When is the Hour

When is the Hour? | Juma Khutbah

Opening Praise and Testimony

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَلِيُّ الصَّالِحِينَ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ خَاتَمُ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلَّمْ عَلَى عَبْدِكَ وَرَسُولِكَ مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَأَصْحَابِهِ وَمَنْ دَعَا بِدَعْوَتِهِ وَاسْتَنَّ بِسُنَّتِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ وَسَلَّمْ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَأُوصِيكُمْ وَنَفْسِي بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَالسَّمْعِ وَالطَّاعَةِ وَيَقُولُ الْحَقُّ سُبْحَانَهُ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ

All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and surely Allah is the friend and protector of the righteous. And I bear witness that Allah is one and has no partners and that Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, is his servant, his last messenger, the seal of the prophethood. May Allah always constantly send peace and blessings to Muhammad, to his family, to his companions, to all those who call to his way and establish his sunnah to the day of judgment.

The Foundation of Taqwa

As to what follows, I begin by reminding myself, reminding you of the critical importance of taqwa, the consciousness of God. The fear in the punishment of Allah but the hope in the mercy of Allah, and that taqwa will shield us if we culture this into our lives, that all the decisions we are making, the projections we have for the future are connected with our understanding of our relationship with the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

Be With the Truthful

And in these confusing times that we are living in, with the rise of mass media, the deception that is going on, the so-called fake news, it is difficult sometimes for people to know what is true and what is false. And so Allah has given us divine advice in telling us and informing us:

"O you who believe, have the consciousness of Allah and be with as-sadiqeen, the truthful."

And the sadiqeen are those who are truthful not only in their words, but they believe in what they are saying, they don't just say to say, and they implement these words into their life. So the sadiq is the one whose words translate into actions.

The Age of Disinformation

And this is so critical for us in the times that we are living in, when we are in an age of advanced information. Where information, numbers, sight, sound, constantly bombarding our minds. And in many cases this information is disinformation. It is given to us so that we won't really understand what is going on.

And so in these times, a sadiq, truthfulness, complete trustworthiness is a crucial factor in our lives. And we need to culture this in ourselves and try as much as we can to be around people who do what they say. Who hold to their words. And our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), he was an example of this for us. And he gave us living proof of the importance of truthfulness, trustworthiness, and how critical it would be in the times that we are actually living in right now.

The Prophet's Answer About the Hour

And it is said in authentic tradition that one day Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting in a majlis. He was at a gathering of people and he was speaking to the people. And a Bedouin Arab came in, he came in and the Bedouin Arabs are very forward with their words, not having conventions and etiquettes of other people.

And he came right in and he said to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), When is the hour? When is the last day? So this is a serious question. When is the Day of Judgment? And the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), as reported, continued to talk to the people in the majlis. Those who saw this had different opinions.

Some said that maybe he didn't respond to the Bedouin because he hated this question, he didn't like this question. Others said no, maybe he didn't hear what the person actually said. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) continued till he finished his discussion and then he turned and he said, where is the questioner? And the Bedouin came and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to this person:

"That if trust is lost, then wait for the hour." In other words, you will be close to the Day of Judgment. But the Bedouin continued, he said, how will this be lost? And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) responded and said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 59, 6496)

"If authority is given to people who are not suitable for it, then wait for the hour."

In other words, the Day of Judgment would be very close.

Understanding Amanah

And in this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) not only is prophesying when the Day of Judgment will come, but also he is teaching us and warning us about this characteristic of amanah. And amanah is a very crucial word. It is many times translated as trust, but it has deeper meanings.

Amanah can mean reliability, trustworthiness, faithfulness, loyalty, honesty, integrity, and confidence. These are important characteristics. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is saying, if these things are lost, integrity, reliability, honesty, trustworthiness, then you will be right before the Day of Judgment. So try to avoid, try to stay out of this.

The Centrality of Amanah

And this amanah is so important that from the same verb comes the word Al-Ameen. Alif, Meem, and Noon. Al-Ameen. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was known even before the message as Al- Ameen. So this is a central characteristic of the prophethood. And it's a central characteristic of the true believers to the day of judgment.

When we hear a dua, we say (آمین - Al-Ameen). That's the same verb. We certify this. We believe in this. We trust this. And we ask Allah to accept this. So this concept of amanah is a crucial concept throughout our lives.

The Loss of Amanah in Our Times

And in these times, we can see with deception on the rise, and we're not sure we listen to the news. Is it true or is it not true? We listen sometimes even to our friends. And we question, did he tell the truth or not? This loss of amanah has reached all levels within our society. And it is critical for us to do a type of spiritual housekeeping. A house cleaning. To spiritually clean ourselves. Our concept of Islam. The very direction that we are going in. So we are not caught in any extremes. And we are not caught in a situation of insincerity.

Amanah and Sincerity

So one of the crucial parts of amanah is sincerity. If the person is sincere, that trust is there, then there's a relationship. If there is no trust, there is no friendship. If there is no trust, there is no marriage between husband and wife. If they can't trust each other. If there is no trust, then there is no relationship in a masjid with the leadership. Or in a community or in a country with its leadership. So this balanced understanding, this sincerity is critical for us.

The Month of Janus: A Time for Spiritual House Cleaning

And at this time of the year that many people still believe is the new year. But it's actually not the new year. Because we are not in spring season when a new season comes. We are in the dead of the winter. March is when it really happens. So this is the month of Janus. That the Romans designated as the two-faced hypocrite. One face is spiritual and the other face materialism. And so hypocrisy. So in this month of Janus, we need to do a spiritual house cleaning.

The Great Scholar Ahmad Zarruq

And for this, Allah has blessed us with luminaries. With people who shone the light that came from Allah. And through his beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). From these luminaries was one whose designation was like no other scholar. Maybe in the history of Islam. And this scholar, whose name was Abu al-Fadl, Shihab al-Din, Abu al-Abbas, Ahmad, Ibn Ahmad, Ibn Muhammad, Ibn Isa, Al-Burnusi, Al-Fassi, Al-Ma'ruf, Bisiri Ahmad Zarruq. This great scholar from the city of Fes in Morocco. Who is known as Ahmad Zarruq. Was one of those great scholars that Allah blessed. Who could deliver his message in a powerful way with a few words.

So I want to share with you his thoughts. That we do a spiritual house cleaning with ourselves. At this critical point.

The Life of Ahmad Zarruq

Ahmad Zarruq (may Allah have mercy on him) was born on Thursday 1442 A.H. He was born on Thursday and his mother died on Saturday. And the next Tuesday his father died. So he was raised by his grandmother. See the importance of the mother and the grandmother. His grandmother was Umm al-Baneen al-Faqihah. They knew her as a scholar of Islam. And so she took the child. And she trained the child.

And by 10 years old he had memorized the Quran. And he had a solid base in Islamic knowledge. And then he was turned over to the ulama. And he spent the rest of his life learning and then teaching. Till he reached the point where he was given the title muhtasib al-ulama wal-awliya. He was the quality control manager of the scholars and the spiritual ones, the Sufis.

Ahmad Zarruq's Unique Position

These are what today for us is extremes. He was the pinnacle on all sides. He was the pinnacle of knowledge in the Maliki fiqh. And he would make sure that the ulama had spirituality. Because many times the ulama lose their spirituality. They just look at the book and give you the hadith. But they don't have the spirit of the hadith.

And he went to the Sufis who put him on the top level. And he made sure that they stayed within the limit of sharia. That they would not go outside of Islamic law. And so he was given this title and given this unbelievable respect.

Ahmad Zarruq's Profound Advice

And in one of his texts, that is a deep text. And I will give you the main points that we think about this. Some of it may affect our lives. (نَصِيحَةٌ كَافِيَةٌ لِمَنْ خَسِرَهُ اللهُ بِالْعَافِيَةِ) - He gave a complete advice. And he quoted from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

"The religion is sincerity." And they said, "For who, O Messenger of Allah?" And he said, "Your sincerity is for Allah, for His Messenger, for His Book, for the leaders of the Muslims, and the general body." (Sahih Muslim 55, Sahih al-Bukhari 57)

Now this is a worldview. This gives you a complete picture. And we need this now. We need something to stabilize ourselves.

Sincerity to Allah

And see Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him), he said, what is sincerity to Allah? (النَّصِيحَةُ لِلهِ) - You may know advice. But there's more meaning to (نصيحة - nasihah). Can you give advice to Allah? No. It's sincerity to Allah.

And so he said, sincerity to Allah is:

"Following His commands, and that you aid His religion, and that you submit to Allah's judgments."

This is sincerity to Allah. It's not just saying Allahu Akbar. There's more to it. If we say Allahu Akbar, we have to follow. Just like when we make Salat and the Imam says Allahu Akbar and he goes down. We all have to go down. You can't say, well, my opinion is I'm going to stand up. No, you follow Allah's commands.

And we aid the religion of Allah. In that sense, we take steps to preserve the religion. Preserve the masjid. Give to those who are striving. And we call to the good and we forbid evil.

And we submit to Allah's judgment. If Allah judges and wills that somebody would die, we don't question Allah. We say:

"We come from Allah, we return to Allah." (Quran 2:156)

Submit. But those things that we can, we have power over, then we submit to the will of Allah. If Allah has blessed us with wealth, we show gratitude and we give back. If we are in a test, if we are doing wrong, we make tawbah.

Sincerity to the Messenger

Number two (النَّصِيحَةُ لِرَسُولِهِ) - How are we sincere to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him(? Seedi Ahmad said:

"You are sincere to the Messenger by giving respect to his family, and by following his sunnah."

That's sincerity to the Prophet. Follow his sunnah and have compassion on his ummah. So if there are Muslims suffering in China, Muslims suffering in Palestine, wherever it is, we have to feel this. (شَفَقٌ عَلَى أُمَّتِهِ) - Compassion on his ummah.

Sincerity to the Book of Allah

Number three, How are we sincere to the Book of Allah? Seedi Ahmad said:

"That we read it with beautiful tajweed, we think about what we are reading and we follow the commands."

Sincerity to the General Body of Muslims

Next, how are you sincere to the general body of the Muslims? You defend their honor. You establish the limits. And you come to their assistance. If they are calling out, come to their assistance. This is sincerity.

Sincerity to the Leadership

And finally, the leadership. How are you sincere to the leadership? Seedi Ahmad with his penetrating mind, he broke the leaders into three parts: (الأمَرَاء - Umara) (الْعُلَمَاءِ - Ulama) and (الْفُقَرَاء - Fuqara).

He said, your leaders are the Umara, the emirs. These are your presidents, these are your princes with power. And Seedi Ahmad said, you follow them as long as they obey Allah. If they obey Allah, you obey them. But if they do not obey Allah, and he quoted the Prophet:

"You do not obey the creation when the creation disobey Allah." (Musnad Ahmad 1095)

And then he said with the Ulama, you should confirm what they say. But the condition is, as long as the Ulama have proof, they must show you proof.

And finally, the spiritual ones, many call themselves Tasawwuf. He said, you accept them as long as they stay within Sharia. If they go outside the limits of Islam, don't follow them. This is a man who is on the highest level of spirituality. Don't follow them if they're outside of the law of Allah.

The Wisdom of Umar ibn Al-Khattab

And so we are so much in need of this wisdom. And I leave you finally with some of the wisdom of Umar ibn Al-Khattab. And we are so much in need of wise statements to affect our lives.

And it is attributed to him: "I have never regretted my silence as for my speech. I have regretted it many times."

And then he said: "The less attachment to the world, the easier is your life."

And then he said: "Remind yourself of Allah, for it is a cure. Do not remind yourselves of people, for it is a disease."

And then he said: "A man should be like a child with his wife. But if she needs him, he should act like a man."

Closing Prayer

May Allah give us this wisdom. May Allah purify our hearts. And give us sincerity in these critical confusing times.

I say all of this and ask Allah forgiveness for you and for all Muslims from every sin. I ask forgiveness. Indeed, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.