Powerful reminder to StaySafeStayHome

Powerful reminder to #StaySafeStayHome - Khutbah by Mufti Menk

Opening Khutbah

My beloved brothers and sisters, the most important instruction given by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to the believers is the instruction ittaqullah, which means develop taqwa, and taqwa is the consciousness of the almighty, your maker. Think about who your maker is, why he made you and where you are going to go at the end of your life.

Develop the correct relationship with Allah, that too is included in the meaning of the term ittaqullah. Fear Allah is also included in the meaning of the term. It's a very very important instruction delivered by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for you and I. My brothers, my sisters, the date today is the 27th of March 2020.

A Different Friday

It is a Friday. We are very saddened that most of us will not be able to fulfill salatul jumu'ah, the Friday prayers in the houses of Allah or the masajid. With a very heavy heart, I must say this is not a Friday sermon, but it is a khutbah simply as a remembrance and a reminder.

Allah says remind for indeed the reminding benefits the true believers.

So if you're a true believer, let's take a look at what's going on across the globe today. We have lots of hope and inshallah, we will come out of this by the will of Allah.

There is nothing to panic about but we are definitely facing challenges. Many people are unwell. Some are struggling for their lives. Some have passed away. Although the percentage of those who have passed away is very little. We cannot risk infecting people.

Prophetic Guidance on Staying Home

So the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him told us more than 1400 years ago to stay at home. Today if you were to look at what the rich and the poor are saying, they are saying stay safe, stay at home. The wealthy are saying that, the poor are saying that, the powerful are saying that, the weak are saying that, people of all races and religions are saying stay safe, stay at home.

People from all walks of life, the most healthy from amongst us as well as the sick. May Allah give them cure. They are all saying stay safe, stay at home.

Did you know that Aisha radiallahu anha in a hadith narrated by Imam Bukhari rahmatullahi alaih. She says I asked the messenger about plagues and he said that if you were to stay at home, this is speaking about the stay safe, stay at home. If you were to stay at home and you were to bear patience, then you would be given a reward similar to that of a martyr.

Amazing! That is telling us to stay at home and bear patience. Why bear patience? Because it's going to be difficult to stay at home. We're not used to staying at home.

Look at the wealthy with all their wealth. They have to stay at home. The safest place at the moment is with your loved ones at home or at times if you don't have loved ones around you, stay within your accommodation, within your home.

May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala make it easy for us. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam says in another narration that a sick person should not enter into the company of a person who is healthy and this is part of laying full trust in Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. When you lay your trust in Allah, you need to do whatever you can in terms of what you believe is best for you.

That would mean make an effort to do that which is beneficial for you, that which is most beneficial for you, make an effort to do that which is most beneficial for you and seek the help of Allah in that and don't be lazy.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2664)

Don't be lazy. Do whatever you have to, to be benefited, to be protected.

May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala protect us. In another narration, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam tells us that if you hear of a plague, don't go to that place and if you are in the place then don't come out of the place to the degree that the narration of Imam Ahmad says. Don't go out of your house and that would mean don't let anyone else into your house.

Talk about a lockdown, talk about self-isolation, talk about the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, in fact his instructions. So my brothers and sisters, we have just seen that no matter who you are, where you are, what you have, how powerful you are, what nationality you are, everyone is saying stay safe. Stay at home.

La ilaha illallah.

The Three-Part Hadith on Safety

Let me draw your attention to another issue regarding staying safe. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was asked:

How can we achieve safety? How can we be saved?

Okay, obviously when the question was asked, it is a broad question. How can I be saved from what? Primarily we would want to be saved from the hellfire, but it would mean saved from any difficulty, calamity, hardship, etc. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said:

The first thing from a three-point hadith. He says control your tongue.

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2406)

Watch out what you say. Watch out how you communicate with people. Remember today it would translate into any form of communication.

So even if you are to use your phones or the internet to communicate with people, be careful what you say, what you forward, what you are actually letting people know regarding whatever it may be. Control what you say to people. People are spreading fake news.

Number one. Number two is people are swearing. The hadith says control your tongue.

My beloved youngsters, teenagers, adults and even some of the oldies, the F word has become so common that people are using it without even thinking that it is a swear word anymore. Whereas it is and it will remain so. Stop it.

Replace it with the remembrance of Allah. Say a good word at least so that it's not written against you. People are using their phones in a very immoral way.

Please don't do that. Remember all this will come against you one day unless you turn to Allah and it's not too late. We don't want to regret my brothers and sisters.

You want to be saved. You want safety. Watch what you say. Watch how you say it. Watch to who you are saying it and watch how you spread it. May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala protect every one of us.

So that is the first point, communication. You want to be safe even within your own home. Be careful how you're using technology. Don't look at that which is immoral or that which will displease Allah. Don't say that which will displease Allah, but do that which will please the Almighty. It's not difficult.

Be strong. Don't be dissolved by the trends when the trends are wrong, but join a good trend by the will of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala.

So the second part of that hadith speaking about safety and how to stay safe and how to be secure and how to be saved is:

Amazing, amazing. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam says stay at home.

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2406)

walyastaka baytuka actually means your house, your home should be spacious enough for you not to leave it unnecessarily. Spend time with your loved ones, with your folks, whoever may be there, you know quality

time.

Imagine this hadith was not even mentioned at the time of a plague, but it's being spoken about generally. Watch your tongue, stay at home to be saved. So stay safe, stay at home is actually an Islamic concept.

Definitely instructed by the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him more than 1400 years back. The hadith مَا النَّجَاةُ He says or the question was asked, how can we stay safe? He says stay at home, subhanallah. He says watch your tongue, watch what you say, do something constructive brothers and sisters.

There are millions of ways of doing constructive things while you're at home, while you're at home. I am doing this right now. I'm speaking to you from Zimbabwe, in the corner of my own home with facilities that are very minimum in a way that I just made use of whatever I have to reach out to you across the globe for the pleasure of Allah to give you hope.

The good days are very very near:

I give you good news. The Quran says indeed the help of Allah is very very near.

I give you good news. The Quran says indeed the help of Allah is very very near.

Let's cry to Allah. Let us seek the forgiveness of Allah. It brings me to the third part of that three-part hadith I was speaking about. The first one says control your tongue. I explained that. The second one says your home should be spacious enough for you not to leave it unnecessarily.

I spoke about that too very briefly. And the third part says:

Cry over your mistakes, your sins. Make sure you seek the forgiveness of Allah.

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2406)

Make peace with the Almighty. My brothers, my sisters, we must make peace with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Seek the forgiveness of Allah.

He is the most forgiving, most merciful, most kind, most compassionate. He is the owner of cure. My brothers and sisters, people are going through a lot across the globe.

Balance Between Fear and Hope

The hadith speaks about Iman and faith, conviction in Allah being a balance between Khawth and Raja:

True belief in the Almighty is the balance between fear and hope.

Fear of what? Fear of displeasing the one you ought to be loving the most who is Allah. When you have a loved one, you don't want to actually do something that will displease him. So the fear of doing something that will displease Allah, خوف the fear of earning the wrath or the anger of your loved one. That is

And الرجاء means hope. I hope in the mercy of Allah. Have full hope my brothers and sisters. We hope in his mercy. We hope in his forgiveness. We hope in the cure that he has sent.

And inshallah, he has definitely been merciful to us. Let these days count and don't count the days. It's not important how many days we remain in quarantine.

It's not important how many days we remain in lockdown. It is important if we made those days count by being from amongst those who made the most of it. Join online classes.

Expand the knowledge of your deen, your religion. Who is Allah? Expand the knowledge of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Expand the knowledge even of worldly secular knowledge.

Expand it somehow. Join the courses. Join whatever you can. Many people are giving free courses online. Many people have made for free whatever they had been charging for. It is a time to reach out to humanity.

Not to make money out of humanity. It is a time to think of those in the third world countries who do not have the facilities of the first world. It is a time to think of your neighbors who don't have.

It is a time to reach out with the little droplet that you have. It brings me to the sahabah who used to share everything so much so that Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala praises them so much in the Quran:

They actually gave preference to others over themselves though they were in desperate need of what they gave away.

How many of us are doing this? I do know of a lot of medical staff, emergency staff, many others, those in some of the grocery stores, those drivers, those who are around who have risked their lives for the sake of the safety and the service of others during these times.

La ilaha illallah, may Allah recompense you with an amazing reward. May He protect you and your loved ones.

The Power of Prayer

Similarly, if we were to pray for others Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala will definitely grant us part of what we are praying for, for ourselves. So if you say may Allah cure them, may Allah protect them, may Allah protect them from this virus and cure them, the angels will be saying, oh Allah grant this person the same. So we are protected by merely making dua for others.

It shows we should not be selfish at a time like this. My brothers and sisters, there is no need to panic, but there is need to take this seriously. There is a very big difference between panicking and taking things seriously.

Yes, people are affected. Yes, people have been diagnosed. Yes, the numbers are increasing. Yes, people are dying. Yes, there are many who are being cured. The good news is that the majority do not have life-threatening symptoms, but they still do have the virus.

May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala protect us from it. So remember we have been blessed with a deen, with a religion that has taught us so much. If only we were to flip the pages of the books, we would definitely be able to appreciate what we have.

Islamic Teachings for Modern Times

I promise you there are people who don't belong to our faith, who are promoting the teachings of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. Some of these teachings are social distancing to a certain extent. Some of these teachings are cleansing and washing thoroughly.

Some of these teachings are covering yourself appropriately. Some of these teachings happen to be reaching out to those in need and caring for the elderly and the others, make use of technology, call your loved ones and reach out to them in the best possible way.

There are so many teachings my brothers, my sisters, like I spoke about the lockdown. I spoke about the self-quarantine or self-isolation. All these terms are from the hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. Musnad al-imam Ahmad, sahih al-jamia, sahih al-bukhari.

These books of hadith have made mention of the ahadith during plagues and we know that we should never ever be vehicles to spread this. May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala grant us cure. So this issue of stay safe, stay at home.

Not only would you be staying safe by not contracting it from others, but if you do have it, you would not be putting others lives at risk, not knowing who they are, what their immune system is or is like and not knowing their age, etc. This is why the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said, always remember the safest place is with your loved ones at home. May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala help us appreciate our loved ones.

Family Guidance

Remember take turns to do the chores and the tasks at home as per the instruction of the Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam. Be kind to your loved ones. Be very very generous and don't allow tempers to flare.

Watch your tongue. Watch your tongue because when you are going to be in lockdown or self-isolation or within your home staying home and staying safe, you will be seeing your children, your loved ones and things will be said that may not be so palatable to you sometimes. Don't lose your cool.

It's the wrong time to become angry and upset. My brothers and sisters, be calm with each other. Be patient, learn what the other is all about.

Some of us will only be finding out more of our spouses and loved ones for the first time in our lives. We've been given the opportunity to sit together, to smile at each other, to look with affection into the eyes of your loved ones, to tell them how dear they are to you, to tell them how much you love them:

The Prophet peace be upon him says the best from amongst you are those who are best to his or her family members.

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3895)

Beginning with your spouse, be kind, be patient, solve your problems, resolve your matters. Be forgiving during these times.

Remember, nobody knows who is going to make it out of this. Although what we do know, Inshallah, the vast majority are definitely going to make it out of this. But Allah is testing us to show us, Oh man, you are totally helpless.

Everything you found on this earth will not help you besides your connection with me. The only all-powerful is Allah. Look at the most powerful nations across the globe struggling.

They are on their knees. May Allah make it easy for one and all. At this juncture, we must say that it's not to do with your race or your religion, with your nationality or how much wealth you have.

It's to do with the fact that you're a human being. We're all fighting this enemy that we cannot even see. Imagine it's brought us to our knees and it's shown us how helpless we are.

Remember my brothers and sisters, you came to this world without a single thing. You didn't even have clothing. People put it on you. When you leave this world, you will leave in a similar way. So live your life in such a way that when you leave, you will be missed because of the legacy, the positive legacy that you have left.

Final Reminders

I want to remind you once again, my brothers and sisters, let's watch our tongues. Let's be careful what we do online. Don't visit the sites that will earn the wrath of Allah. It might be the last set of sites that you would be visiting and you don't want that to happen.

Spend a moment to read the Quran, to learn your faith, to expand your knowledge in one way or another. Do good things. Give hope to people.

Yes, there is no harm in spending a bit of time in play and you should be spending some time in exercise and various other routines, perhaps write it down. You make sure that you are hydrated. Make sure that you are taking some immune boosting medication.

All of this is part of laying your trust in Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. For indeed, the true trust in Allah will only be when you have done whatever is in your God-given capacity to protect yourself, your loved ones and all others. Then you say, oh Allah, I did whatever I