Pre-Khutbah at Hounslow Jamia Mosque
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi 'l-`Alameen, wa ’s-salaatu wa ’s-salaamu `alaa ashrafi 'l-mursaleena Sayyidina wa Nabiyyina Muhammadin wa `alaa aalihi wa sahbihi ajma`een. Alhamdulillahil-ladhee hadaana li ’l-Islami wa maa kunna li-nahtadeea law laa an hadaana ’Llah.
O Muslims, mu’min! As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh. I am trying to learn, like you, and am asking Allah (swt) to make sajda for Him in every moment of our lives. The best thing for a Muslim to do is sajda to Allah (swt), as that distinguishes us from any other religion. Sajda tul-Islam, a sajda that Muslims are required to make many times every day. Allah (swt) loves His servant, His `abd; to be `aabid and pious, and to spend all his time in sajda to Allah (swt).
They asked me to speak about a certain subject, but let us make people happy as Islam is to make people feel good and be happy. Sayyidina Adam (a) was happy in Paradise, where there were no problems or difficulties. Allah gave him something to always remember his Lord, his Creator, by making sajda to Him and praying to Him. He gave him all the Paradises in order that he may move freely from one to another. Likewise, Allah (swt) gave us many Paradises on Earth, where we can go from one to another. We all like to go visit the Prophet (s), to be near him, and we all love him as the goal, the hope and the life of Ahlu ’s-Sunnah wa ’l-Jama`ah is the Prophet (s).
مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاء عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاء بَيْنَهُمْْ
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and those with the Prophet (s) are tough on unbelievers (and on Shaytan, and those with Shaytan), (but) compassionate amongst each other. (Surat al-Fath, 48:29)
We are with him and if we are not with him, then he is with us! That is a big ni`mah Allah gave us as Muslims, when the Prophet (s) said:
قال رسول الله ص حياتي خير لكم تحدثون ويحدث لكم ومماتي خير لكم تعرض علي أعمال لكم فإن وجدت خيراً حمدت الله وما وجدت غير ذلك استغفرت لكم.
My life is a great good for you: you relate from it and narrations are related to you. And my death contains good for you as well, for I observe the `amal of my Ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see other than that, bad, I ask forgiveness for you. (al-Bazzaar in his Musnad)
He observes each of us at the same time! Look at that power Allah (swt) gave to him: not only did he observe in his lifetime, but also from his holy place where he is now. I don’t like to say “grave,” as it is not appropriate: his place is a Paradise, he is in Qaaba Qawsayni aw Adnaa, but he did not leave us as orphans without anything, no, he is with us!
قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Say (O Muhammad), "If you (really) love Allah, then follow me! Allah will love you and forgive your sins, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Surat Aali-'Imraan, 3:31)
“If you really love Allah (swt), in every moment of your life, follow me!” It means he (s) is with us, leading and guiding us. He will give us depending on how much we can take, like a mother nurturing her child; as long as the child is asking for more milk, she gives, she doesn’t say, “It is enough.” she knows he is hungry and wants to eat. We are the children of the Prophet (s) and all of us, Muslim and mu’min, need that milk that was offered to him by Sayyidina Jibreel (a) in Mi`raaj, where he was offered three cups and he chose the one with milk. That is why children drink the milk of the mother. We want to drink the milk of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) by following him, not in his time only, but it is continuous and never stops. We want to be between his hands! He said in an authentic Ahadeeth, the meaning of which is, “O people, you are alright, you have been blessed. You are coming to me to pray in my Rawdah.” Anyone who enters that Paradise is in Riyaad al-Jannah.
ما بين قبري و منبري روضة من رياض الجنة
Between my grave and my pulpit is a garden from the Gardens of Paradise. (Bukhari and Muslim)
That means it is a place in Paradise and, therefore, it has no beginning and no end, it can be stretched as much as you want. Allah (swt) will compensate all Muslims for that by giving them Rawdah in Paradise on the Day of Judgement by them saying, “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluh.” We go to Madinatu 'l-Munawwara to pray two raka`ats in Rawdat an-Nabi (s). He is inviting you and hosting, and providing, and the one providing will be rewarded and so will you by eating that provision. So all of us are provided a Rawdah and the Prophet (s) is sharing the Rawdah Allah (swt) gave to him with everyone, he did not forget anyone. He said to his Sahaabah (r):
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: إذا مررتم برياض الجنة فارتع. قالو وما رياض الجنة؟ قال "حلق الذكر"
Ibn `Umar reported that the Prophet (s) said: "When you pass by the Gardens of Paradise, avail yourselves of them." The Companions asked: "What are the Gardens of Paradise, O Messenger of Allah?" He replied: "The circles of dhikr.” (Tirmidhi)
He is asking us to enter, not just pass by. He is inviting us, he invited the Sahaabah (r) to come and sit with those who have formed a Garden of Paradise, as it is important: there the blessing that is coming on Jannah will come on you, you will be granted a share in it, but you must come there! Allah gave us the possibility of Paradise on Earth, where we live, because not all the Muslims of the world can be in Madinatu 'l-Munawwara or Meccatu 'l-Mukarrama and move freely like before. Now due to so many issues there are restrictions, so you cannot be there so easily.
The Prophet (s) saw this ahead of time, 1400 years ago and told his Sahaabah (r), which means what was said to them also applies to us. He said, “If you pass by the Gardens of Paradise, sit,” because there is something important that turns these places into Heaven. Paradise does not only have regular fruit, but also heavenly fruit that cannot be found in dunya. The Prophet (s) is saying, “I am sending those to dunya. Allah gave to me and I am giving to you. Without me there is no door, no way.”
Don’t expect your `amal to reach Allah until he is happy with it, which is why Prophet (s) said, “I observe the `amal of my Ummah. If I find good I thank Allah, and if I see other than that, bad, I ask forgiveness for you.” So he is making istighfaar on our behalf, in order to present us clean to Allah (swt), which is why He said:
وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
If they had only, when they were unjust to themselves, come to you and asked Allah's forgiveness, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah indeed Oft-returning, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nisaa, 4:64)
“There is no other way, they must go to no one else but you, then you ask forgiveness (istighfaar) as I will not accept from them until you make istighfaar on their behalf.” Look at how much honor Allah gave to the Prophet (s) and how Allah wants the Ummah to be saved. We have to be thankful by being in sajda day and night, thanking Allah for this blessing!
So the Sahaabah (r) said, “Yaa Rasoolullah, you are inviting us to sit in Paradise on Earth, but where are these Paradises you are describing? The Garden of Paradise for us is you, yaa Rasoolullah.”
The Prophet (s) said, “Yes, but at the end of dunya people will be scattered everywhere. We must have Riyaad al-Jannah for them also, we cannot give to some and not others. Therefore, the Gardens of Paradise are circles of dhikrullah.”
Like in this masjid ,we are sitting here remembering Allah, Our Creator, and the Prophet (s), and this gathering is becoming a piece of Paradise and the Manifestation of Paradise is being sent here. That is how the Prophet (s) turned a masjid, home, jungle or any place into a piece of Paradise: wherever people are sitting and remembering Allah in that circle of dhikr, they are blessed, as Allah said to Prophet (s) in Holy Hadith:
أَنَا جَلِيْسُ مَنْ ذَكَرَنِي
I sit with him who remembers Me. (Hadith Qudsi. Ahmad, Bayhaqi)
According to Ahl as-Sunnah wa ‘l-Jama’ah belief, Allah is not physically sitting, but at that moment He is sending the blessings of Paradise on those who sit in a gathering in dhikrullah. And what is better than dhikrullah? Gatherings of salawaat are dhikrullah, as Allah (swt) said:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him with a worthy salutation. (Surat al-'Ahzaab, 33:56)
"To remember Me, send salawaat on the Prophet (s). Approach Me.” You will approach Allah (swt) by remembering Him and therefore, don’t underestimate the value and power of salawaat on the Prophet (s)!
One ayah in Holy Qur’an recently caught my attention; after the beginning of that ayah, Alif. Laam. Meem., is al-muqata`at. We pass through it, but we don’t understand it. However, every letter of Holy Qur’an has Noor. Don’t think the letters of Holy Qur’an are not alive: they are alive like we are and like angels are alive in Paradise. They are alive as they are Words of Allah (swt)! Holy Qur’an is alive, so His Words are alive. Alif is alive and Meem is alive and Laam is alive and if you are alive: your body reflects energy and heat in dunya and everything around you becomes warm. That energy you reflect from your body, if you are in dhikrullah it takes you closer and closer to Allah (swt), but if different from dhikrullah then it takes you closer to ash-Shaytani ‘r-rajeem.
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَاوَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا
Truly he succeeds that purifies it, and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness]. (91:9-10)
So the ayah of mercy sends mercy on you and you will be out of the ayah of adhab. On the Day of Judgement, if there is any kind of adhab written for you it will be removed when you recite an ayah of adhab; similarly, any ayah of rahmat will dress you with mercy. One ayah is to take sins away from you and the other is to dress you with mercy! Alif is ‘Allah’, the first Name of Allah; without the Alif it is lillah, “to Allah.” If you take one more Laam, it becomes Lahu, “Everything is for Him and owned by Him!” You take last Laam the last is Huwa, “The Absolute Unknown.” So Alif. Laam. Meem. has Alif, which is the Name of Allah (swt), and then Laam, which is in between, meaning Jibreel (a), and Meem is for Sayyidina Muhammad (s): from Allah to Jibreel (a) to Sayyidina Muhammad (s).
Alif is one letter and Laam is one letter, but Meem is three letters: Meem, Yaa, Meem. So whenever you read it, it is always Meem, first Meem and second Meem and in between is Yaa, which in Arabic is Alif, which is for “Allah” and the first Meem represents the face of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) looking at the Divine Presence. That Meem is always facing Jibreel (a) and the other Meem is always facing dunya, taking what was revealed by Jibreel and giving love and smiles and delivering blessings to the mum’ins.
The Prophet (s) wants to takes the Ummah with him and Allah gave him that power! May Allah (swt) give us love of Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and love of Ahl al-Bayt, who carried a lot to bring the Message to us; they are the pioneers of Islam! We believe the Family of the Prophet (s) before the Message who died in its early stages were mu'min and Muslim, as Allah will not bring the Prophet (s) from a woman or a man who is not mu'min and Muslim! So they are mu'min and Muslim, carrying the Purest Creation on Earth to us as a messenger and the Seals of Messengers!
Bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh.
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