Financial Rights of Those That Are Close

Financial Rights of Those That Are Close - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan

Opening Praise and Salutations

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ خَالِقِ الْوُجُوْدِ مِنَ الْعَدَمِ وَجَاعِلِ النُّوْرِ مِنَ الظَّلَامِ وَمُخْرِجِ الصَّبْرِ مِنَ الْأَلَمِ وَمَوْلَى التَّوْبَةِ عَلَى النَّدَمِ. فَنَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى الْمَصَائِبِ كَمَا نَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى النِّعَمِ وَنُصَلِّيْ عَلَى رَسُوْلِهِ الْأَكْرَمِ ذِيْ شَرَفِ الْأَشَامِ وَالنُّوْرِ الْأَتَمِ وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُحْكَمِ وَكَمَالِ النَّبِيِّيْنَ وَالْخَاتَمِ سَيِّدِ وَلَدِ آدَمَ، الَّذِيْ بَشَّرَ بِهِ عِيْسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَدَعَا لِبِعْثَتِهِ إِبْرَاهِيْمُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ حِيْنَ كَانَ يَرْفَعُ قَوَاعِدَ بَيْتِ اللهِ الْمُحَرَّمِ. فَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَلَى أَتْبَاعِهِ خَيْرِ الْأُمَمِ الَّذِيْنَ بَارَكَ اللهُ بِهِمْ كَافَّةَ النَّاسِ الْعَرَبَ مِنْهُمْ وَالْعَجَمِ

"[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has not taken a son and has no partner in the kingdom and has no protector out of humility; and glorify Him with [great] glorification."

"[All] praise is [due] to Allah, who has sent down upon His Servant the Book and has not made therein any deviance."

Standard Opening Formula

وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِيْ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِيْنُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ وَنَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُوْرِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْهُ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُ اللهِ وَرَسُوْلُهُ أَرْسَلَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى بِالْهُدَى وَدِيْنِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّيْنِ كُلِّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللهِ شَهِيْدًا فَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيْمًا كَثِيْرًا كَثِيْرًا أَمَّا بَعْدُ

فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيْثِ كِتَابُ اللهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَإِنَّ شَرَّ الْأُمُوْرِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِيْ النَّارِ

Opening Quranic Verse

: قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِيْ كِتَابِهِ الْكَرِيْمِ بَعْدَ أَنْ أَقُوْلَ أَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ

"Your Lord is most knowing of what is within yourselves. If you should be righteous [in intention] - then indeed He is ever, to the often returning [to Him], Forgiving. And give the relative his right, and [also] the poor and the traveler, and do not spend wastefully. Indeed, the wasteful are brothers of the devils, and ever has Satan been to his Lord ungrateful."

اَللَّهُمَّ لَا تَجْعَلْنَا مِنْ إِخْوَانِ الشَّيَاطِيْنِ رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِيْ صَدْرِيْ وَيَسِّرْ لِيْ أَمْرِيْ وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِيْ يَفْقَهُوْا قَوْلِيْ وَاللَّهُمَّ ثَبِّتْنَا عِنْدَ الْمَوْتِ بِلَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَاللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ آمَنُوْا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ آمِيْنَ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِيْنَ

Introduction to the Topic

Today's khutbah is dedicated to hopefully covering 25, 26, and 27 these ayah numbers of surah number 17 of the Qur'an, surah al-Isra. I started talking to you about these ayahs from ayah number 23 onwards and each time I do that I remind you that this is a the Qur'an's version of what you can call the 10

commandments given in previous scripture so the fundamental teachings of Islam when it comes to how we deal with Allah and how we deal with people around us so in part of that the first couple of ayahs were dedicated to parents and I talked about that a few times and then we get to ayah number 25 where Allah (عز وجل) stops before He gives us the next instruction and adds a point of reflection and that's a style of the Qur'an.

The Need for Self-Reflection

The Qur'an is not just a book of rules and teachings and tell you to do this and not do that because if you tell people to do something or not do something that alone by itself is not guidance because you can actually obey Allah or actually even manipulate the laws of Allah and get away with doing wrong so there's the outside of for example the act of prayer, take something simple, the act of prayer on the outside of it you have to have wudu, you have to face the right direction you have to pray the right number of rakahs you have to fulfill all of the components of the prayer and the prayer is done but if your heart's not in it then there's something seriously missing even though technically all the requirements were met.

So it can be that we obey the commandment of Allah in a way that people think that they obeyed it we obeyed it and we even think we obeyed it but there's something seriously missing in what we did, right, so and that's an act of worship but when it comes to dealings with people it gets even more difficult because if Allah says be the best you can be to your parents for example which is the ayat we were talking about then well somebody can lie to themselves and say well this is the best I can do right, because every person can come up with their own definition of what their best is, right, and then really not, not really push themselves further and create a lie for themselves and say well you know this is the most I can do well have we really questioned ourselves.

Allah Knows What's in Your Hearts

And that's why Allah, you know, incorporated perhaps this ayah before moving on to the next teaching, he says (رَّبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا فِي نُفُوسِكُمْ - Quran 17:25) your master knows better what's going on inside of yourselves, whether you're making an excuse for yourself, what's really going on with your life, what's really going on with your heart what you're really capable of, deep inside yourselves, Allah knows you better than you know you so he says you can make excuses to others, you can even lie to yourself, you can't lie to me, right, and people can actually even lie to themselves looking straight in the mirror, they can lie to themselves but you can't lie to Allah, so he says (رَّبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا فِي نُفُوسِكُمْ)

Another place in the Quran he says (فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنفُسَكُمْ - Quran 53:32) don't declare yourselves righteous, don't be self-righteous it also means don't assume that you're pure, like you don't need this instruction that's for other people, they have this problem thank God he's giving this talk or this reminder about this ayah, I know somebody who really needs it, like you're immune from it, it's everybody else who really

needs it, because your hands are clean of it, he says don't don't assume yourselves to be pure (هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَى - Quran 53:32) he knows better who has taqwa or who doesn't so don't wash your hands off of instructions as if it doesn't apply to me.

The Mentality of Assuming Others Need the Reminder

And we've developed this kind of unfortunately a subconscious mentality that when we hear something being talked about from Allah's book, in our mind immediately we have somebody in mind that could really use this man I wish they knew like it can't be us because we're good (الحمد لله), the fact that we're listening means we're only listening so we can have somebody else listen but not for ourselves, right so he says, your master knows what is really going on inside of yourselves, and he knows it better.

The Condition for Forgiveness

(إِن تَكُونُوا صَالِحِينَ فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ لِلْأَوَّابِينَ غَفُورًا - Quran 17:25) if in fact you are, good if in fact you are righteous, if you are doing the right thing he knows better than you do so don't give that sticker and that award to yourself, he's the one that's going to give that to you, and then he says (فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ لِلْأَوَّابِينَ غَفُورًا) and for those people who actually take a deep look at themselves, you know (أواب) means to come back so those who come back to themselves take an honest look at themselves and then turn back to Allah and say, ya Allah you're right I could be doing better and they have that honest conversation with Allah.

Allah says for people capable of doing that and they do that over and over, (أواب) it's a pattern in Arabic (فعال), this is called (الصيغة المبالغة التي تدل على التكرار) they say (خباز) for the baker because he makes bread over and over again they say (قصاب) for the butcher because he cuts over and over again Allah's name is (وهاب) because he gives gifts over and over again Allah's other name is (غفار) because he forgives over and over again here Allah says describing us if we are to make our way to His forgiveness He says (فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ لِلْأَوَّابِينَ غَفُورًا)

The Pattern of Continuous Self-Assessment

That pattern, what that means is people who check themselves and then again and then check themselves it's not like man I checked myself like a month ago, I'm good this tune up is a daily thing actually every salah is a kind of (أوبة) so they take a good look at themselves and say what can I fix they take a good look at themselves and say no no no, I could have done this better I could have said this better I could have acted in this way better I could have responded better I could have reacted better etc etc, they're constantly checking themselves and especially when it comes this occurs right after the mention of our parents so especially when it comes to our parents we need to keep checking ourselves and not sit back and say no I'm dealing with them the way they deserve it's something that needs revisiting over and over again as per the hint given in the ayah (فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ لِلْأَوَّابِينَ غَفُورًا)

Moving to Other Relationships

Then he moves on to other relationships so the first relationship was the parent relationship then he bunched all the other ones together so he says (وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَى حَقَّهُ - Quran 17:26) and he made this singular form he says, and you give those that have closeness literally means the possessors of closeness or the closest the possessors of the closest ties what this simply means is the people closest to you in your life which obviously means family and some have included more than family too people that are just very very close to you in your life your closest friends but it's obviously a circle that starts with blood.

(وَأُولُو الْأَرْحَامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلَى بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ - Quran 8:75) people that are tied to each other by the bonds of the womb are top priority in the book of Allah Allah says, so they come to each other they have first rights over each other so parents and children have already been addressed your parents have already been talked about now it's talking about your children it's talking about your siblings, it's talking about your uncles etc, etc, right, so those ties of blood grandparents, etc now we're dealing with them and dhul qurba then by extension includes the spouses then it includes the close relatives cousins, etc, etc so the circle keeps getting wider and wider.

Individual Responsibility for Family Ties

And he says to all of them he says (وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَى حَقَّة) and give the one that possesses that kind of closest relationship to you give them their right now because it's singular, some scholars argued that this may be talking to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and specifically telling him about his family, etc but actually if you look at the beginning of this surah or this passage (وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ - Quran 17:23) it was given to him, but by extension to all of us and the singular of it, what it suggests is, this is really important now when it comes to family relations.

The way your brother is dealing with your uncle is not standard for this family you know what we do? well we say well my other three brothers are dealing with it this way, I gotta deal with it this way too so we come up with kind of a group approach, you know a clan approach to dealing with certain relationships in the family, so if some members of the family said, we're not gonna talk to that cousin anymore, or we're not gonna talk to this uncle anymore, or this brother or this sister is an outcast, etc then because you're team A you're not gonna go against the group right, because you're kind of tied in with them, it kind of becomes a mafia inside the family, right, and the singular version is being used because you are responsible for your own ties, your own ties.

The Example of Divorce and Family Ties

I'll give you a complicated example for instance you have for example, divorces divorce is a very common phenomenon it was something that happened in the time of the Prophet and happened after that, it's a reality of life, so when divorce happens for example, sometimes it gets ugly and sometimes kids are caught in between and when kids are caught in between the mother might tell her kids well, he's no longer part of your life, so don't, you know and the kids have a resentment towards either the mother or

the father, it can happen and because they have a resentment towards the mother or father they're not talking to the mother or father and then by extension, they're blocking their entire family too, right so you're not talking to your dad, and then you're not talking to your grandma, or your grandpa, or your uncle, or your cousin, nobody, cause you know, cause mom's mad at them.

Well, that has nothing to do with mom you have blood ties, right and no matter what happens your dad is still your dad, your mom is still your mom and your mom will have whatever rights whatever her ex-husband thinks of her and your dad will have whatever rights he has, no matter what the ex-wife thinks of him the kids still owe these responsibilities, and then to the extended family, the grandparents, the cousins etc, etc, two people are no longer in a relationship, but the blood ties don't go anywhere they don't go anywhere, and they all have rights.

Rights, Not Favors

So he says (وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَى حَقَّهُ) give them their rights, give them their right and that's, it's meaning you're not doing them a favor, you didn't do some good deed, by staying in touch or by reaching out or by actually checking up on them and taking care of their needs if they have a need that's not some extra good thing you did, that was their right, like zakat is a right, isn't it like prayer is a right of Allah and the believer, it's exactly the same way.

So having a family conflict, having a fight in the family, last time we got together for Eid, my aunt says this my cousin said this now that cousin and everybody who's genetically connected to them are on the block list right, cause oh no no no, you don't remember what they said at the last wedding, what are you talking about you can't do that you can address a situation you still have to give them their right.

When Financial Difficulties Arise

And then what gets even worse is later on, you have these arguments, these fights and the people that you didn't like or you had some argument with them or whatever, they're in a financial difficulty so they're your family but they're in trouble, they got hospitalized, they got a car accident, they lost their job because of COVID-19, something happened they're like, I would've given but that uncle, you don't know what he said two years ago so you're like deciding who's more worthy of your sadaqah based on your feelings towards them right.

Well people that are close to you in relationships Allah made these difficult people in your life, he decided that they should be your relationship, he didn't just put people that you know, you get to, on social media you get to, oh I wanna be this person's friend this person's friend, this person's friend Allah didn't give you like a selection, I want this I want this chacha, I want this mamu I want this uncle, I want this nephew, you don't get to pick he picked those right, there's no friend request for those there's no relative request you know, they are who they are and Allah made them challenging sometimes but that doesn't take away their rights.