The following was delivered on Saturday 19th April 2008 at Masjid Hamzah, Ashton Under Lyne.
After praising Allah (subhan’allahu’watala) and sending salutations upon the best of creation, his family, and the companions, with the prophetic kuthba, we begin.
He (Da’makath’barakathu’hu) said:
Dear respected sisters, brothers, and mothers. Human beings, both good and soAme despite being evil, want peace. This is why the kafirs (non-Muslims) are dancing and singing in the clubs and pubs, staying out late at night. These are people engrossed in the world, who have forgotten their real purpose.
Not following the ways of the prophet (salla’hualihi’wa’Salam), all are seeking to find peace. But know that one will never find peace except on the path of the prophet (salla’hualihi’wa’Salam). The Muslim knows that in this world, he is not here to please his nafs (desires); this is only a test. Sometimes even Muslims get engrossed in this fallacy and forget their real purpose.
But what Allah (subhan’allahu’watala) and His beloved have said to us is the real purpose. The kafirs want to please themselves by whatever they see as correct, including killing, looting, and threatening people. But the Muslim knows that we have been sent here to please Allah. In between these two people, there are real differences: one says, “I want to please myself,” and the other says, “I want to please Allah.”
For example, Allah (subhan’allahu’watala) says to us (the meaning of which is) if you give a pound, let’s say, in the way of Allah, He (subhan’allahu’watala) says, “I will give you ten times more.” The person who gives his life for Allah, Allah (subhan’allahu’watala) says to the people, “Do not say that they are dead but, in fact, alive, more alive than the ones who are calling them dead.”
They are getting their provision from Allah (subhan’allahu’watala), living a better life than before. Once the prophet Suleiman (alihis’salam) was looking at some of his horses, the best of the types of horses in that time. While he was in this state, he forgot to do his zikr (remembrance), not the obligatory but optional prayers. Since this occurred, he said, “I would sacrifice the horses for Allah, as these horses were the cause for me to miss this blessed prayer.”
This presents us with the lesson that whatever the ambiayh (prophets) did, they did it with steadfastness. When compared to ourselves (although we can never compare ourselves with the prophets), we do one thing one day and the next day we leave it. We try to act upon all the injunctions of the shariyah in one go, but what happens is that after a certain number of days, we leave everything because it is too hard.
We need to do things with consistency, even if it’s little, like Hazrat Imam Ghazali said. Suleiman (alihis’salam) was a prophet, a king, and a descendant of a prophet, but despite all these blessings, he asked Allah (subhan’allahu’watala), “O Allah, allow me to earn my own provision.” In other words, he wanted to earn his own living.
It is said that Hazrat Gibrail (alihis’salam) came down and then taught him how to make baskets. This is the way he used to live. The prophet of the time used to earn a living by making baskets. Now, by extension, all the prophets used to earn their own livelihood. This is why we are saying to all, the scholars, the laymen, that earning halal is highly recommended and is an injunction of the shariyah for those who can earn and have a healthy body. Even Satan earns his own living.
How? This is by looting people of their good deeds, the practices they do, their iman. As we were saying, those who sacrifice for Allah (subhan’allahu’watala), Allah (subhan’allahu’watala) gives more, whether in time, money, or any other way.
Furthermore, Imam Ghazali says, everything people will lose, but the knowledge one gains will remain when everything else perishes. Those who have learned ilm and acted upon it will be successful. Those who have not will fail. One of the salafs has said that there will be six types of people who will go to hell. The first are the ones who have not learned ilm, and the second type are the scholars who had jealousy. This is like fire that eats up wood, as said by the blessed prophet (salla’hualihi’wa’Salam).
The third type is the person who had knowledge but did not act upon it. One of the greatest scholars of the Deoband school of thought, Hazrat Ashraf Ali Thanvi, defined the real scholars, not the scholars of dunya but of the hereafter.
The scholars are the ones who practice upon their knowledge. It is not merely the fact that people know Arabic or know what is right and wrong, for if this were the case, then the most cursed person by Allah (subhan’allahu’watala), Abu Jahl, would have been a great scholar. Who are the alims?
They are the ones who act and convey to others. If it were the case that only giving lectures and holding seminars in Arabic or knowing a little fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) was the standard by which one can be called a scholar, then the cursed Abu Jahl would have fulfilled the criteria. The people who graduate from the madrasahs and do not go to the khankas (zawiyahs) to get purified are like the ones who only do wudu and then stand for prayers but do not actually pray, just stand there.
Now think, the purpose of wudu was to pray. So the purpose of attaining the knowledge of the deen is to act upon it. The scholar further goes on to say that he has not seen that the people who graduate from the madrasahs end up in a better state than those who do not have knowledge, but, in fact, become more astray and full of evil diseases. But we have seen those who are laymen but have the company of the righteous and have done their tazkiyah, doing the kidmat of the deen, unlike those who simply become graduates of madrasah.
A few days ago, we were in Manchester, and one problem that the masjids in Manchester seem to have had was that none of the imams were present for Fajr. They put forward people like us and others to lead the prayer. When confronted by those who are seemingly lower than them (the scholars), they get rebuked for asking them why they were not present at Fajr.
Hazrat Thanvi further is saying that those who commit sins with knowledge of what is right and wrong, their punishment will be far greater than those who did not know. The reason is that they knew the commandments of Allah (subhan’allahu’watala); this is the case with some scholars.
Imam Ghazali then continues and says that the Christians claim that the lord of the worlds has a son and is one of the three. Allah (subhan’allahu’watala) says in the Quran that they knew that the blessed prophet (salla’hualihi’wa’Salam) was the final prophet, but they did not follow because of their pride. This is more specifically the Jews who were blinded by their pride.
The ones who have ilm and are acting upon it but do not have ikhlas are also in dangerous grounds. It is related to us of the stories of Hazrat Musa (alihis’salam) that there used to be a servant who used to do his kidmat. So people used to come to him and ask what does the prophet Musa say. So he used to relate the hadith from the prophet Musa (alihis’salam) as he used to live with the prophet of Allah, which meant that he would be the most knowledgeable of the people.
What happened was that he became a knowledgeable person. He began to give fatwas. This eventually led him to think of himself, “I have become knowledgeable now.” So he started to make a business out of this; people would come to him and ask him questions; he would answer their questions and charge them.
Once the blessed prophet (alihis’salam) asked where his servant had gone since he had not seen him for a long time. His question was answered when once he was in the masjid, and a man came in with a pig. Now, in the shariyah of the prophet Musa and the prophet Isa (peace be upon them), the pig was not considered a clean and acceptable creature to eat or to have. The blessed prophet (alihis’salam) asked the man to take out the pig, on which the man replied, “Do you know such a person?” Musa (alihis’salam) replied, “Yes, certainly he was my kadim” (servant).
The man thereafter pointed to the pig and said, “This is the man who used to do your kidmat.” Musa (alihis’salam) then further prayed to Allah (swt) asking him to make the person back into a human so that he could ask him what was the reason for his condition.
The reply (wahi) that prophet Musa (as) got was that Allah (swt) said that I would not change his state, even if all the prophets up to you praised me with all my names. Musa (as) got scared and then pleaded with Allah (swt), making dua after dua; then the answer came that he used to sell deen for dunya. This was the reason for his change in the form, from human to a pig.
Now this is the state of our days; many people are doing this, selling deen for dunya. In previous nations, Allah (swt) used to change the forms of people, but maybe our spiritual forms change instead of the physical. Syydina Abdul Qadir Jilani said that the nafs and the Satan are evil, so do not make them your friends. When you cut them, then you will be able to make one being happy and pleased with you. You cannot please many masters but can make one, and this should be your master of all the worlds.
People say that we cannot act upon it, meaning the deen, but look how many there were in the cave, the companions of the cave. Now look at the sacrifice these few people made; Allah (swt) has dedicated a full chapter in remembrance to them. Not only that, but there used to be a dog with them who ended up in the cave with them when they sacrificed the ways of evil and went into the cave.
Now, wherever the names of these blessed companions are mentioned, the dog is also mentioned. Not only that, but the way the dog was sitting, imagine! Look how many blessings they received and the honor that Allah (swt) gave them. Even the dog is known to this day. When they were in the cave, who knew they were there? No one except Allah (swt). The act was done for Allah (swt) only, and He loved it so much that people, till this day, remember them, even their dog.
The imam further continues, but we will continue with this next week, inshaAllah. This is only advice and help; you help us, and we help you. This is how we can go to jannah together. If we say don’t criticize us, and we won’t criticize you, then this is not good, as we will not be going anywhere but hell. This is how we can do our tazkiyah. Then Allah (swt) will be pleased with us.
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