Khutbah - “Being Mindful of Allah and its effect on the individual and society”

Friday Khutbah (30/5/2003) delivered by Shaykh Muhammad Taher

Indeed all praise is due to 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,

We all know that we were created in this existence by One who is All Powerful, Allah the Exalted and we praise Him for choosing us to be Muslims. He, the Exalted loves us to be obedient and hates for us to transgress. As such, so that the true and truthful Muslim can live within the confines of obedience, you see him being mindful of his Lord, Who created him, whether it be in private or in public; he is mindful of Allah in his acts of worship and in his work, during the day and the night and when he is alone, free from the eyes of people. The true Muslim is always mindful of Allah’s magnificence, power, and might, revering Him and reminding his own soul that Allah is ever observant over him, as Allah the Exalted says in the Quran,

“Allah, there is no deity except Him, the Living, the Eternal, no sleep nor drowsiness overcomes Him.” (2:255)

And in another verse, we read,

“He knows that which deceives the eye and what the hearts conceal.” (41:19)

So the true Muslim who is truthful with his Lord always behaves in accordance with this belief - that Allah is continually observant over him and knows his every move, evaluating his actions, words and deeds, as Allah, the Exalted says in a hadith qudsi,

“O my slaves, I only take you to account for your actions, so whoever found something good then let him praise Allah and whoever finds other than it, then let him blame no one but himself.”

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

This being the case then what is the practical effect of this belief on the individual and society?

Firstly, in terms of the individual: if a Muslim was truly mindful of Allah in all of his daily actions then he will find the fruits of doing so filled with the blessings of Allah. If the flame of being mindful of Allah ignites in the soul of a Muslim then he is aware of his every word and deed, you see him if he makes a mistake, or was disobedient, or committed a sin, how quickly he becomes aware of it, as these things set off alarm bells ringing inside of him and he quickly returns to the straight path.

You do not see him involved in acts of disobedience because he knows that all his actions are known, and recorded and that he will be taken to account for every single one of them. For example, you do not see him bear false testimony, as this is from the major sins in Islam and because he knows that this would have disastrous consequences. Thus, the rightly guided believer acts in accordance with the order of Allah and does not bear witness to any thing other than the truth.

In addition, you not see him backbiting or slandering as he knows that this is forbidden and as such, he does not mention something about a person which he dislikes in his absence nor does he reveal any fault and then spread it throughout the community as he knows Allah, the Exalted’s statement in the Qur`an,

“O you who believe, avoid a great deal of conjecture, as indeed some conjecture is sinful, and do not spy on one another, and do not backbite one another. Would any one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother - indeed you would hate it - so fear Allah, indeed Allah is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (49:12)

Also, you don’t see him defame anyone, curse anyone or be obscene, as he knows the statement of the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who said, “The believer [al-mu`min] does not defame anyone, curse anyone, and is not immoral or obscene.” (Related by Ahmad)

Similarly, you do not see him investigating the private affairs of others seeking out their mistakes, as he knows that all of these are blameworthy characteristics and he knows that the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, “Indeed a slave utters a word not clarifying it and as a result he will fall into hellfire, which is wider than [the distance between] the East and the West.” (Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim)

You see him striving to distinguish the truth from falsehood in the statements of a corrupt person, as he has been ordered to seek confirmation, as not to judge others incorrectly or misinform, as Allah, the Exalted says in the Qur`an,

“O you who believe, if a corrupt person comes to you with a report then seek clarification, so that a people are not afflicted by your ignorance and so that you do not become regretful about what you have done.” (49:6)

Similarly you see him being kind to his parents, treating them well and not being disobedient to them, as he knows the statement of Allah in the Qur`an,

“And We made treating parents kindly, a duty on the human being.” (29:7)

You see him treating the people well, respecting the elders and being gentle with those younger, loving the good for all the people.

In summary, being mindful of Allah makes a human being a righteous and beneficial slave, a source of every good; he loves the people and the people love him, he causes unity and harmony and the people are safe from him as he severs all forms of evil. As the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, “A Muslim is the one from whom the people are safe from his tongue and his hand.”

My dear Brothers and Sisters,

Indeed being mindful of Allah in word and deed is “the conscience placed by Allah in the heart of every Muslim” and this conscience will not exist except in a heart which Allah wanted good for it, in conjunction with the statement of the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, who said, “If Allah loves a slave then he creates a conscience in his soul and restraint in his heart, which commands him and forbids him.” (Related by al-Daylami)

Secondly, in terms of society: indeed the corruption of society is a result of the corruption of its individuals and if the individual is corrected then society will also be corrected. A society which is devoid of the mindfulness of Allah is a corrupt society, which manifests every apparent deviation. So we find recklessness regarding the limits set by Allah, ridicule of good behaviour and standards and such a society will not return to having praiseworthy characteristics until every member of that society displays the healthy signs of having fear of Allah, performing righteous deeds, keeping good relations with each other, loving each other for the sake of Allah; the bond of brotherhood joining them. Such a society is governed by Allah’s laws - there is no hatred nor envy, and no malice and no dislike. Our Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, invites us to such a society saying, “Do not envy one another, do not bid against one another, do not hate one another, do not turn your backs on one another, and let none of you sell upon the sale of another. Be the slaves of Allah, brothers. A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim, he does not oppress him, he does not fail to assist him, he does not lie to him, nor does he despise him. Taqwa is here,” and he pointed to his chest 3 times, “It is sufficient evil for a person that he despises his Muslim brother, all of the Muslim is sacred for another Muslim, his blood, his property and his honour.” (Related by Muslim)

It is through such behaviour that the Muslim community will become a healthy society, free from social ills.

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