Jummah Khutbah When Allah takes something away from you because He loves you

When Allah Takes Something Away From You Because He Loves You

Jummah Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman

Introduction

We begin by praising Allah and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him. And we bear witness that Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is His final messenger. We ask Allah to send His peace and blessings upon him, his companions, his family, and those that follow until the Day of Judgment.

And we ask Allah to join us with him, with the prophets, with the righteous, with the martyrs, with those who are truthful in the highest level of (جَنَّةِ الْفِرْدَوْس - Jannatul Firdaus). (اللَّهُمَّ آمِينَ - Allahumma Ameen).

Understanding Hardship Through Divine Wisdom

Dear brothers and sisters, if every sermon was about hardship and how to make sense of hardship, then we would not run out of (آيَات - ayat), verses, and (أَحَادِيث - ahadith) to try to come to terms with many of the things that happen in our lives and we don't really know how to understand them.

Not only do we not know how to understand them, we don't know how to process them in the greater context of what our relationship with Allah is supposed to look like in this world and what our purpose in life is supposed to look like in accordance with that relationship that we are taught through our deen is the most important relationship and the most important pursuit and the most important journey that anyone can have.

The Foundational Hadith About Hardship and Divine Love

And there are certain basic concepts that come from the (أَحَادِيث - ahadith) of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and there's a question that I'd ask right now and that question is one that I'll address with a narration in the second part of the sermon which is when Allah, why does Allah take things away from people that He loves? Why does Allah take something away from you out of love for you?

And that's a really difficult concept to grasp with or a really difficult question to grasp with but to build up to that, there's the narration from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) which is the most extensive in terms of how we process or understand hardship:

(Tirmidhi)

"When Allah wants good for His servants, then He hastens His hardships for Him in this world. And when Allah wants bad for His servants, then He withholds the consequences of His bad or the consequences of His sins until He appears before Him on the Day of Judgment." - Tirmidhi

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) continued and he says:

"That the greater reward comes with the greater the trial." So the greater the hardship is, the greater the potential of reward because it's not assumed that you're going to be rewarded just because you are tested.

Some people are tested with very little and they do absolutely nothing with it except for distance themselves further from Allah. Some people are tested with great hardships and with every hardship that comes to them, no matter what the severity of that hardship is, they find a way to turn that into a means of closeness to Allah. They convert (الْكَرْب - al-karb) the hardship, the difficulty into (قُرْب - qurb) into that closeness with Allah.

And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) continuing said the greater the trial, the greater the potential of that reward from Allah and he said:

"And if Allah loves a people, He tests them."

(Tirmidhi)

"Whoever shows contentment will receive the pleasure of Allah. Whoever shows contentment with the tests that come to them, then they will receive that pleasure or that contentment from Allah. And whoever shows discontentment or displeasure will have displeasure returned to him as well." - Tirmidhi, classified as Hasan

The Nature of Divine Wisdom in Individual Cases

This is a very comprehensive hadith and it's actually not the main narration that I wanna focus on with my (خُطْبَة - khutbah) but I figured it's a good one to start with. Are there exceptions to the hadith number one? Yes.

Sometimes out of love for you Allah gives you more. Sometimes out of love for you Allah gives you more. So the nature of the relationship of Allah with every single person does not just speak to this general rule but instead it speaks to what's good for the person or what gives that person the greatest potential to wake up and recognize the purpose of their lives.

What is going to bring about the best qualities in a person? And this is really what it speaks to. Some people are humble and actually most people are more humble when their means are also reflective of that humility. When their (رِزْق - rizq), when their sustenance, when their careers, whatever it may be, when the means are also humble then they too are likely to have those qualities.

And some people as they are increased in goodness in terms of their wealth and in terms of whatever it is that Allah is giving them of this material world that leads to certain qualities coming out of generosity and benevolence that most people would not have once they actually get there. A lot of people think that if I had this then I would do that. But the reality is when you get there you become what you hate.

And instead of developing qualities of benevolence and generosity you develop more pride, more arrogance and stinginess. And you become a different person. And those qualities that you would have had had you not been given what you were asking for are the qualities that would have gotten you to paradise, would have gotten you to (جنّة - jannah).

But because of your inability to handle the test of ease that Allah gave you you became an unrecognizable person. You became arrogant and you became prideful and you became everything that you hated when you didn't have what you asked for. And so Allah deals with every individual as an individual.

The General Rule and Its Exceptions

But the general rule, it's just like the general rule that the majority of the people that enter paradise are (الْفُقَرَاءُ وَالْمَسَاكِينُ - al-fuqara' wa al-masakeen), are poor people, vulnerable people, the oppressed. That doesn't mean you seek to be oppressed or you seek poverty because that's sinful. But the majority of the people that would get to paradise are people that would not be distracted by the allure of this world, by the glamour of this world.

And usually that's not even by choice for them. That's the general rule. But for some people poverty has a different effect on them. Hardship has a different effect on them. Ease has a different effect on them. The material world has a different effect on them.

And what this hadith covers is first and foremost that Allah (عَزَّ وَجَلٌ - azza wa jal) gives you and withholds from you out of love for you if you're turning towards Him. There is no way you turn to Allah seeking goodness and evil comes to you in return. Even if it's the hardship. That hardship is not evil. That hardship is not punishment. There is no way you turn to God asking Him for good and you receive evil and hardship in return.

The Analogy of Protecting the Sick from Water

It's always going to be blessing. And there is no way that you turn away from Allah and receive good even if what you are receiving is packaged as good. So if you're turning away from Allah and wonderful things are happening in your life, those things are means by which you would attain eternal wrath and displeasure or hardship in the hereafter.

Things that you actually would wish had not come to you in this world. And that's the thing on the Day of Judgment when Allah (عَزَّ وَجَلٌ) describes a person that's standing before Him that was arrogant and prideful and became an oppressor with the means that were given to them. And Allah asks them if you could ransom yourself with the entire world with the entire world in gold to get yourself out of the situation you're in today, would you do it? And that person would be willing to sacrifice or pay a ransom of this entire (دُنْيَا - dunya), this entire world in gold two times to get themselves out of the situation that they're in then.

So they would actually regret that they had it easy in this life if having it easy in this life meant distancing them further from Allah.

There are two (أحاديث - ahadith) that I've come to. The first one is a hadith in Tirmidhi where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says again illustrating a general concept:

(Tirmidhi)

"If Allah loves His servant then Allah protects him from the material world from Him the way that one of you would withhold water from someone who is sick someone who is ill." - Tirmidhi

Now it sounds kind of funny because usually when you're ill water is good for you. But the type of illness that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is talking about here is an illness that would be furthered by water some sort of rare illness so you can't have them drink water because drinking water for them is harmful at that particular time. And that person is extremely thirsty.

And the scholars who explain this hadith they explained it in two ways. The first one they said that a person might be extremely thirsty so the analogy is of a person that's extremely thirsty and there's contaminated water in front of them. And if they drink that water they're going to really harm themselves but they're so thirsty that they're not thinking about what's actually good for them.

They're actually only thinking about their thirst. A person who cares about them would stop them from hurting themselves in the long term just to quench their short term thirst. But that person if the thirst becomes extreme doesn't care about the long term implications, they just want to get over the thirst and then they'll deal with whatever comes with it.

And that's a recklessness on their part and depending on the severity of that thirst - (عِظَمُ الْبَلَاءِ - azham al-bala') - depending on the severity of that thirst the less rational they are likely to be with the situation at hand. Right? The more severe it's getting, the less they're actually thinking about the long term implications.

But what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is saying here is that when Allah loves you as much as He loves you when you sit there and beg Him and ask Him for something that you think would satisfy, quench that thirst that immediate thirst, He holds it back out of love for you.

Not because He wants to punish you, not because He likes seeing you thirsty, but because Allah (جَلٌ وَعَزَّ - jalla wa azza) knows that that water in that particular situation which seems so pure, and that's another wisdom that the scholars developed from it it seems so pure that it's actually bad for you in those moments and you just can't recognize it right there so He holds it back from you.

The Powerful Narration from Ibn Mas'ud

So it's another hadith where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) demonstrates that relationship how badly you might want something because it seems so pure and your thirst seems so severe and if I just could have a sip, but you know if you get a sip that you're going to keep on drinking and you're going to hurt yourself and out of love for you Allah holds it back.

But all of this to be honest with you is a build up to a very powerful narration which actually goes into the motion of this and I want you to relate this particular lengthy narration to this life that addresses the first question I asked in this (خُطْبَة - khutbah) and imagine this with me this is a narration from Ibn Mas'ud, Abdullah bin Mas'ud (رضي الله تعالى عنه) where he demonstrates this relationship and how this is now in motion it's no longer just the concept but something in actual motion.

"That the servant of Allah looks at something the slave of God looks at something and he asks for this sustenance or this position, الإمارة here means position usually in the context of leadership but he wants this position so bad and he wants this money so bad this sustenance so bad so he's done everything that he could and that he should to attain those things, that wealth or that position, you got it you asked for it, you got it, it is all in motion, it's about to come to you and it seems so good and it seems like everything is gonna change in the right way for you once you get this (رِزْق - rizq), this sustenance or you get this position."

And listen to the rest of this narration he says:

"Then Allah looks upon him from above seven heavens Allah looks upon him from above seven heavens"

"And Allah says to the angels: take it away from him."

Can you imagine it's on its way to you you already, you just have to sign on the dotted line at this point the position is there the money is there it's all right there in front of you and the رزق rizq) is on its way to you the package is in the mail, it's on its way to you, and Allah says to the angels, looks upon you from above seven heavens, cause no one is insignificant to the one who is above seven heavens, and that's one of the functions of this hadith, that Allah is looking to each one of his individual servants, and Allah says to the angels as it's about to be delivered to him take it away from him take it away from him because he wants to punish him take it away from him because Allah wants to put you in difficulty, no, this actually, this narration actually shows how that motion is, Allah says:

"Take it away from him because if I make it easy for him if that person actually attains what they are looking for that person will end up going to hell fire" meaning what that is that will come to him will change that person in a way or cause that person to do something that would lead to a punishment far worse than not having what they are asking for in this world.

And he continues and he says:

"Allah takes it away from him and that person keeps on saying only this would have happened if only that would have happened"

"And it is not but the blessing of Allah on that person that Allah didn't give that person what they were asking him for." - Athar from Ibn Mas'ud, authenticated by Ibn al-Qayyim in As-Sawa'iq al-Mursalah

The Transformative Power of Understanding Divine Wisdom

This narration is so powerful for so many different reasons our relationship with Allah tends to be merely transactional you want something you go to him you ask him for it you don't get what you want you turn away from him until next time when you've tried everything else to get something and it's not working let me throw in the (دُعَاء - du'a) so that I can properly blame Allah when it doesn't happen the way that I want it to happen it's not an authentic connection this is not the way that a servant deals with his lord that a slave deals with his master that a worshipper deals with the one that he's worshipping this is not the way that that relationship is supposed to go but it could turn into that.

But in this situation you have a person who right now is in the favor of Allah Allah sees you and Allah is pleased with who you are and what your personality is like all of us have our shortcomings we all have things that we could improve upon but right now you're in favor with Allah and you've asked Allah for something and it's coming your way it's out for delivery and Allah says don't give it to him because if I make that easy for him then he'll end up being punished because something will happen to that person that will cause him to fall out of favor because sometimes we know that ease changes you in a way that's not positive and that's not good and Allah knows that which you don't know so Allah says take it away.

The other thing this shows the second part of this narration the servant the slave still doesn't understand what's happened and still is just assuming that it was because of this circumstance and that circumstance and if only I would have submitted an application this much earlier if I would have gotten this much better on this or if I would have done this differently and it just seems like it was this much off and he starts thinking that lucky guy over there that person over there that person beat me to it that person was better than me that person was able to attain what I wanted to attain.

"And the whole time it was just Allah expressing his love for you in a way that you would not understand you would not be able to grasp."

The Commentary of Ibn al-Qayyim

And Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim he comments on this hadith on this narration from Mas'ud (رضي الله عنه) and he said that the one whom Allah has destined to enter paradise the reasons which will cause his entrance into paradise shall spring from calamities and the one whom Allah has destined for his wrath the reasons that will cause his punishment in the hereafter spring from his lusts and his desires.

What that means is a lot of times the reason why you get into جَنّة - Jannah and the majority of time the people that get into جَنّة - Jannah get into جَنَّة - Jannah because of a hardship that came to them and they responded to that hardship in the best way they responded to that hardship in a way that was pleasing to Allah and for so many people the things that they try to attain in order to create this false heaven on earth is the reason for which they are prohibited from entering into it in actuality in the hereafter.

But even you as a person it's not about the nature of that إِمَارَة - imara or that تجارة - tijara it's not about the nature of that sustenance it's not about the nature of that position it's about the innocence that we have when we're in a state of vulnerability and that innocence is something that we try to maintain even as we call upon Allah and we ask him for the best of this world but when we ask Allah for the best of this world we don't ask Allah for the quantity we ask Allah for the best of it knowing that he knows what the best of it is.

Practical Application: The Du'a of the Distressed

And so to make this more practical in a sense of supplication in a (دُعَاء - du'a) I leave you with the hadith of Abu Bakr (رضي الله تعالى عنه) where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that the (دُعَاء - du'a) of (الْمَكْرُوب - al-makroob), the (دُعَاء - du'a) of the one who is in hardship or the (دُعَاء - du'a) of the distressed (الْكَرْب - al-karb) is actually stress the (دُعاء - dua) of the one who is distressed:

"Allahumma rahmataka arju fala takilni ila nafsi tarfata'een wa aslih li sha'ni kulla la ilaha illa ant - O Allah I have hope in your mercy I have hope in your mercy do not abandon me fala takilni ila nafsi tarfata'een don't leave me to myself even for a moment even for the blink of an eye wa aslih li sha'ni kulla and rectify all of my affairs for me la ilaha illa ant there is no god but you." - Abu Dawood 5090, classified as Hasan by al-Albani

This hadith, this (دُعَاء - du'a) encompasses that your hope still remains in Allah when you're in stress your hope does not remain in that circumstance changing you see here when you call upon Allah and you're in that stress it's not about the circumstance changing, it remains in the mercy of Allah (رَحْمَتَكَ أَرْجُو - rahmataka arju) it remains in his mercy that you have hope and however that manifests itself I trust you even in my stress.

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