Jumu`ah Khutbah at As-Siddiq Mosque
Alhamdulillah that Allah (swt) loves His servants when they are all together, one hand (over the other).
وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ
w`atasimoo bi hablillahi jami`ayya wa laa tafaraqoo.
Hold fast to Allah's rope and don't separate. (Aali-`Imraan, 3:103)
There is no other place in the world where people show gratefulness and thank Allah as they do in `Arafat, because `Arafat is one day of the year where all Muslims focus, those who are there or elsewhere. Those who are there are saying in one voice, “Labbayk Allahuma, labbayk!” meaning, “O Allah! We recognize you are the Creator and the One to be worshipped, and we are Your servants. Whatever You ordered me, I am accepting.”
When someone orders you, “O Ahmad, come!” you say, “Labbayk,” which is like, “Na`am, yes. I accept/respond to your order.” Allah loves the reply “Labbayk” to be for Him alone. You can use any expression, such as “na`am” for others, but for Allah (swt) we say, “Labbayk Allahuma, labbayk.”
On the Day of Promises, when Allah (swt) asked if we are His servants, alastu bi-rabbikum, we said, “Balaa! We accept what You are asking and we confirm that You are the Only One to be worshipped!” There is no one else to be worshipped; you cannot worship except Allah (swt), but the ego doesn't like that, it likes to be worshipped. Therefore, from within you, your ego will not let you perfect your worship because it likes to be called upon and it controls you. That is why many times during our lives we struggle internally, because our ego doesn’t want us to say “labbayk” except to it! That is where we fall into the struggle of good versus evil.
People everywhere are asking for a transition from war to peace. What war are you speaking of? Not the war they speak of in conferences; rather, it is the war within you. Throughout your life through various transitions you struggle with yourself. They are now making coferences to examine this topic, how to build your ethical elements in order to have transition between war and peace. To achieve that, first you have to transition between the bad ego and the good ego.
O `Ulama! First you need to go through that struggle before you can fix the community, as how can that happen when they are not yet fixed? How to become peaceful? First you have to fix your own problems. The Prophet (s) fixed the Sahaabah's (r) problems through Maqaam al-Ihsan. When he fixed them, the Bedouin came, and (the Prophet) asked, “What did you prepare for Judgment Day?” and the Bedouin said, “Love of you, O Prophet!”
Allah (swt) gave us the first ten days of Dhu ’l-Hijjah that are a transitional period. All year there is struggle in a war in which the ego fights the good self that wants to be peaceful, but the ego does not. So Allah gave these ten days.
The Prophet (s) said, “Know that the (first) ten days of Dhu ’l-Hijjah are the best days of the year and they are the best of times, and the door of Ka`aba (forgiveness) is open.”
Allah (swt) is saying, “O My servant! The doors of forgiveness are open, but you must come to Me.”
So you can observe the (first) ten days of Dhu ’l-Hijjah at home or in Mecca and Madinah. These are the ten days of standing on Arafat, between the Hands of the Merciful Creator, to fix your problems, saying, Labbayk Allahuma, labbayk. Labbayk `alaa shareeka laka labbayk! “We are before You and You have no partner, and no one can give what You give.”
Sayyidina Ibn `Abbas (r) related the Prophet (s) said, “There are no days better than these days (the first ten days of Dhu ’l-Hijjah) in which good deeds are accepted by Allah from His good servants.” That is why if they are not going for Hajj, many people fast these ten days or they pray much, as it is `amalan salih. So Allah gave those who go for Hajj and also those who do not go a platform to fix themselves, to move from war to peace.
So the Sahaabah (r) asked, “Even (better than) jihad in the way of Allah to fight unbelievers?” And Prophet (s) said, “Not even jihad is better: these ten days are better, except for a man who set forth with all his money and did not return, whose money is gone and he was killed, or else these people are better than any others.”
Bukhari and Muslim narrated from Abi Hurayrah (r) from the Prophet (s) that whatever sins are committed between one `umrah to another `umrah Allah (swt) will forgive. So if you performed Hajj and `umrah this year and go for `umrah next year, the sins you committed between them will be forgiven!
الحج المبرور ليس له جزاء إلا الجنة
al-Hajj mabroora laysa jazaahu illa al-jannah.
And the Prophet (s) said, “The reward of the accepted Hajj is no less than Paradise.” (Bukhari)
And the Prophet (s) said that expense for Hajj, even one dirham, is like the one who spent one dirham to prepare to fight an army against unbelievers, those who are against you and declared war on you. The one who gives during Hajj fee sabeelillah, for Allah, is 700 times better than the one giving in jihad.
O Believers! Allah gave us a platform through which to be forgiven. We ask for Allah's complete forgiveness with His Generosity and His Divine Power, as we are weak servants. May Allah forgive me and forgive you and forgive every Muslim and guide everyone to Islam.
(Du`a)