Jumu'ah Khutbah - Mufti Menk

WITHOUT a LIFE VEST you won't SURVIVE! Jumu'ah Khutbah - Mufti Menk

Opening Verse

My beloved brothers and sisters, the verse that you just heard a moment ago was revealed, then one of the last verses that was revealed. Its message is profound and very important for every one of us not only to introspect but to actually follow very carefully on a daily basis. It is not possible that revelation is about to end and there is a verse revealed near the end and it does not hold importance.

That's not possible. It has to be extremely important. For example when the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam during his last few days on this earth when he was lying down one day explaining the sins and the bad things and reminding us the do's and the don'ts he got up and he warned us about our treatment of women.

Important. He got up he sat up and he reminded us about our treatment of women. Wallahi my brothers and sisters this verse that I just read before you is way more important than anything else we have heard we are hearing or we shall hear.

The Meaning of the Verse

Beware of the day in which you shall be returning to Allah. Watch out, be careful, be conscious of the day wherein which you shall be going back to Allah. Quran 2:281

الرجوع means to go back to which means we came from him.

We belong to Allah totally and we shall all return to Allah which means we were with Allah we are where Allah wants us and we are going to go back. Quran 2:156

Back is the word. Back is the word to Allah.

Preparing for the Return

So prepare for that day more than any other preparation. In this world it's easy for us to know what I need in order to have a plate of food in front of me in a few minutes time for lunch. I need to know I must work, I must try hard, I must earn, I must do something, I must get money enough to be able to have this small belly which capacity of which is perhaps one kilo to two maybe in Nigeria it might be a little bit more or a little bit less.

Subhanallah. It's the same throughout the globe depending it has an elasticity to it. When you get your stomach used to four kilos it will not be full except with four or more. When you get it used to one kilo it will be full with one you won't be able to put one and a half. That is man. We know what is required for us to survive and to breathe etc because we love life, dear life.

May Allah grant us Jannatul Firdaus. I want to be a person with wealth, I want to be a person with the latest, I want to follow the trends, I want to have the latest sense, the latest vehicles, the latest homes, the latest of everything. That is easy to understand because man is living.

He wants to show off but wallahi there are people who have everything in this world and they have not yet prepared for the day they are going to return to Allah. Be conscious of the day in which you are going to return to Allah. That is more important than anything else.

While you are on earth you may enjoy within the commands of Allah. You may do eat and drink and live and have some form of luxury to a degree that Allah has allowed but do not lose focus that you are going to go back to Allah. That's what Allah says.

Every Jumu'ah, many of the Fridays, the Imam will mention either this verse or a similar verse in meaning. Be careful of Allah. Be conscious of Allah. Be careful of your relationship with Allah. Watch out because you have no option but to return to Allah. Now I want to give you one example.

The Ocean Analogy

If you take a look at death as the deep dark sea, you take look as at death as though it is the ocean in front of you and if someone were to tell all of us, listen, every one of you is going to be thrown into the ocean. Every single one of you is going to have to be thrown into the ocean. What is the ocean depicting in what I am saying here? It's depicting death, okay? If you know you're going to be thrown into the ocean, say we are flying in an aircraft and at some point the engines are perhaps packing up and perhaps they are making an announcement to say listen we are all going to have to jump underneath us is the Atlantic Ocean.

If a person says I can swim, is it good enough? Let's be honest, it's not good enough because it will help him for how long that ocean is huge. You will swim for how much? A hundred kilometers? You need food, you need energy, you need water. The water is salty, it may affect your skin, it will affect everything else.

It may be filled with whatever else. So what do you need? I tell you what you and I need. We need protective clothing.

We need inflatable clothing that has only air in it. Subhanallah, if you have a life vest they call it. What is in the life vest that will help you to float? Air! As simple as oxygen.

Air! Even if it is not oxygen. A lot of air will help you. Subhanallah, you breathe into that little inflating vest and you inflate it and you jump out.

If it is covering your whole body, you'll float for a few days until you are rescued. Now my job and yours is, wallahi my brothers and sisters, before you are thrown into the ocean, please put on that vest. Please put on that clothing.

Allah will protect you. Now let me give you the example of what I am saying. Before you go back to Allah through your death, please develop your iman and your relationship with Allah.

Please worship Allah alone. There is no chance of survival if you don't have it. Even if you are the best swimmer, you cannot survive in the deep dark sea because you are just a human.

Your energy levels will not allow you to swim beyond a certain point. You might want to say, I am the world champion. Go and check how much the world champion has actually swam in terms of length.

It's not more than a few kilometers, right? So my brothers and sisters, develop your iman. Worship Allah alone. Be very protective over what is known as your tawheed, your oneness of Allah, the believing in the oneness of Allah.

Worship him alone. That is called preparing for the day you're going to meet with Allah. Don't allow this world to deceive you into believing that you are just here to enjoy, to become popular and famous through anything and everything.

Some people become famous through sin and some people, they are famous in the heavens and they are not even known on earth. Because the angels write down their good deeds that they do in secret between them and Allah. May Allah grant us ease of preparation for the day we are going to meet with him.

The Love of Meeting Allah

And one hadith that I love to read and repeat and mention and talk about:

Hadith about Meeting Allah

(Sahih al-Bukhari Hadith 6507)

Whoever loves the meeting with Allah, Allah loves the meeting with that person too.

You want to meet Allah? Guess what? Allah wants to meet you. And how do I prepare for that day? I try my best.

I worship Allah alone. I follow the sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and I am protective over it. To be protective over the right things is something that will earn you Jannatul Firdaus.

What am I protective over? I am protective over my worship of Allah. I don't care what the world says. I worship Allah and Allah alone and I will not participate in something that is displeasing to Allah.

Secondly, I will make sure that whatever I do was taught by Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. What was the point of sending a messenger if the message he came with was not important or irrelevant or it was added on to or subtracted from?

We are very protective over the sunnah. We must stick to it. No matter what people say. They might laugh, they might scoff.

No problem. I am preparing. You know if you were to have that life vest on, imagine a lot of the times it is in a luminous color. People might laugh at you. What are you doing with this? But you know I'm preparing for the day we're going to be thrown into the ocean. They will still laugh at you.

Who said you are going to be thrown in the ocean? Well I'm giving you an example of Nuh alayhi salatu wa salam. When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told him after so many years that oh Nuh, your people are not going to accept Iman anymore. None of them are going to believe except those who are there already.

That's a verse in the Quran. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said to him that you can prepare by building an ark in or on land, deep inside. He started building a ship inside, not even close to the coast.

People were laughing at him for two reasons. Number one, they said Ya Nuh, you were telling us about Allah all along. Now you suddenly became a carpenter.

That was one point. The second one, they told him if you want to build a ship, you rather do it near the coast. You would rather do it near the coast than to do it right in the middle of the city or somewhere inside.

But he knew from Allah what they did not know. They laughed, they scoffed. Guess what happened at the end? In the end they were the ones who lost. Nuh alayhi salatu wa salam was the one. He was saddled but he was the one who was saved. The same applies to us.

The Struggle of Prophets

Islam when it started off, right at the beginning, remember the worship of Allah, from the time of Adam alayhi salatu wa salam, coming down, all the prophets of Allah, look at them. They struggled and suffered. They were in a minority, almost all cases.

Ibrahim alayhi salatu wa salam, Allah describes him as an ummah. We've heard that verse I'm sure. Ibrahim, Allah describes him as a whole nation. There were only four or five people with him at one stage. At the beginning only one, two. His nephew, his wife etc.

That's it. Who was right, who was wrong? Allahu Akbar. The whole world was wrong.

He was right and who succeeded up to this day? The billions of people out there who are following the Abrahamic religions. Where did they get from? How did it come down? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

grant us the ability to do the right thing even if people are laughing at us. So my brothers and sisters, beware of the day you are going to return to Allah and to meet with Allah.

That is the day, that is the preparation. Here on earth we prepare, we have things, we have salaries, we have promotions, we educate ourselves which is important for many years. I think for 25 years before you get your master's or even just your first degree at university.

25 years of education in order to live for another 25 years, then you are retired. Subhanallah. Allah tells you, we won't take that much of your time.

We just need you to worship us alone, fulfill your salah, be dedicated. As a human where you falter, seek forgiveness of Allah. That is a great way of preparing for the day you are going to meet with Allah.

Seeking Forgiveness

Seek forgiveness of Allah. Every day, seek forgiveness. You are a human, you have made mistakes.

The other human beings have also made mistakes. Those better than you and I have made mistakes. What did they do? They sought the forgiveness of Allah.

Starting from the beginning, Adam alayhi salatu wasalam. This is another very powerful motivation for us. When Allah told Adam and Eve, may Allah's peace and blessings be on them.

When Allah told them something, He says, do not consume from this tree. Don't even go close to this tree. Everything else you can do.

Do whatever you want, wherever you want, however you want in this place. One thing, don't do. That was the only thing Allah told Adam, who knew Allah personally.

He was created by Allah Himself. Allah told him, don't eat from this tree. A consolation for you and I is that He did exactly what He was told not to do.

Not to say we should be doing what we are told not to do. But immediately thereafter, he sought the forgiveness of Allah and Allah forgave him.

Therefore, if you and I fall, not intentionally and not to defy Allah, but by the mistake of humankind, by the plot of the devil, if we fell to it, wallahi, if you seek the forgiveness of Allah, He will wipe it out in such a way that it will not even be mentioned on the day of Qiyamah.

It will be gone. True tawbah is actually converted into good deeds on the right side of the scale, according to the Quran. Allah is not only forgiving, but on top of that, He is merciful.

You did wrong. You said, oh Allah, forgive me. He's not only forgiving.

Okay, I forgive you. But He gives you on top of that more. That's Allah.

The others are not like that. There will be no mention of your sin once it's gone. It's wiped out.

It's over. It's history. The angels are made to forget it.

Doing Good Deeds in Secret

But prepare for the day. Prepare for that day by seeking the forgiveness of Allah every day, by doing good deeds in secret between you and Allah. Many of us, we have, we want to show.

This business of showing off is a disease that has taken over the globe, primarily because of the availability of social media. We want to show everyone, so much so that the majority, sorry to say this, the majority show off what is not even theirs. That's what they are doing.

Subhanallah, I was reading a law in one of the Scandinavian countries that they have passed or they are in the process of passing, where you are not allowed to use filters for your face, because you must show people reality. It's causing depression amongst normal human beings. They are all thinking, what's wrong with my face? But even the one you are comparing your face with in real life, your face is way better than that person's face.

But you don't know the filter they are using. Subhanallah. They are trying to develop contact lenses, where in which you automatically see with a filter.

They can keep on dreaming. We don't mind a few pimples on the face. We are human beings.

We don't mind a few blemishes here and there. You don't need to look perfect. Perfection is for Allah and perfection will be for Jannatul Firdaus.

This world is full of imperfections. If this world was perfect, what was the point of creating Jannatul Firdaus? My brothers and sisters, don't be deceived by this world. Life is very short.

You and I will die very very soon. Just put on that life vest. Just put on that life vest.

Turn back to Allah. Worship Him alone. Keep trying.

Seek the forgiveness of Allah. Do not let Shaitaan make you become despondent because you have sinned in the past. No.

No matter how much you did, it's never too late for as long as you are breathing. Seek the forgiveness of Allah. You will also be a friend of Allah.

Begin to look forward to the day you are going to meet with Allah. Imagine if I am impressed by creation. La ilaha illa Allah.

Look at the beauty that Allah has made. What about the beauty of Allah Himself? May Allah grant us the sweetness of looking at Him on the day of Qiyamah and beyond in the Akhirah. In Jannatul Firdaus actually.

The Message and Accountability

So my brothers and sisters, this was my message for myself and for all of us today. To say every time we hear this verse, Be mindful of the day in which you shall be returning to Allah. Then each person will be getting back a recompense of everything that they have earned themselves.

They will not be wronged. No one will wrong you. You will be told, read your own book.

You are sufficient against yourself as a person who will bear witness and take account. It's okay. You read your own deeds.

One day I posted online to say that when you create a video and post it on online, on the day of judgment you will be shown your own video. That's what I said. Someone in the comments said that, how do you know what Allah is going to do? It's a verse of the Quran.

Ayah about Reading Your Own Book

Allah says, I will give you your books. read your own book. You are sufficient against yourself as an accountant. Quran 17:14

So when he gives you your deeds to see, that deed is going to be in there. It's going to be in there. You will see, oh I made this video.

Yes, yes. Look at this. Who is showing it to you? Allah.

So therefore create something that you will be proud of. Create something you will be proud of. When we sin, we sin in private.

When we do good deeds, we want everyone to know. You see me? I have done this and this and this. Let's do it in a way that even some of our good deeds are secret between you and Allah.

You know, Allah knows. That's it. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala really and truly have mercy on all of us.