Never Give Up! by

Never Give Up!

Khutbah by Imam Mohamed Magid - ICNA-MAS Convention

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

The Verse of Hope

The verse that I was asked to speak about is a verse in Surah Az-Zumar.

Where Allah says:

"Say, O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."

Reference: Quran 39:53

Say, O My servants, those who have transgressed all the boundaries, broke all the laws of Allah, Allah said to them and to us:

لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ

La taqnatu min rahmati Allah

"Don't feel despair from the mercy of Allah"

Because very surely Allah Almighty forgives all sins. He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Ibn Mas'ud radiyallahu anhu said:

أَكْثَرُ آيَةٍ فَرَجًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ

Aktharu ayatin farajan fee kitabi Allah

"The ayah that gives most hope and relief in the Quran is this ayah in Surah Az-Zumar."

The Door of Allah is Always Open

The Sahaba radiyallahu anhum celebrated this verse because Allah showed all of us in this verse that His door is wide open, never closed. He never closes His door, Allah, and the Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam reminds us of that.

The Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ

Walladhi nafsi biyadihi

"I swear by the One, my soul in His hand."

لَوْ أَخْطَأْتُمْ حَتَّى تَمْلَأَ خَطَايَاكُمْ مَا بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ

Law akhta'tum hatta tamla'a khatayakum ma bayna as-sama'i wal-ard

"If you make mistakes and if your sin piled up and reached the sky and filled the earth"

ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتُمْ

Thumma astaghfartum

"And then you ask Allah for forgiveness [He would forgive you]"

The Story of the Old Man

A man came to Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Imam Al-Bukhari reported:

جَاءَ رَجُلٌ شَيْخٌ كَبِيرٌ

Ja'a rajulun shaykhun kabeer

"An old man was relying on the stick, walking towards Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam"

فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ

Faqala ya Rasulallah

"He said to Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: O Messenger of Allah"

إِنَّ لِي ذُنُوبًا وَفَجَرَاتٍ وَغَدَرَاتٍ

Inna li dhunooban wa fajaratin wa gadaratin

"I have committed a lot of mistakes and sins, major sins"

Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to him:

أَلَسْتَ تَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ

Alasta tashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah

"Do you not testify that there is no god but Allah?"

He said: Yes, O Messenger of Allah.

وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّكَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ

Wa ashhadu annaka Rasulullah

"And I testify you are the Messenger of Allah"

Then Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said to him:

قَدْ غُفِرَ لَكَ غَدَرَاتُكَ وَفَجَرَاتُكَ

Qad ghufira laka gadaratuka wa fajaratuka

"Allah has forgiven all your sins"

Who Are We to Close the Door?

Allah, the Forgiver, teaches all of us that if He keeps His door open for all of us who sin, who are we to close the door on anyone?

There's some of us sometimes we become holier than thou, pointing finger to people. We make sure that we make a comment about this sister's hijab, or make a comment about this brother, you know, past, what he used to do in the past. If he come to the masjid, or counting people's sins and ignoring our own.

And when we see somebody have made the U-turn and come to Allah, some of us we don't accept that. A person might not come back to the community or been accepted in the community. Some community want perfect people.

They see a youth struggling with their Islam and walk to the masjid, and three or four people would jump on them: How they look, how they talk. And not only that, some people want to exclude some youth who are going

through spiritual crisis out of our masjid. They don't want them in the masjid.

Who are we? If Allah almighty says, if Allah said tell them my door is wide open, don't feel in despair, come to me no matter what you did in life, I will accept you. Human have arrogance. We don't accept people as if we are perfect.

Allah's Infinite Mercy

Allah reminded us in the Quran, as if people don't know the news, Allah remind them. Allah telling you and I:

Don't you know? No one have told you that I accept tawbah? No matter what did you do in your past, I accept repentance. Come to me and repent and I will accept you.

Not only that, I will wipe it out. I will clean all the trace of your sins. Give you a new beginning, a new chance. Only Allah does that.

Allah says: Whoever have done wrong and wrong themselves, that person then ask forgiveness from Allah, you will find Allah most forgiving, most merciful.

Make Your Commitment Today

Maybe as we finish this beautiful convention of ICNA and MAS, some of us might have been touched by some of those talk of all of these major scholars, and we made a decision in our life to change our behavior. I want to tell you that congratulations. Congratulations.

Because Allah when a person come to him sincerely with absolute humility and beg him for forgiveness, He have them to turn the page and give them a second chance. He is Allah.

That become very happy with the repentance of anyone of us, more than the man who is in the desert and he come and run away with the food he has and provision he has, and he thought that he will die because there is no way out. And that person laid under a tree waiting for the moment of death.

And then all of a sudden he open his eyes and the camel is standing before his head. And he is so much in excitement as Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, he said that the man was so excited he want to say to Allah: Oh Allah you are my lord, I am your servant. He said to Allah: You are my servant, I am your lord. Out of excitement he made a mistake.

Allah is more happy with our repentance and our tawbah than this person who thought that he is near death.

If we know that, if we have confidence in that, then all of us we should make a commitment to go back to Allah and to ask for his forgiveness.

Steps of True Repentance

And one of the most important aspect of making that U-turn is to acknowledge our sins. I should not try to seek a license for the sin I commit so that a person will tell me it's halal.

Some people still calling imams and sheikhs and asking whether alcohol is halal or haram because they don't see a verse says. A man asked my father about this verse about prohibition of alcohol. And my father said to him: Before I give you fatwa on it, I would like to ask you by Allah, do you believe alcohol is halal in your heart? In your heart, do you believe it's halal?

The man said no. He said why are you asking?

There are some people do fatwa shopping. They call the first masjid, it says haram. The second, until they call the whole phone book because they want somebody to say it's halal. And the ayah is so clear, because their heart is not softened yet.

But when a person make a decision and he ask Allah for forgiveness, Allah will give them a sweetness in their heart. Replace any kind of pleasure, haram pleasure they used to have. The repentance have a sweetness in it.

The Sweetness of Repentance

I remember a 17 years old young man accepted Islam, 17 years old, and come to me with some questions. He said: Imam, my mother and my sister asking me questions about Islam I couldn't answer, and this is a list.

I took the list from him and said: Before you answer it, I just want to tell you those are not my questions. As for me, I have no doubt about Islam because when I pray, I feel the sweetness of it. And I swear by Allah, Imam, if Allah would take a little bit of my sweetness in my heart and give it to my mother and my sister, they would not have asked me those questions.

At-Tawbah, repentance have a sweetness in it, and a person can feel it in their heart.

Three Things That Bring Sweetness of Faith

The Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam telling us that if a person three things if a person had them, three things if a person have them, he will feel the sweetness of faith:

1. If Allah and his Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam become more beloved than anyone else

2. Love people only for the sake of Allah

3. Disliking going back to disbelief as he or she disliked being thrown into the fire

The Promise of Day of Judgment

And the last thing I want to say, because my time is running out, I want to end in a good note that makes me happy and makes you happy inshallah.

My brothers and my sisters, some of us, maybe all of us, we have come to this convention and we have been moved and we made the decision for forgiveness, asking Allah for forgiveness and repentance.

Let me tell you this: Allah in the Day of Judgment, inshallah, we'll have this time that we spent together in our book in the Day of Judgment. And the commitment we made for repentance, it will be inshallah as a turning point in our life when we meet Allah.

Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم - ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam) said to us: There's a man in the Day of Judgment came and stood before Allah, and Allah reminded him of his sins and they gave him his book. And looked at the book and he saw all his sins and became worried: I'm doomed, that's it.

Then Allah reminded that person: Didn't you repent? Perhaps maybe in ICNA-MAS convention? Didn't you repent?

Said: Oh Allah, yes I repented.

Said: Look to your book again.

He looked at the book and every bad deeds became good deeds. Allah replaced them. Those are the ones Allah replaces their bad deeds, and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Allah said we'll replace the bad deeds with good deeds.

To the extent the man said: Oh Allah, there's some sins here in the book, first time I did not see them. I committed them in America but I didn't see them here. Because he wanted them to become good deeds.

Closing Dua

May Allah forgive my sin and your sin.

May Allah make us happy when we meet him.

May Allah reward those who have gathered us in this convention.

May Allah reward the volunteers, the organizers.

May Allah make Ramadan a beautiful month for all of us.

May Allah accept our repentance.

Ameen