Friday Khutbah With Dr. Hamid Ghazali on Tazkiyah, Giving, and Transforming a Nation

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Dear brothers and sisters, pray to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you're all safe and well, inshallah. May Allah bring safety and security to the Muslim world and to every place in the world. In this short khutbah, I would like to explore with you the process of transformation of a nation.

How the Prophet ﷺ transformed the people. How the Qur'an was making this transformation. And how the Prophet ﷺ was the catalyst for that.

The Two Readings: First and Last

And I want to start my khutbah by reminding you with two readings that we're going to have. اقرأ. There are two different اقرأ, read.

And it is important to remember that the first reading is a preparation for the second reading. First reading, take time. Second reading will be just the accountability at the end.

First reading, The first اقرأ that came to the Prophet ﷺ. The second اقرأ is Read your book. Enough. You'll be accountable for yourself.

And look what you did for yourself. Definitely between the two readings, the first and the second, a lot that we need to do. A lot of transformation that we need to do.

Being aware of the first and the last reading makes us stay on the straight path of Allah. May Allah guide us all to the straight path. When you look, examine the surahs of the Qur'an. How the Prophet ﷺ applied them.

You'll be amazed at the message. Especially when you reflect, when you look. Nothing is haphazard in the Qur'an.

A book, verses were put precisely, tightly, and then explained from Al-Aziz, Al-Hakim, Allah. The Alim, the Hakim, the Aziz, the Hakim. Amazing. How this structure could really make a difference in your life.

Three Surahs of Transformation

And I'll pick three surahs. Show you the message. And how the Prophet ﷺ applied them.

And how we can learn from them. And how they did this transformation. Transformation of a nation.

The first one is Al-Fajr. Alhamdulillah I explained Al-Fajr here. So I'll review it.

The next one that comes in the order of the Qur'an is Al-Balad. The next after Al-Balad is Al-Shams. I wish I can go before that to show you the connection between Al-Fajr and Al-Ghashiyah that came before that.

And Al-Ghashiyah and Saba'i Isma Rabbika Al-'Aala that came before that. But let's focus on these three. To see the connection.

See the transformation. People of Mecca were amazed. Those who were not Muslims.

About the speed of transformation and the change that took place to the Muslims. They were different. Different people.

Same faces. Same age. Same look.

But they are different. The mentality is different. The heart is different.

The views are different. The standards are different. That is what the Qur'an did for them.

Surah Al-Fajr: True Values

So in Al-Fajr we learned that you value Al-Fajr.

You value these. You are successful.

Imagine yourself. A person who cares about his or her Fajr. Cares about Layal al-'Ashr.

The special occasions in Islam. Whether the last ten days of Ramadan or the first ten days of Al-Hijjah. You conclude your day with Al-Shaf'a or Al-Watr.

You start with Al-Fajr. You conclude it with Al-Shaf'a or Al-Watr. When you pray the Witr.

And you stand that night. The Layal, yes. With that making Qiyam.

Imagine yourself a person who has this high values. This Ibadah. You will be in a better shape.

People who don't do that. Like the Kafirs of Makkah who were fighting the Prophet ﷺ and doing everything that they could do to stop him. They were people.

Some of them changed. Some of them were good people. Even though they were not Muslims.

But they had values as well. But Islam didn't change for everybody. And they were looking at themselves and saying, Oh! Allah blessed us with the money.

With the wealth. Then Allah loves us. Doesn't love you.

When Allah gave money to the human beings. He says, Oh! Allah honored me. When Allah doesn't.

Oh! Allah humiliated me. Allah says, No. That is not the way you judge.

The way you judge. You do not honor the Yateem. You do not honor the miskeen.

You take other people's money. This is not the way Allah honors people. Money comes, goes.

It's not the way Allah honors people. And in the Day of Judgment, those who are honored. Honored.

Will be happy. And those who don't. They will say, As the surah concludes.

And then, we'll see Allah says, Oh! Enter with My servants. Pleased. And Allah is pleased with you.

And enter with My Ibad. What a beautiful way. What a way to transform the way people think.

It's not the wealth. It's not the money. It's the Fajr.

It's the Layalin Ashr. It's Shafr. But what? How you care about other people? How you value other people? That's what we explored before.

Surah Al-Balad: Crossing the Obstacle

You go to Al-Balad. Allah swears by Al-Balad here in Mecca. And Allah, means, I don't have to swear by Al-Balad.

That matter is obvious. I don't have, like you say to somebody, I don't have to tell your father. You better do it.

And you know the consequences. I don't have to tell your mother. You know the matter is serious.

Similarly here, And it could be, I swear by Al-Balad. Doesn't mean, I do not swear. Allah said, Perhaps Ibrahim, when you connect it, and the generations that came after him, we indeed created the human being in a struggle, in turmoil.

You struggle. You will struggle. Whether you have the wealth, whether you don't have the wealth, you will struggle.

Like Allah said, You will go in pain until you meet your Lord. Like you know, comes from, when they carry the woods, and then the woods make, bleed and make scratches in their hands, that's where the word Kadaha. You will struggle until you meet your Lord.

And all of us here, to different degrees, we struggle. We suffer. Until the Day of Judgment.

Until we die. Suffer will be there. But look into how the people of Mecca did not realize the value of the Prophet ﷺ.

You have the Prophet with you.

That is enough. They could not tolerate jealousy, you know, hasad, envy. Could not tolerate to see the Prophet ﷺ. So Allah tells him,

Does this person who thinks that way think that we will not overpower him? Nobody is going to overpower him? Didn't we make eyes for you? Didn't we make a nisan, tongue, lips? Look at the ni'mah of Allah. But this person, and that's my point here, could not cross the obstacle that stands between him or her and Jannah.

You have no idea what this aqaba is, what this obstacle is. And you think it's something so huge. But Allah is introducing new concepts for them.

So what is this aqaba that stands between you and Jannah? I explained it.

Freeing a slave. Or you feed in a time of need, feed people.

Or a person who is stuck to the dust, doesn't have a place to live in. What a new transformation of how you value the best that takes you to the best. Best that takes you to the best.

Best tool to get the best is to be kind to other people. Especially the one who close to you. What a way to look at life.

What a way to value things. What a way to look and judge what is the best. That is something that was going on and the transformation was taking place little by little.

The Prophet ﷺ says to the people in the hadith, Allah let me live as a miskin, die as a miskin, and gather me in the day of judgment with the masakin. It's not a call to be poor.

But it's a call to be humble and to honor those who are not wealthy but wealthy in the heart.

الغنى غنى القلب The richness is the richness of the heart. That is what we value as Muslims. And then after you do that,

Then you, you know, صَبْرًا مَرْحَمًا آمَنُوا And everyone comes after that.

What a way to value things, to look at things. You would not achieve the Iman, you would not achieve the صَبْر, the مَرْحَمَة without taking care of others. Islam is for others.

That's what we heard in Suratul Fajr, the one before that. But what is more interesting is what we see after that, which is الشمس. And that's what I'm gonna illustrate in the next few minutes.

But before that, please let's make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless us and relieve the suffering of the Muslims everywhere.

Surah Al-Shams: The Clarity of Tazkiyah

Dear brothers and sisters, The sun, it's a title of a chapter. It's a title of, you know, something shining.

It's an introduction to tell us that the mother is as clear as the sun. Allah's words by the sun and other things that are related to it. His words on what? That this sun is as clear as the sun.

Can't miss it. Can't miss the sun. Can't miss the lesson, the جواب القصد, the sworn statement.

You cannot miss it as you can't miss the sun. And what is that?

Successful indeed is the one who elevates himself or herself. And unsuccessful is the one who doesn't.

How do we connect this to the previous one? البلد and الفجر We have seen how it takes care of others. In الشمس, we have seen how it takes care of you, your values, what you stand for. If you get what you stand for as in الشمس, you'll be able easily to get the other things that deal with others.

Levels of Tazkiyah

تزكية is what it's about. Elevating yourself. Well, an example, Aisha رضي الله عنه lives and gives for others.

Doesn't live for herself. You don't have to give. You don't have to.

But you want to. You could give whatever extra as the bottom level of your money. But there is a higher level.

You could give half of what you have. As Umar and Abu Bakr, Uthman, you know, and they're all competing on who gives the most. And we have seen examples of them competing in doing the goodness.

And yet another level is to give all your money. Like Abu Bakr did. And when he was asked, what did you leave for them? He said, I left for them Allah and His Messenger.

And Allah would give him more and more. Replace what he got. What a way to look at things.

That's a different level. But yet, that's the level of إثار, where you prefer others over yourself. So, bottom line, you don't have to into giving whatever excess you have.

A higher level is to give half of what you have. A higher level is to give all what you have. And that's the إثار, prefer others over yourself.

Levels of تزكية. We call this, when you go from one level to the next level, to the next level, تزكية. Elevation.

You elevate yourself one level to next, next, next, until you reach the high level. Forgiveness. You have to forgive.

But you want to. I don't want to forgive. I was hurt.

I'm not going to forgive. Allah tells you,

If you forgive, it's better. It's close to تقوى.

A higher level. Okay? And yet, one of the highest levels that you could imagine, Yusuf عليه السلام did. He not only forgave his brothers, when they said to him,

Isn't it true that you are Yusuf? He said,

And me and my brother, Allah blessed us, and Allah rewards المحسنين.

And then he said to them,

No blame on you, Allah forgives you. That's a higher level. But yet, a higher than that is what Yusuf did.

He blamed the Shaytan for what happened. Trying to kill him. His brothers were trying to kill him.

He blamed the Shaytan and not blamed them. That is a very high level. You can see, Tazkiyah goes from one level to the next, to the next, to the next.

And that is associated with the previous surahs and the next surah that I wish I explain it some other time. How all together transformed the nation, transformed the people. How the Prophet ﷺ was the model of humbleness, giving and Tazkiyah.

And how the companions lived the Tazkiyah.

Closing Du'a