “Yaa Rabbee! Thank You for what You have given us.” What did they do? Our master looked at me and actually said that verse to me. Laqad kaana li-sabaa`in fee maskanihim aayah.
I didn’t know why he mentioned that and continued. “I have given human beings Paradise. One his right is Paradise. On his left is Paradise. Eat, delight, have pleasure, enjoy yourself, but thank Me. Allah (swt) I want is for you to thank Me.” Baldatun tayyiba. “I have given you a beautiful, sweet town, sweet land, sweet country. I have given you something very precious. Wa Rabbun Ghafoor. “And I am forgiving because I know you make mistakes.” Look how Allah (swt) knows what a human being is about, so He is putting at the end of that ayah, “Wa Rabbun Ghafoor. Know that your Rabb, your Creator is also the Forgiver. He forgives.”
It is said that Sayyidina Dawood (a) used to say, Allahumma laa taghfir lil-khattaa’een. “Yaa Rabbee! Don’t forgive the sinners.” Why? He respected his Lord’s orders so much. He did not tolerate anyone that disobeyed Him. Sayyidina Dawood (a) made a mistake. He looked at another woman. Not because of his low character, no. It was a test. That other woman was the mother of Sayyidina Sulayman (a). It was a test for him and it was to show him that every human being can make a mistake, whether they intend it or don’t intend it, whether it’s by mistake or not by mistake, unless Allah (swt) protects them.
After he made the mistake, he started to say, Allahumma ’gfir li ’l-mudhnibeen. “Ya Rabbee! I used to say, ‘Don’t forgive the sinners.’” Then he started to say, “Yaa Rabbee! Forgive the sinners.” Everybody will make a mistake. Everybody will do something wrong. Allah (swt) is saying, baldatun tayyiba. “I have given you a sweet area to live in, gardens of Paradise all over the world. I know you will make a mistake but I am Forgiving.” Wa Rabbun Ghafoor.
Instead of thanking Allah (swt), what did they do? Fa `aaradu. Read Qur’an al-Kareem. You need a flashing light to know what’s going on. Allah (swt) asked human beings to thank Him for what He has given them. Your land is little but be happy. No, we want to expand more, more, more. How much more? “We are building an international space station to go to Mars. We want Mars too. We want to go beyond Mars.” How many planets do you need? How many beds do you need to sleep in? How many homes do you need to live in? How many cars do you need to drive? How many dishes do you need to eat? Your stomach is like this. What more do you need?
Instead of being thankful to Allah (swt), the Jew, the Muslim, the Christian, the Sikh, the Hindu, the Atheist and all humanity, instead of being thankful--among them there are thankful ones but most of them, fa `aaradu. Allah (swt) is saying they have turned their backs on thanking Allah (swt). They don’t thank Him. They don’t even recognize Him now. They don’t see Him as the One Who created them and gave them all of these pleasures and delights that he has created. Fa `aaradu.
Okay, when you turn your back on thanking the Creator, what does he do? He tells you in the Holy Qur’an. You read the Holy Qur’an to know what are the consequences of your actions.
فَأَعْرَضُوا۟ فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَيْلَ ٱلْعَرِمِ وَبَدَّلْنَـٰهُم بِجَنَّتَيْهِمْ جَنَّتَيْنِ ذَوَاتَىْ أُكُلٍ خَمْطٍ وَأَثْلٍ وَشَىْءٍ مِّن سِدْرٍ قَلِيلٍ
But they turned away (from Allah., and We sent against them the Flood (released) from the dams, and We converted their two garden (rows) into "gardens" producing bitter fruit, and tamarisks, and some few (stunted) Lote-trees. (Surah Saba, 34:16)
“We have opened the gates of floods on them. We have exchanged their beautiful, glamorous gardens for swamps.” When you leave thanking the Creator, when you leave thanking Allah (swt) for what He has given to you and you turn your back on thanking Him, what happens? Allah (swt) opens the doors of floods on you and He exchanges the gardens that He has offered you to swamps.
Have you ever heard of the Everglades? The Everglades are in Florida. Swamps. Do you know what lurks in these swamps? Have you heard of AirTran? In the 90’s when I was younger there was a flight that flew out of a city in Florida and fell into the Everglades. What happened? The alligators ate the passengers. There are alligators in swamps. What do they do? They harm and maim and kill. They are underwater, you don’t see them. You’re lucky if you see one or two eyes popping up. When you leave the thanking of Allah (swt), He will throw you in the Everglades, the swamps. You are swimming with the anacondas, the alligators and every harmful creature. What are they going to do to you? Bite you. They’re going to take one piece from here and one piece from there. They will kill you off.
Understand where the problems in this world are coming from. “This one started it.” “No, this one started it.” “This one did it.” “No, that one did it.”
You have left the thanking of your Lord. All you want is the silver and gold that you don’t even take with you at the end. You leave it and go and Allah (swt) is not going to ask you on the Day of Judgment, “How much gold have you brought Me today? How much silver did you bring me today, that’s it? I need more gold and silver.”
If you give whatever is on earth and say, “Yaa Rabbee, I'm giving away all my money that I have earned on earth,” it will not be accepted. Allah (swt) is not asking for that. He’s asking for your thanks. You thank Allah (swt) by respecting what He created. They’re trying to protect the planet. Okay, good, protect the planet, but how about the people living on the planet. “They don’t matter because they don’t make us money. Climate change makes us so much money because we have so many regulations and rules.”
What is your purpose, O insaan? Make more numbers in your bank account that you don’t even see anymore. That’s why I said in the beginning, you are stupid. Stupid humanity has risen on this earth. Some of them are still trying their best to guide others to the way of heavenly messages. Heavenly messages are how you navigate your way in this life.
Fa `aaradu. “They turned from My thanking.” “We have sent onto them the flood and We have exchanged their paradises with alligator infested swamps.” Enjoy. That’s what you’re seeing, alligators everywhere in this world. You see some and some you don’t see, they’re under the water. They’re hidden. Both are trying their worst. It is the best for themselves because they’re getting fed, “We like this food.”
May Allah (swt) forgive us. Understand where you are, O insaan. Try to find the way to thank Allah (swt). When you thank Him, He will change all the conditions of this world. He doesn’t want one or two, He wants all of humanity. Whatever you believe in, thank the One Who has given it to you. May Allah (swt) forgive us.
They say Jannah is your heart too. That’s the spiritual meaning. This is the physical meaning, but there is the spiritual meaning also. Allah (swt) has given you a heart that is ready to take in the water if you plant a seed. Your heart is soil that takes the seed of “Laa ilaaha illa-Llah” that accepts the seed of the Creator and the Oneness of the Creator. You water it with your ta`a, your obedience. You water it with the knowledge that He has given you in the heavenly books. When you water that, Allah (swt) will make for you a Paradise in your heart. Whenever you are in trouble, you go back into your heart and you find your solace, you find your way out because in your heart there is tawwakul, trust, yaqeen, certainty, qana`a, contentment and ridaa, acceptance. There are all these good characteristics. In your heart there is contentment, acceptance, the trust in Allah (swt), the ma`rifa of Allah (swt), the knowledge that you will be in Jannah. Allah (swt) gives you a heart that makes you feel happy, the heart of Iman. That is the seed of, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah with the water of `ilm and ta`a, knowledge and obedience.
What happens if you don’t do that, when you reject that? He will open the flood gates. The floodgates of what? Your ego’s desires. Your ego’s desires will flood your heart with enmity, with hatred, with jealousy, with envy, with greed, with stinginess, with killing, with all the bad characteristics of the ego. That is the flood that has come onto human hearts as well as human physicality. On the human physicality, you have floods and swamps and alligators all over the world because you have turned away from the thanking of Allah (swt), the Creator. In your heart, you have the floods of the ego’s bad desires because you have turned away from the thanking of Allah (swt). Correct yourself internally. Correct yourself externally, O human being. How? Thank Him. Say, “Alhamdulillah.” Say, “Yaa Rabbee! This little town that I’m ruling, my people are happy, I’m happy. We have gardens and rivers and trees. Alhamdullahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen.”
Be happy with what Allah (swt) has portioned for you. No, they want everything. They want more and more. This is not Paradise anymore. You have opened the floodgates of your ego’s desires and there’s no end for that. Those floodgates have turned this world into raging fire and alligator infested swamps.
May Allah (swt) forgive us. The way out of all of these problems is when every human being turns to his Lord and thanks Him for what he has. May Allah (swt) forgive us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, wa bi sirri Surat al-Fatihah.
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