Blessings from the Outbreak

Blessings from the Outbreak - Khutbah by Mufti Menk

Opening Khutbah

My brothers and sisters, we praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon all conditions. And we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم), his household, his companions. May Allah bless every one of us too and protect us from all evil.

Drawing Closer to Allah

My brothers and sisters, the first reminder as usual is the reminder to draw closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to become closer to Allah as the days pass. For indeed, every passing day is a day closer to the day that we will be meeting with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

My brothers and sisters, calamity strikes, difficulty was promised by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to humankind. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says He will test us and He will continue to test us with various tests. However, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has told us that He has favored us in ways that we will never ever know.

He has favored us in ways we will never be able to gather if we were to try and count them. Listen to what Allah says:

If you were to count the favors of Allah upon you, you will never be able to count them all. And indeed, man is not only oppressive, but ungrateful too.

May Allah not make us from among those who are ungrateful. So my brothers and sisters, in every difficulty and every hardship, there is always a silver lining.

Finding Ease in Hardship

There is always ease. In fact, there is more ease than hardship in every difficult situation. Take a look at those, even the non-believers who have succeeded in this worldly life that is very temporary.

Many times we hear of how they had failed initially and as a direct result of that failure, they ended up in a place where they succeeded in an unimaginable way. Many have dropped out of colleges and then succeeded. Many have lost in business and then succeeded.

Many have been fired from their employment and then succeeded. Wasn't this Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who knew and knows the future always? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy for us to

comprehend and understand. We are definitely going through challenging times across the globe at the moment.

But my brothers and sisters, a lot of goodness has come out of this. What I've learned from COVID-19 is something amazing. Yes, as difficult as it is and as much as it pains us to see those affected and to see it spreading and to see the toll rising and many people losing their lives on a daily basis, as much as it pains us and we keep praying and we keep trying, let's look at some of the positives.

Spiritual Awakening

Firstly, the favors of Allah upon us are great, my brothers and sisters. Many people have developed a better relationship with Allah than ever before in their lifetimes. People have realized the presence of Allah, the reality of where we're heading, how temporary this life is and how quickly it can actually be taken away.

We are definitely going somewhere. Where? Well, Allah has told us the one who created us in the first place. He is the one who will resurrect us and He is the one who will take care of us.

Subhanallah, it is something amazing. People are starting to ponder over the Almighty for the first time. Those who've never had belief, those who've been weak in their belief are starting to think about the Almighty, starting to turn to Him.

People who've never prayed have started praying. People who've never thought about being modest are now taking it more seriously. People who've never thought about the prohibitions and why they are there have now started staying away from these prohibitions.

Is this not, in a way, part of the favors of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Let's take a look at the first point. Gaining closeness to Allah, how many of you, and let's be honest, have become more conscious of Allah as a result of what's going on, as a result of witnessing the helplessness of everybody across the board, as a result of witnessing a virus that we cannot see with the naked eye spread like wildfire across the globe. How many of us have become closer to the Almighty, developed a consciousness upon levels that never was within our own hearts, minds, bodies, and systems.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us goodness. So every time there is a negativity, whenever we get closer to Allah because of that negativity in our lives, it is actually the favor of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is why sometimes when we're distant from Allah, Allah taps us out of His love.

A reminder to say, turn to me. I am the supreme. I made you in the first place. I created you. I've provided the basics for you and at times even more than the basics. You're going to come back to me and I'm the one who's going to take care of you forever and ever.

Subhanallah. All praise is due to Allah. Glory be to Allah. Alhamdulillah. La ilaha illallah. None is worthy of worship besides the Maker, the Nourisher, the Cherisher, the Sustainer, the Provider, the Protector, the Curer, the One in whose hands lies absolute control of everything in existence.

Rabbul Alameen. Allah Almighty. My brothers and sisters, how many of us have started praying five times a day, even if it means simply the farad, that which is compulsory.

Make no mistake, more than any other act of worship, the Almighty loves those acts that He has made compulsory upon us. That's why He made these acts compulsory, subhanallah, because He loves them so much. So even if we have started with only that which is obligatory or farad, we have succeeded to a great degree and Allah's favor is manifest and clear.

Family Connections

My brothers and sisters, let's take a look at another favor of Allah. What I've learned from COVID-19 is amazing. Many families have never spent time together before. It is the first time that they are actually connected and connecting and spending time and getting to know each other and sacrificing with one another.

Isn't that a favor of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Many have not been eating together as a family and for the first time, they are not only eating together but even praying together. MashaAllah tabarakallah.

How many of us have not been regular when it comes to attending the masjid and now that the masajid are restricted in most countries of the world, how many of us are praying in congregation within our homes? As much as we were restricted when it comes to congregating in the mosques, we have now developed congregations within our own homes, livened up the house. Listen to the hadith. The Prophet peace be upon him has always told us:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 780)

Don't ever allow your houses to degenerate into something similar to graves.

What is meant by this is, don't let your houses be void of acts of worship. Praise Allah in your houses. Worship Allah in your houses. Ask Allah's goodness in your houses. Engage in acts of worship in your houses and more than anything else, pray, pray in your houses. So if we were to pray together in our houses, we have for the first time understood this hadith and narration of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him.

Character Development

My brothers and sisters, yes, a lot of patience is required when we are getting acquainted with our own family members. At times people become irritated and agitated at their own spouses or children or siblings or parents or those whom they are living with. It's our time to shine, to prove your character and conduct.

Didn't you hear the Prophet peace be upon him say:

The best from amongst you are those who are best to their family members, starting with your own spouse. [Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3895]

This you should be knowing off by heart by now, but it's not good to just know it off by heart without practicing upon it. So go out of your way. It's your time to shine, smile at those you live with, look at them with the eyes of love and affection, mercy, goodness, help out, assist in the home, share the chores. For the first time we are able to do this. Isn't that a silver lining? Isn't that the ease that has come with this difficulty?

Appreciation of Blessings

My brothers, my sisters, let's take a look at how many things have been taken for granted during the normal times that we had.

Subhanallah, we've become more conscious of hygiene, of cleaning up after us. Isn't that a favor of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Yes, it should not lead to the point of OCD, but my brothers and sisters, isn't it a favor of Allah that we have become more conscious of cleanliness when the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him always told us:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 223)

Cleanliness is half of your iman.

Subhanallah. It is a large portion of your faith.

My brothers and sisters, haven't we become more conscious of Allah to the degree that we are taking revelation more seriously? How many of us did not give much time to the Quran, revelation, the word of Allah, and today we are reading verses, at times more than just a few verses. How many of us are improving when it comes to the quality of our recitation and pronunciation of the verses of the Almighty in the Holy Quran?

My brothers and sisters, for those of us who have not yet started that, it is the Almighty who is giving us a chance, a favor. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants us to utilize our time in a very productive way.

So don't waste your time. It is an opportunity. The ease in the difficulty is manifest. It is very clear. How many of us are eating healthy meals now, that which is not a simple takeaway? Not to say the takeaways are always bad, but at times we haven't had the opportunity to eat within our own homes, that which is cooked by our own hands or the hands of our loved ones. Here we have an opportunity.

Don't forget to thank those who are serving you and learn to serve them in other ways. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us more conscious of those who have dedicated their lives for us.

Humanity's Response

Isn't it one of the favors of Allah when we witness entire humanity put aside all their differences in order to save lives? When humanity is being affected, then we see the reality of saving one another and serving

one another.

Isn't that part of the verse of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when He says:

The one who has saved a single life is similar to he or she who has saved humanity at large.

How many Muslims have lost their lives saving the lives of other human beings irrespective of their religion, their race, their nationality, etc. Is this not a favor of Allah? Does this not show us that life is sacred as Allah has always taught?

How many are reaching out to the poor? I know of many people who are paying their employees even though they are not coming to work either a full salary or a portion of the salary simply because the employer can afford that which the employee cannot, especially in countries and in situations where it is a hand-to-mouth scenario.

May Allah bless such people. What beautiful thoughts, what lovely gestures, subhanAllah. My brothers, my sisters, isn't this showing who we are and who we are supposed to be?

Acts of Kindness

How many have started feeding their neighbors and looking out for them? Isn't that something we learn from this COVID-19? How many have started looking out for those in need and reaching out to them with food hampers? It is amazing my brothers and sisters, I've seen people receive food hampers and then share the same food hampers with others around them who do not have as much.

Isn't that a show of the purity and goodness of the heart? May Allah purify our hearts even further so that we worship none but Him. Ameen.

My brothers and sisters, how many of us have appreciated our mothers and fathers? How many of us have appreciated our guardians, those whom we lived with? How many of us have gone out to seek forgiveness from those who have wronged us or whom we have wronged, subhanAllah, and forgiven them wholesale thinking about how short life is.

Life is too short to hold grudges. Life is too short to hold things in your heart and your mind that are negative. Let go, let go. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will cause the mountain on your shoulder to come crumbling down. You will feel so good. How many of us have already done that? How many of us have purified the heart?

Like I said earlier, engaging in the recitation of the Qur'an and the other remembrance of Allah as we've always said, those who truly believe it is only the remembrance of Allah that fills the heart with contentment, nothing else.

How many of us have developed conviction that is far stronger than ever before? My brothers and sisters, is that not a favor of Allah?

Prophetic Medicine and Remedies

Similarly, my brothers and sisters, how many of us have appreciated the nutrients in the home, remedies that we have, the foods and the different types of spices and all else that we have even within the homes? Many of us did not know the value of black seed before this day. Many of us did not appreciate prophetic medicine before this day.

How many of us have started looking in to prophetic medicine with conviction and appreciating the fact that we were sent the greatest of creation, Muhammad ibn Abdullah s.a.w. How many have now appreciated that we are favored to be from the ummah or the followers of Muhammad s.a.w. Look at the remedies he has suggested to us and he has asked us to take seriously not only the black seed and not only the olive oil, but so many other things.

Subhanallahi rabbil alameen. I invite you, my brothers and sisters, to go through the prophetic medicine and see perhaps you may be suffering with an ailment, the cure of which is in your house, in your home, perhaps in the cupboard, right in your kitchen, but you did not know. Subhanallah, I have learned to appreciate more than ever before prophetic medicine, although I was aware of it and yes, we believed it and practiced upon it, but the conviction has strengthened to degrees I've never imagined.

My brothers and sisters, scores of people have spoken about how they've been helped in eradicating the symptoms of this particular virus that has taken the globe by storm by simply following some of the sunnah, remedies taught by the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. How many of us now appreciate the remedies our mothers taught us and the older people taught us? Subhanallah, for the first time we're taking turmeric and coriander a little bit more seriously than before. For the first time we're looking at the medicinal properties of those things that are within our own storage in our homes.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us appreciate that which is very accessible to us. I sit and I look at the hadith and the statement of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, wherein he says that the Almighty has always sent a cure before a disease has come onto the earth. It's only that we don't know or we haven't reached that particular cure.

Sometimes it is right in our homes and we don't even know. My brothers and sisters, something I learned as well from COVID-19, when the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, tells us about protecting your health and giving up bad habits and never developing those bad habits in the first place. If we did not take that seriously, is this not a time when we've seen that he was speaking the truth all along? Subhanallah, give up your smoking habits, give up the drugs and the intoxicants, give up the alcohol, give up all that will destroy your health.

Divine Mercy and Protection

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

"Don't kill yourselves, for indeed, Allah is most merciful with you."

He also says:

"Don't ever throw yourselves into your own destruction or demise or death. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continues by saying, do good, وَأَحْسِنُوا For indeed, Allah loves those who do good."

The first verse literally means don't kill yourselves. This does that prohibit suicide, but anything that is harmful and dangerous to you and your life is prohibited. Allah says don't do it, don't engage in it, don't participate in it, even if it is in small doses. For indeed, the mercy of Allah is far greater. The second verse that I had recited, Allah is saying, don't ever throw yourselves into your own destruction or demise or death.

Brothers and sisters, we've learned all of this, more so right now with this issue, the disease that is spreading across the globe. May Allah protect us all and cause it to be eradicated as soon as possible. Ameen.

Flexibility in Worship

My brothers and sisters, has Allah not blessed us and favored us? Yes, Allah has taught us different ways of praying. If you cannot stand and pray, you sit and pray.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1117)

"Pray standing. If you cannot, you may sit down. And if you cannot do that, then lying down, you still pray."

From this, we learn the mercy of Allah. Allah says, fast during the month of Ramadan. If you are unwell, you don't need to fast, you can make it up later. And if you are traveling, or you're going through hardship and difficulty, and you are unable to fast, you may make it up, perhaps outside the month of fasting. Isn't that the mercy of Allah? The same would apply when it comes to praying in congregation in the masjid. Subhanallah.

Like I said, right at the beginning, how many of us have started congregations in our own homes? Perhaps it's the favor of Allah. Maybe He wanted us to multiply the numbers of congregations, and that is what would have been of essence. Nobody has stopped praying.

That's what I've learned. In fact, more people are praying. And subhanallah, Allah says, don't ever throw yourselves into destruction.

Unity in Diversity

Obviously, we see the difference of opinion among the scholars. And what we ask the scholars to do during difficult times like these is to show solidarity by respecting the opinions of one another, even in disagreement. Is that not a favor of Allah? Not every country is going through this particular disease in the same way because the magnitude of it differs from country to country.

Some have already gone through the worst, and others have only started. Some may never see such bad days, but it doesn't mean that we should not take precautions. Taking precautions is obviously one of the favors of Allah.

He has granted man the intellect, and He says that, you know what? Within what the Almighty has ordained, you must make sure that you've used your intellect, and you must make sure that you have taken every precaution possible to protect yourself. And this is why something in the Arabic language known as (الْأَخْذُ بِالْأَسْبَابِ - al-akhdhu bil-asbab) to do that, which would lead towards something you want to achieve. If you would like to earn money, well, you need to get up and do something about it and work very hard.

Then whatever Allah has written will come for you. But if you were lazy and didn't do anything claiming that the Almighty is my maker, then you were foolish. You did not understand the plan of Allah.

The same rule applies to taking precautions. People should not sit back and say, this is a joke. While they are seeing those in other countries die, being affected and even in their own countries, it's not a joke, my brothers and sisters.

We must take things seriously. And taking it seriously, taking every precaution is part of your faith in Allah. Isn't that a favor of Allah? When the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, tells us to stay away from a person who has a contagious illness, what was he talking about? He was talking about these precautions.

Not that it means your faith is weak in Allah. In fact, it is very strong. But taking precautions is part of understanding the plan of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Hope and Mutual Support

My brothers and sisters, there are so many favors of Allah that we can count when it comes to COVID-19. The difficulties that we are facing, they are there. But the ease and the goodness that has come out and will come out far greater.

Our lives will change forever. The way we look at things will change and has already changed forever. But my brothers and sisters, if we have become better people, if we are closer to the Almighty, we've learned to reach out to others and appreciate the value of life.

And the opportunities that the Almighty has given us to worship Him, then indeed we have succeeded. My brothers and sisters, it's not all doom and gloom. There is so much of goodness.

The best of man has come out. I recall at the beginning of the crisis, a lot of people unfortunately were overtaken by panic and they went into what was known as panic buying. But very quickly as this spread rapidly, they began to share what they had and sharing is definitely caring.

For indeed when you share goodness with someone, the Almighty will care for you. Like we've heard before:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2699)

"Allah continues to help His slave as long as that slave continues to help another."

So my brothers and sisters, have we not seen people give hope to others, reach out to others with a good word, make them smile, be charitable. Is all this not part of the good that has come out of the situation? Subhanallah, I ask you to speak to people giving them good guidance, giving them good words, words of positivity. The world needs to be positive at the moment. We need to have hope, hope in the mercy of Allah, hope in the greatness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

He will intervene, He has intervened, He shall intervene. There are people who've been through worse than this in history, and they've come out. The difference here is today, reaching the east from the west would take you no more than a day.

And for that reason, this virus has spread like never before. And this is why we say we are in it together, because we are in it together. We've got to take this seriously with the mercy of Allah, with the help from Allah, using whatever capacity has been bestowed upon us by Allah, whatever restrictions that need to be put in place.

Inshallah, we will be over this very, very soon. Learn to speak to people giving them hope, encouraging them, praying for them, and do that which is definitely filled with wisdom. Do that which is responsible, my brothers and sisters.

Closing

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless every one of us. I say this. May Allah's peace, mercy, and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad. May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you.