Masjid As-Siddiq, Burton, Michigan
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, al-ḥamdu lillāh, al-ḥamdu lillāh alladzī hadānā lihādzā wa mā kunnā linahtadiya lawlā an hadānallāh. Wa ma tawfīqī illā billāh, 'alaihi tawakkaltu wa ilahi unīb. Wa ashadu allā ilāha illallāh, waḥdahu lā sharīka lah, wa lā nāẓira lahū 'alā mathīla lahū shahādatan, mūṣilatan ilā dāri al-qarār. Wa ashadu anna Sayyidanā wa Sanadanā wa Mawlānā Muḥammad, Muḥammad Sayyidu al-‘Ālamīn, ṣallallāhu ‘alaihi wa ‘alā ālihi wa aulādihi wa azwājihi wa dhurriyyātih. Wa atbā'ihi wa aṣḥābihi khuṣūṣan minhum al-khulafā' ar-rāshidīn al-mahdiyyīn min ba'dih, wa wuzarā'ihi al-kāmilīn fī 'ahdi ḥaḍrati Abī Bakr wa 'Umar wa 'Uthmāna wa 'Alī dhawī al-qadri al-jalīl, wa ‘alā baqīyati aṣḥābihī wa at-tābi'īn, riḍwānullāhi ta'ālā 'alayhim ajma'īn.
Ayyuhal-mu'minūn al-ḥāḍirūn, ittaqūllāha ta'ālā wa aṭī'ūh. Inna Allah ma'a alladhīna 'ttaqaw walladhīna hum muḥsinūn. Qāla Allāhu subḥānahu wa ta‘ālā fī kitābihi ’l-munzal ‘alā nabiyihi ’l-mursal.
A'ūdhu billāhi minash-shaīṭānir-rajīm, bismillāhir-raḥmānir-raḥīm,
Ya ayyuhalladhīna āmanū ittaqūllāha wa kūnū ma‘aṣ-ṣādiqīn.
As-salāmu 'alaikum wa raḥmatullāhi ta'ālā wa barakātuh.
Congratulations, in sha Allah Happy New Year. Happy New Year to all Muslims. Alhamdulillah we have received a new year yesterday and Allah has given us another year of life, in Allah one more holy'Āshūrā'. This holy month Allah will open for us from His blessings, from His support, support for the nation of Muhammad, from His endless blessings and mercy, may Allah forgive us all, the entire nation of Muhammad in this holy month. And may Allah make us do good in this year. In sha Allah we can also reach Shahrul Mawlid, in sha Allah the month of the birth of the Prophet (s), in sha Allah we can also reach Rajab, Sha'ban, Ramadan, and in sha Allah we can go on hajj this year.
When the new year comes, we are always happy that we can do all this again; to perform mawlid again in that holy month; to welcome Rajab, the holy month of Allah (swt); to welcome Sha'ban, to welcome Laylatu 'n-Niṣfi min Sha'bān, the holy night from the middle of Sha'ban; to celebrate Ramadan again; to celebrate Eid, to celebrate Hajj. All these are important things, important acts of worship that Allah (swt) has given us out of His love. And in sha Allah this year we can do as much as we can.
We are weak people, but our Lord, we intend to do as much as we can so that You are pleased with us. O our Lord, help us to do good.
Subhanallah, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) has shown us the way, has shown us the way how to obtain the pleasure of Allah. He said in the Holy Qur'an, and it is a command for all of us, for all the people of Muhammad (peace be upon him), all believers, all Muslims who believe in the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), must follow the command he gave.
Allah says in the Holy Qur'an, "Fattabi'ūnī, Follow me (i.e. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)).” Follow me in everything. And also: "Follow me in the places I have passed." The Prophet (s) is not someone who only does things on earth. Allah has taken him to Heaven, has shown him what we have not seen, what we do not know, and has brought him closer to Himself. So the Prophet (s) said, "Follow me there too." That means as long as we follow the Messenger of Allah (s), we will reach wherever he reaches. As long as we have the intention to follow him, we will be there with him. May Allah (swt) make us able to follow him to the position he reached, there is no end. in Allah, Allah (swt) will allow us to follow him.
But following that is difficult. This is not an easy thing. To follow the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in what he experienced, to suffer like him, is not easy. But Allah (swt) has opened that door. And He said: Asta‘īdhu billāh, Wa lanabluwannakum bishay’in – “We will really test you.” (Surat al-Baqarah: 155). The Messenger of Allah (saw) was the most tested person among humans. He was the one who was most tried among humans. So, Allah (swt) said that if you want to follow the Messenger of Allah (saw) to the stations that he has reached, you must follow his path. And that path begins with that holy verse:Wa la-nabluwannakum bishayin – “We're really going to test you with something small..”
Nothing big, because we are unable to bear it; we are weak people.Come la-nabluwannakum – “We will really test you.” bishay'in– “with small things.”Minal-khawf – first, We will test you with a little fear. And Imam Shafi'i (raḥimahullāh) has explained that "fear" here means khawfullah - fear of God. Minal-khawf - We will test you with fear, meaning: We will test you with fear of Allah (swt). Makhāfatullāh, as Sayyidina ‘Ali (ra) has said that Makhāfatullāh–fear of Allah (swt) is Ra’su ’l-ḥikmati, the head of all wisdom.
So, Allah will send us fear, to make us afraid. Why? Why do we need to be afraid? Because we are very arrogant creatures. We think we can do anything. We feel as if we are as big as mountains, as if nothing can knock us down, nothing can destroy us, and we can endure anything. So Allah (swt) shows, from time to time, a small part of His power. He opens that power, and shows it to people: don't be too proud of yourself, don't think you can do this and that. He sends a storm—small storms come one after another—and all the people in the world start shaking. It's just the wind—how can you fight the wind? Allah (swt) has an army. He has sent that wind.
Whatever humans have built, Allah (swt) can take it away in one night. Whatever pride they have, Allah (swt) makes them look like evidence - an indication or proof that humans are people who are so weak, helpless. Allah (swt) from time to time, shows a little bit of His power so that people will abandon their arrogance, lower their pride. So that they will come to their senses and say, “O our Lord, help us.” Every time—not only when the storm comes, but also when there is no storm, on the beach, try to help people to be better. Cover your private parts. Allah (swt) sees what happens on this island; Allah (swt) sees what happens on the mainland. Allah (swt) is not blind. So, from time to time, He sends a little bit of His power, to show people: don’t be arrogant, be humble, remember Me at all times. Cover your private parts, cover your children’s private parts, and follow the path of Allah.
And God also said in the Holy Qur'an Wa la-nabluwannakum bishayin min al-khawfi wal-ju`i – “We're really going to test you with something small of fear and of hunger”
Hunger is after fear. He (swt) will test us with a little hunger. That is also a test, a trial. Sayyidina Imam Shafi'i (raḥimahullāh) said that one of the meanings of “hunger” is the fast of Ramadan. So, first of all we have to be pious, we have to be pious, and we have to fear Allah. Secondly, Allah sends hunger—sends Ramadan to us—to help us. Why? Because when hunger comes what happens to the ego? The door of Satan into the heart becomes closed, blocked. When hungry, the body can no longer commit sins; it has no strength to do anything else; it becomes weak.
The ego’s desire to do this and that is cut off by hunger—because the body is no longer able to move. We all experience it in the month of Ramadan: we arrive home in the afternoon, at one or two in the afternoon, we want to sleep until Maghrib time. Especially those who work. Those who don’t work, they just want to sleep all day until Maghrib time. Why? Because the body has no more strength. It is Allah who sends that hunger. So, Allah (swt) tests us with hunger, to destroy the ego, to make the ego submit and become a servant to its master.
Wa minal-amwāli, Allah also said that He will test you by taking some of your wealth. “I will take some of your income, some of your houses and luxury vehicles.” Why? Because all of that makes people prone to sin. That is the fuel that people use to sin more. If you have an unlimited credit card, if you have a million dollars in your bank account, what can you do with it? So much. You can go on a tropical island vacation and do whatever you want there. But if you don’t have that money, if you don’t have a million dollars, what happens? You can’t go on that tropical vacation.
Allah (swt) prevents us from committing more sins. So sometimes Allah (swt) takes away the wealth—which is actually His. He takes and gives, so that we do not sink further into sin. Wa naqsin minal-amwāli wal-anfus, Allah (swt) also takes lives, gives diseases. Why? Because we are too attached to ourselves, too loving this world. We are too attached to people and the world.
People today shame those who sit in the mosque, doing dhikr of their Lord. They say, “Why don’t you socialize? Why don’t you go to parties? Why don’t you waste your time talking and hanging out with people?” But Allah (swt) takes these people, so that we can return to Him. Allah (swt) wants us to return to Him.
Wa minal-amwāli and the anfusi wath-thamarāt, and the fruits of this world— the meaning is the pleasure of life. So Allah (swt) also took away that pleasure of life. Why? So that we can find true pleasure in worshiping Him. So that we can release our attachments from the world, and begin to feel the pleasure in worship. We can get a sense of pleasure in waking up at night to pray, in reading istighfar at dawn, so that we feel more delicious in being present before Him, than in the presence of anything other than Him.
Allah (swt) said, wa bash-shiris ṣābirīn, "Give them good news." Those who cut themselves off from the pleasures of this world and turn to Me. Allah (swt) promised them: He will send blessings upon them, Ūlāika ‘alayhim ṣalawātun min rabbihim wa raḥmah(QS al-Baqarah: 157). Allah (swt) will give those who have cut themselves off from the world, from worldly associations, from wealth and turned only to Him. Allah (swt) will send His blessings upon them. He will send His salawat upon them. He will dress them with His divine light, and dress them with the brilliance of His holy Name and Attributes, Asmaul Husna wa ’s-Sifat. He will accept them into His Presence, illuminate them with His light, and grant them such mercy.
With that grace, they will be able to guide people to Allah (swt). As His words in Surah al-Kahfi (verse 65), wa ātaynāhu rahmatan min 'indinā, “We have given him mercy from Us,”wa 'allamnāhu min ladunnā 'ilmā “Dand has taught him knowledge from Us.”
When we are patient with whatever comes from our Lord, and say, “O our Lord, this is for our good, this is for our benefit. You are pulling us away from the worldly things that we have sunk our heads, eyes, hands, and feet into.” Then we realize, “Why are we performing ablution?” Because we are cleansing ourselves from this world. Cleansing our face, feet, hands—everything—from worldly attachments. We are cleansing ourselves from sin and excessive worldly pleasures.
May Allah (swt) bless us all. May Allah (swt) guide us to the straight path, following the Prophet (saw). May Allah (swt) bless the people, Ummatu ’l-Ḥabīb (saw) and send us victory. O our Lord, send us help from Your side and near victory, Naṣrun minallāhi wa fatḥun qarīb.
Oh my Lord, help us get out of the darkness of the problems we are facing towards Your light, ya Rabb.
Alā inna ahsāna ’l-kalāma wa ablagha ’n-niẓāma, Kalāmu ’llāhi ’l-‘azīzi ’l-‘allām, Kamā qāla ’llāhu tabāraka wa ta‘ālā fī kalāmih. "Wa idhā quri'a 'l-Qur'ānu fa'stami'ū lahu wa anṣitu la'allakum turḥamūn." A‘ūdhu billāhi mina ’sh-shayṭāni ’r-rajīm, Bismi ’llāhi ’r-Raḥmāni ’r-Raḥīm,
"You did not create 'l-jinn and 'l-man except for me.
Indeed, the best human speech and the most beautiful arrangement of words is the kalam (word) of God Almighty and All-Knowing, as Allah Tabaraka wa Ta'ala said in His book, "And when the Qur'an is recited, then listen and be silent, so that you may be blessed." (QS al-A'rāf: 204)
"I seek refuge in Allah from the temptation of the accursed devil. In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate. And I did not create jinn and humans except that they worship Me." (QS. Adh-Dhāriyāt: 56)
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