Jumu`ah Khutbah
Ayyuhal mu'minoon al-hadhiroon, ittaqullaha wa aati`uh, innallaha m' alladheena taqu wa m' alladheena muhsinoon.
O Muslims, Believers! Alhamdulillah we have fasted Ramadan and we hope that Allah (swt) will accept from us. This is the first Jumu`ah after Ramadan, and must be in this month a lot of things we have learned, because learning is important. The first verse of Holy Qura'n that Allah (swt) revealed to Sayyidina Muhammad (s) was:
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ * خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَق
Iqra´ bismi rabbika alladhee khalaq 'l insaana min alaq,
"Read! In the name of your Lord Who created a human being from a clot"[96:1-2]
It means, "Ya Muhammad! Learn what I am sending to you." Allah (swt) wants His Prophet (s) to know the reality, the origin of the human race; that will be knowledge for us.
So `ilm, knowledge is very important. So who is the the real `alim (one with knowledge)? It's not those people who are learning from books; the real `alim that can call himself `alim is Allah (swt). No one else can have that high title. "al-`Alim" (one of Allah's Beautiful Names) means "the highest, most Absolute Knower, Who Knows everything." Allah (swt) said, wa `allama Adama asma' kullaha,وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاء كُلَّهَا [2:31] "He taught Adam all the names." It means all different interpretations, and Allah made him `allaamah, the teacher. Allah (swt) taught Sayyidina Adam through Divine revelation, all the names and all the knowledges; not the names of human beings only, as some scholars claim.
Allah (swt) gave Adam (a) all the knowledges that he needs to know, thumma `aradahumum `ala mala`ikah -ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلاَئِكَةِ [2:31] "then He showed them to the angels." Then He asked the angels: فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاء هَـؤُلاء إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ - faqaala anbi'oonee bi asmaa'i haoolaa'i in kuntum saadiqeen" - "give Me their name or details of these knowledges I taught Adam." [2:31] And the angels answered,لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا - laa `ilma lanaa illa maa `allamtanaa, - "We cannot know if He (Allah) didn't teach us." [2:32]
It means the One who is teaching/revealing is Allah (swt). He revealed a knowledge, a message to his beloved servant, Sayyidina Muhammad (s), something important for human beings. As the Seal of Messengers (s), he received the entire message of Islam. إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُ - Inna 'd-deena indallahi 'l-islam, "To Allah the religion is Islam." [3:19] Allah (swt) gave Prophet (s) that knowledge to give it to humanity!
About this, Sayyidina Abu Hurayrah (r) said, حفظت عن رسول الله وعاءين - hafizhtu an Rasulul-lahi (s) wi a`ayn "I learned/memorized from Prophet (s) two kind of different knowledges." It means Prophet (s) is encouraging humanity to learn and as Muslims, we must learn; it is required of us.
And Prophet (s) said: اطلبلوا العلم ولو في الصين - Utlubul-`ilma wa law fee 's-seen, "Seek knowledge even if it is in China."
It means go as far as you can. In the time of Sahaba, China was very far away and they needed years and years to reach it; today you can reach in fifteen hours. Sayyidina Imam Isma`il Bukhari published an authentic book of what Prophet (s) said and did. He traveled for months by camel, horse, donkey, or mule, just to get one hadith. Do we have that zeal today, to learn from someone? Look at Imam Bukhari, how much he was dedicated to collect the hadith of Prophet (s).
One time he traveled three months (six months roundtrip) to collect one hadith. He saw that person calling his horse and showing his hand out as if food is in it so the horse would come to him quickly, but there was no food in his hand. By that, Imam Bukhari said, "If that one even deceives his horse, I cannot take the hadith from him," because an honorable person will not even lie to an animal.
Knowledge is important. This is why Prophet (s) said, العلماء ورثة الانبياء - al-`ulamu warathatu 'l-anbiya, "Scholars are the inheritors of prophets."
Warathatu 'l-anbiya means "They inherit these knowledges."
It is said in another hadith, ,علماء امتي كانمبياء بني اسرائيل - Ulama'u ummatee ka anbiyaa'i Bani Isra'eel" The scholars of my ummah are like the prophets of Bani Israel." Prophet (s) ranked their knowledge with that of prophets, although they don't have that rank, but their knowledge was very high. So it is important to seek and learn knowledge, and to know how to get it. Allah and His Prophet (s) are encouraging people to learn. Why do people like to learn medicine, engineering, carpentry, and law? Why they don't learn their Islamic religion, so when we come on the Day of Judgement and Allah questions us, we will have a proper answer?
Here are two more hadiths, so we know what is important to learn.
The Prophet (s) said, "Whoever prayed in congregation (as praying here or in a mosque or at home) and sat together in an association of knowledge..." It means there is someone teaching and someone listening, "and he listened to what that person is teaching," wa`amila bih "and applied what he learned from that congregation," ata`hullah sittat ashyaa, "anyone sitting together (two, three, four, five or a thousand people) and someone is speaking, Allah will give him six things:
و روي عن النبي صلي الله علي و سلم أنه قال من صلي الصلاه مع الجماعه و جلس في
حلقه العلم و سمع كلام الله و عمل به أعطاه الله تعالي سته أشياء :
1. رزق من الحلال - Rizq min al-halaal: He will provide him halal rizq. We ask Allah to make our rizq halaal! You don't know how you earned that provision; there might some doubt in it. Allah will turn it from imperfect to perfect and halaal.
2. وينجوا من عذاب القبر - yanjoo min `adhaab al-qabr: He will be saved from punishment of the grave.
3. و يعطي كتابه بيمين - wa yu`ta kitabahu bi-yameenihi: He will be given his book in his right hand on the Day of Judgment; it means his book has been filled with goodness and all bad deeds have been erased, and he is safe.
4. ويمرعلى الصراط كالبراق الخاطف - yamurr `ala as-siraat ka'l-buraaq al-khaatif: Allah will give him something with which to cross the Siraat like riding a fast buraq or angel, without falling here or there, like the Prophet (s) on Laylat al-Isra wal Mir`aj.
5. و يحشر مع النبيين - wa yuhshar ma` an-nabiyyeen: he will be resurrected with the Prophets of God.
6. ويبنى له بيت في الجنة - wa yubna lahu baytun fi 'l-jannah: and he will be raised in Paradise; Allah (swt) will give him a palace in Paradise that can't be described!
1. man jalasa `inda `aliman sa`atayn aw akala minhu luqmatayn aw sami`a minhu kalimatayn aw masha ma`ahu khitwatayn a´atahul-lahu taala jannatayn
من جلس عند العالم ساعتين أوأكل معه لقمتين أوسمع منه كلمتين أو مشى معه خطوتين أعطاه الله تعالى جنتين
1. Prophet (s) said, "Whoever sat with an `alim for two hours, or ate two bites with him, or walked with him two steps, Allah (swt) will grant him two paradises."
"Sitting with an `alim" means to learn from him what is important for us to know in this life and the Hereafter. We spend so much time with each other, but we never think to sit with an `alim, to learn how to increase our good desires and destroy our bad desires, astaghfirullah.
May Allah (swt) support us, bless us and grant us knowledge that we can support ourselves. Ameen.