Zhuhr / Private Residence
Alhamdulillah al-ladhee ja`alalaa min ummat al-Habeeb al-Mustafa `alayhi afdal as-salaatu wa ‘s-salaam. Wa sharrafana bi ittiba`i bi sunnatih, wa ahassanaa `ala ’l-qiyaami wa ‘s-siyaami, wa ‘s-salaah, wa ‘z-zakaah, wa hajju ‘l-bayt man istata`a `alayhi salleeman. Ayyuhal mu'minoon al-hadhiroon, ittaqullaha wa aati`ooh, innallaha m' alladheena taqu wa m' alladheena muhsinoon.
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh, brothers and sisters! We are in a time of corruption, a time of hypocrisy; a time where you say something and do another; a time where you don’t keep your words; a time where the strong and the rich eats the poor and the weak. It is a time that is going to get worse and worse. Don’t think it’s going to get any better. Sorry to say that but this is what we are seeing and this is what Prophet (s) predicted. He predicted this is going to happen. In the hadith of the Signs of Last Days, Prophet (s) foretold everything that’s going to happen. If you carefully read what he said in the Signs of the Last Days in Sahih Buhkari or Sahih Muslim, you will find that we are living in an era where we have left behind everything that is traditional and Islamic and are following those who are mentioned in the hadith as, “the people who came before you (non-Muslims), you are going to follow and follow until you enter from the same door as they.”
Here is a small example and don’t be offended as I’m not being offensive, but this is about the lives we are living if you are not “normal,” as Sayyidina `Umar (r) said: “Don’t wear the dress of ahlu ‘l-kufr,” of kuffaar. And most people today are wearing the same dress that kuffaar are sending us, except a very few who dress in traditional Islamic attire. When you go to work you can’t go without western clothes. Why? If you want to go with your jubbah and turban, they say, “No, don’t enter here like that, go to the mosque!” Why, what’s the difference between a mosque and a building; which is better? To enter with my jubbah and turban to a building and people say, “O, this is a Muslim,” or when you go to a mosque where everyone is already a Muslim, as they will know you are a Muslim (regardless of your clothing). We don’t know eachother on the streets anymore, who is Muslim and who is not Muslim.
Prophet (s) ordered us:
وعن أبي يوسف عبد الله بن سلام رضي الله عنه قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول يا أيها الناس أفشوا السلام وأطعموا الطعام وصلوا بالليل والناس نيام تدخلوا الجنة بسلام
ya ayyuha ’n-naasu afshoo ’s-salaam wa at`im at-ta`am wa salloo bi ’l-layla wa ’n-naasu niyaam tadkhul al-jannata bi ’s-salaam.
O People! Spread the salaams and give food and pray during the night when people are asleep, and you will enter Paradise with peace. (Tirmidhi, hasan sahih)
Prophet (s) is saying, “Give food, send salaam, and you will enter Paradise with no accounts, without auditing.” Today, people come dressed in Islamic clothes only to such functions as this one. Sayyidina `Umar (r) prohibited that, saying, “Don’t dress like unbelievers” because slowly, slowly you will get trapped. So the time that we are now facing is a very difficult time and only a very few are sincere; the rest are not. Too many hypocrites are on the streets outside, eating the poor and weak ones in everything. Why? Do they come to such meetings? Do you see any superior, top, rich person here? I’m not seeing, I don’t think so.
All of us are weak, we have no power, and Prophet (s) mentioned in one of his ahadith that this is going to happen, which you can see clearly. When Jibreel (a) asked him, “When is the time of as-sa`ah, the Day of Judgment?” It’s a long hadith mentioned in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, and Bukhari put it in the first chapter. When Jibreel (a) came with a white dress asking Prophet (s) about Islam, imaan, and ihsaan, and at the end he asked, “Tell me about the Day of Judgment.” Prophet (s) said, “The one who is asking knows more than the one who is asked.” It means, “Yaa Jibreel! You know more than I know, because this is `ilmu ‘l-ghayb, hidden knowledge which belongs to Allah.” So Sayyidina Muhammad (s) and Sayyidina Jibreel (a) stood by their limits as servants to Allah and they didn’t enter into a discussion on this. Then Jibreel (a) continued, “Okay, no need for the Day, but tell me about the Signs.”
Prophet (s) mentioned hundreds of ahadith about the Signs of the Last Days, and this also is a sign; I’m not saying that these are bad people who did that, no, but this is a sign.
Prophet (s) said, antara, “(You are going) to see,” and Sahaabah (r) were listening, al-hufaat al-auraat, “the barefooted naked Bedouins.” Awrah means “naked”. As you know, in the desert they cover their bodies from here to here, as it’s hot. At that time there were no slippers or anything; they moved on the sand barefooted. He said an tara, “to see”... Prophet is eloquent as it is a wahi in a hadith, so he doesn’t want to say something offensive; therefore, he put it in a way that this area where people are in the desert with no slippers, barefooted, and naked, are covering only the aurah, private parts, “Bedouins,” who live in the desert. Who lives in the the desert today in that region? Those in the Arab Peninsula. He said, “Those who raise sheep, goats, cows, animals,” it means shepherds, yatataawaloona fi ’l-bunyaan, “will be competing in (building) high rises,” on who will build the tallest building
Sahaabah (r) didn’t see that as their homes were limited to one storey. Prophet (s) said, “It’s makrooh to build a house higher than three stories.” It can’t be three stories high; it has to be one or two stories, and the third storey and above it is makrooh (undesirable) and from Shaytan. Now, how many storey buildings there are, so high that you can’t count!
Prophet (s) said, “When you see the barefooted, naked Bedouins running flocks are competing in building high rises.” Do you see that now or not? We are seeing it; it is there. So this means what he predicted is going to happen in the future. We are in those days that Prophet (s) mentioned. Don’t think, “O, this dunya is going to live thousands of years more.” It is ending!
Allah (swt) said:
إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى
In huwa illa wahyun yoohaa.
It is not except revelation revealed to him. (al-Najm, 53:4)
Prophet (s) doesn’t say anything except it is wahiy, revelation, so when revelation comes to him in such hadith, as this is a holy hadith and a very long one, don’t think you are (going to live long) saying, “Ooooh, I’m making a 50, 60 years plan.” Finished. If you did that before it’s okay, as these predictions weren’t seen before. The predictions are for what we are seeing now.
Prophet (s) continued the hadith. “Knowledge will be lifted up.” The Sahaabah (r) said, “Does this mean that Qur’an will be lifted?” He said, “No, Qur’an is there until Paradise, because it’s kalaamullah.” ‘Knowledge will be lifted’ means the `ulama will die and there will be no substitutes for them, not like the `ulama of the past, it’s finished.
Today’s knowledge is `Ilm al-Huroof, “Knowledge of Letters.” Before, there was `Ilm al-Awraaq, “Knowledge of Papers,” and `Ilmu ‘l-Adhwaaq, “Knowledge of Taste,” a combination of two kinds of knowledge. Now there is only `Ilm al-Awraaq, whereby they are saying to everything, “This is haraam, shirk, bida`!” You can’t move anymore; they tie you. If you make qasidah they say, “It’s shirk.” What shirk? It is praising the Prophet (s)! Allah Himself praised His Prophet in the Holy Qur’an:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
inna-Llaha wa malaa'ikatahu yusalloona `ala 'n-nabi, yaa ayyuhal-ladheena aamanoo salloo `alayhi was sallimoo tasleemaa.
Verily, Allah and His angels send praise on the Prophet. O Believers! Pray upon him and greet him. (al-Ahzaab, 33:56)
What is wrong in praising Prophet (s)? The Prophet himself had poets praising him, but now they say, “No, it’s bida`.” We are not going to enter into this subject now, but knowledge will be lifted up. Now there is no “tasty” knowledge.
Nowadays Muslims feel shy to say that they are Muslim. Go to Western countries, where they feel shy to say, “We are Muslim.” I’m surprised in my travels to Europe, to London, France, Germany or Belgium. You can see on Oxford Street, the most famous street in London, a Muslim woman very well dressed, modestly covered, pushing her child in a carriage, but her husband is walking behind her wearing shorts, or very tight jeans, with no hat like this (kufi), only showing his hair. His wife is dressed very well in Muslim attire, but he is in shorts, wearing sunglasses in order to look at ladies and no one can see his eyes, walking like that on the streets. Is this Islam? If not for his wife you would not know he is Muslim and therefore, you don’t say, “As-salaamu `alaykum” to him. Who is dressed like that is responsible; later his wife may begin saying, “As you are dressed like this, I don’t want to dress Islamically.” We are losing sisters in Islam because of such things!
So Prophet (s) mentioned that there will be too much adultery. Now adultery is spread everywhere in public; you see them hugging and kissing each other, even here. What is this? Prophet (s) predicted this 1400 years ago, from the Signs of the Last Days.
Allah said in the Holy Qur’an:
اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ
Iqtarabati 's-sa`atu w 'anshaqqa 'l-qamar.
The Hour (of Judgment) is nigh and the moon is cleft asunder. (Al-Qamar, 54:1)
The Day of Judgment approached when the moon split, (and this was) in the time of Prophet (s). Then Prophet (s) said, “There will be too much harj and marj.” The Sahaabah (r) asked, “What is harj and marj?” He said, “Too much killing!”
Now in the Arab world there is too much killing; everyone is killing for the chair (power). They are fighting for Kitaab al-Akhdar, “the Green Book” that Ghaddafi published, saying, “Don’t read Qur’an in Libya. Read my book, the Green Book.” Every verse of Holy Qur’an in which “qul” is written, he took it out saying qul is wrong. Anything that he didn’t like, he took out and forced people to read what he wrote, and people are reading it! This is what Prophet (s) mentioned from yaksurul jahl, too much ignorance; wa yafshoo ’z-zina, too much adultery; wa yakthuru ’l-harj wa ’l-marj, and too much killing. This is only one hadith concerning this issue! So then what do we have to do?
Another thing the Prophet (s) mentioned is, “A time will come when the killer will not know why he killed, and the one who was killed will not know why he was killed.” (Muslim, Fitan, 56)
Look now at what’s going on in the Arab and Muslim countries. So what to do? We must understand that these signs are giving us a warning, “Be careful! You are approaching the Last Days.” It means you will be questioned so do your best; kill your ego! The ego tries to do the worst to you.
Prophet (s) mentioned, “the best jihad.” People say, “We want to go for jihad.” He said, “The best of jihad is kalimatu ‘l-`adl, a word of justice.” That is the best jihad, which means we have to tell our egos, “You are wrong!”
أعدى عدوك نفسك التي بين جنبيك
A`daa `aduwwuka nafsuka allatee bayna janbayk.
Prophet (s) said: Your worst enemy is your nafs which lies between your two sides. (al-Bayhaqi)
Prophet (s) said that your worst enemy is the self within you. In your body there is that nafs that is a`da `aduwwuka; the ego that is within you is your worst enemy. So who is your enemy now? Our first enemy is ourselves. Later we may look outwards, but first is yourself. I see too many people, sorry to say that, but we are not clean, we are all sinners, struggling: I am a sinner, you are a sinner; everyone makes sins. May Allah forgive us. I’m surprised to see some `ulama wearing gold Rolex watches with diamonds around it. It’s okay to have a Rolex, but not in gold (for men); it’s better to have it in silver. Put diamonds as much as you want, but not set in gold; you are an `alim teaching people how to behave, while Prophet (s) prohibited men from wearing gold. I’ll read this hadith, because too many of our people wear gold.
Ibn Abbas (r) narrated that Prophet (s) saw a gold ring on a man. He took his hand, pulled the ring out, threw it on the floor and said, “Someone like this man wearing gold, it is as if he is taking a burning coal and putting it in his hands!” That gold turns into a coal burning you from within. “Burning” means making you worse and worse in arrogance, because they wear gold to show, “I’m rich! I am someone high.” And when they see their fathers wearing gold, the innocent young ones also begin to wear gold.
So after Prophet (s) left the man, the people next to him said, “Take your ring and sell it. At least you will benefit from its money.” If I or someone else says, “This is a gold ring. Don’t wear it because it’s haraam, but go and sell it,” what would you do? You would sell it. But what did this man do? He said, “Wallahi! I am not going to touch it anymore! Since Prophet threw it, I’m not touching it! You want to take it, take it, but I’m not touching it!” Look at the strong imaan.
So that is showing us we are in the Signs of the Last Days, and we have to correct ourselves quickly. We don’t know when Azra`eel, the Angel of Death (a), will come and take our souls. That’s why
آية المنافق ثلاث : إذا حدث كذب ، و إذا وعد أخلف و إذا ائتمن خان
Aayatul munaafiqu thalaatha: idhaa hadatha kadhab, wa idhaa wa`ada akhlaf, wa idhaa ‘tumina khaan.
Prophet said: The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, and when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is charged with a trust, he deceives. (al-Bukhari)
Idhaa hadatha kadhab, “If he says something, he is lying.” Do you see people lying? O, too much! This poor guy came to me saying that his partner cheated him, taking his four million. If he speaks, he lies. Wa idhaa wa`ada akhlaf, “And if he promises, he breaks his promise.” Did he break his promise or not? Yes. He believed him; no papers, no signature. Then he left him naked, leaving nothing. Wa idha ‘tumina khaan, “And if you trust him, he betrays you.” You give him a little something to keep for you and it’s gone. Don’t give to anyone unless you want to give for him to keep, but it is your choice.
There was a very pious wali, as Allah mentioned in the Holy Qur’an:
أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
alaa inna awliyaullahi laa khawfun `alayhim wa laa hum yahzanoon.
Behold! Verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. (al-Yunus, 10:62)
Those sincere, pious people have nothing to fear and nothing to be sad about. They used to come and ask Grandshaykh `AbdAllah ad-Daghastani (q), “This one wants to borrow money from me. Can I give him loans to solve his problem?” And both were standing in front of each other. The shaykh said, “No, don’t give!” This man wants to solve his problem and the shaykh is saying, “No, don’t give!” They were surprised, because that one wants to give and the other man is in need. So the man got upset and said, “My shaykh, why are you not allowing?” He said, “I said ‘don’t give,’ but you didn’t let me to continue. Don’t give if you want to ask him back for it!”
If you are going to give, give and ask, “When will you repay it?” He will say, for example, “I will return it on June 5.” But whether he returns it or not, you will have no right to ask him, because you don’t want to make an enemy if he doesn’t pay you. You lend money to many people and you don’t see them anymore. If you want to give, give for Allah’s sake. Solve the problem of your brother, but don’t ask for it back until he gives it to you by himself. This is adab, discipline.
May Allah teach us discipline, and may He guide us to the right way and keep us following the sunnah of Prophet (s).
Wa min Allahi tawfeeq. As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh.
(Du`a.)
Fatihah.