Friday Khutbah (07/2/2003) delivered by Shaykh Muhammad Taher
DISCLAIMER: This reminder was originally delivered in Arabic. Any meanings lost in translation are not to be attributed to the speaker as reminders are translated by volunteers. The mosque has no official translater and volunteers often have no formal qualifications to translate on the day. Please forgive any errors as they are from our human weakness and any right guidance is from Allah. Indeed all praise is due Allah, we praise Him, seek His aid and ask His
forgiveness. We seek shelter in Allah from the evil of our own souls and the
evil of our own actions. Whoever Allah has guided then no one can misguide him
and whoever Allah has caused to be misguided then no one can guide him.
I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone and
I bear witness that Muhammad is his slave and messenger, may the peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him, his family and all of the righteous. Amin.
To proceed, …
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
I advise you and myself with the fear (taqwa) of Allah the Exalted, as
fear of Him is the best of provisions and the best preparation for the Day of
Return.
The fear of Allah (taqwa) was Allah’s counsel to the first and last of the
nations as He, the Exalted said in the Quran,
“And We advised those who were given the book before you and you also, to fear Allah.” (4:131)
Indeed this was the call of all the prophets and the sign of the pious, as every prophet reminded his people saying, “Won’t you be fearful of Allah…”
Indeed the pious are those believed in Allah and were fearful of Him.
My dear brothers and sisters,
The reality of taqwa is to place some kind of protection between yourself and that which you fear and our Lord, Glory be to Him, is the most deserving of our taqwa, as He is the One who we should fear and guard from His displeasure. In the noble Qur`an, my dear brothers and sisters, we find the description of the people of taqwa, their high rank with Allah and their virtue over others. The muttaqun (the people of taqwa) in the Quran are,
“Those who believe in the unseen, establish prayers and from what we have provided for them they spend. They have faith in what was revealed to you (O Muhammad) and in that which was revealed before you and they have a firm belief in the hereafter.” (2:3-4)
They are those who,
“Believe in Allah and the Day of Judgement, the Angels, the Book and the Prophet. They spend their wealth for Allah’s sake on their relatives, the orphans, the poor, the wayfarer, those who ask and they pay zakat. They fulfil their oaths and promises. They are patient during poverty and hardship and in battle; they are those who were truthful and they are the righteous (al-muttaqun).” (2:177)
They are those,
“Who spend in the cause of Allah during ease and hardship, restrain their anger and pardon the people. And indeed Allah loves those who do good. They are those who if they commit immorality or oppress their own souls they remember Allah and ask His forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? [In addition] they do not persist in doing (evil) whilst they are aware of it.” (3:134-5).
And it is through taqwa my beloved brothers and sisters, that the criterion for truth and falsehood is established and that all affairs become manifest. Allah says in the Quran,
“O you who believe, fear Allah and have faith in His prophet, He will give you a double portion of His mercy and make a light for you to be guided by and forgive your sins, as Allah is The Forgiving The Merciful.” (57:28)
The people of taqwa are the most honourable of Allah’s creation as He said in the Qur`an,
“The most honourable of you with Allah is the one who is the most fearful.” (49:13)
The people of taqwa are those who will be saved on the Day of recompense, Allah says:
“And there is none of you except that you will face it [hellfire]; this is the inevitable decree of your Lord. Then We will save those who were fearful of Allah and we will leave the oppressors with in it [hellfire] on their knees.” (19:71-72)
The people of taqwa are those who have succeeded with paradise, its pleasures and bounties, as well as the pleasure of their Lord and proximity to Him. Allah says:
“That is paradise which We give to Our devotees who were fearful.” (19:63)
“Indeed the people of taqwa will be in gardens with rivers, in a position of dignity, near an All Powerful Sovereign.” (54:54-5)
The people of taqwa are the people of Allah’s favour, their speech is correct, they are adorned with providence, they walk with humility, they lower their gaze from that which is forbidden, they do not listen except to that which is beneficial and that which pleases their lord. If they are blessed with good they are grateful and if they are afflicted with trial they are patient. Allah is exalted in their souls, all others are lowly in their eyes, they are patient with that which is forbidden for a few, limited days but their reward is pleasure and relaxation in the hereafter forever. They recite the Quran, they fall to their knees requesting salvation and success in the hereafter, they tremble out of fear of their Lord and they are anxious regarding their actions.
My dear brothers and sisters,
Taqwa is a great secret placed in the hearts and the truthfulness of taqwa
will not become manifest until your fear of Allah is the same whether you are
in public or in private. The prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him, is reported to have said to Muadh b. Jabal, “Be fearful of
Allah wherever you are…” and one of the righteous said, “I advise you to be
fearful of Allah, Who is with you in private and observes you in public; so
put Allah to the forefront of your mind in every circumstance, by day and by
night and fear Allah according to your closeness to Him and His power over
you.”
And who is more misguided than the one who shows his good deeds to the
creation but at the same time manifests the worst of his words and deeds to
the One Who is closer to him than his jugular vein?!
My dear brothers and sisters,
When a person is afflicted with some shortcoming and his devil, or soul, or desires, or appetites overcome him then taqwa comes into play, quickly producing it fruits and he returns to his Lord, seeking His mercy and flees from his devil, as Allah says in the Quran,
“Indeed, those who are fearful of Allah, when as impulse from Satan touches them, they remember (Allah) and at once they gain insight.” (7:201)
And Allah says:
“They are those who if they commit an immorality or oppress their own souls they remember Allah and ask His forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? [In addition] they do not persist in doing (evil) whilst they are aware of it.” (3:135)
May Allah make us and you of the people of taqwa and that we advise one another with it, as it is the best of counsels and let us equip ourselves with it, as it is the best of provisions. Amin. Indeed, the pious generations before us would always advise the people to have it. Umar b. Abd al-Aziz, may Allah have mercy on him, wrote to a man saying, “I advise you to be fearful of Allah the Exalted, as nothing will be accepted except that, and no one will be showered in mercy except the people who have it, and no one will be rewarded except because of it; those who remind us of it are many, but those who practice it are few. May Allah make us and you of the people of taqwa (the muttaqun).” Amin.
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