خُطْبَةُ الْحَاجَةِ - Opening Khutbah

خُطْبَةُ الْحَاجَةِ - Opening Khutbah

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ الْكَرِيمِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen, Wassalatu wassalamu ala Rasoolil Kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een

لِنُسَلِّمْ قُلُوبَنَا - Let Us Submit Our Hearts

Ramadan Preparation

By Imam Omar Suleiman

Dear brothers and sisters, I want to welcome you all to this beautiful initiative, this wonderful initiative that these brothers and sisters have undertaken, Ramadan Prep.

So the first thing I'd like to request from you all is to make dua for your brothers and sisters who put together this incredible initiative. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to reward them inshaAllah. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make this a hujjah for them on the day of judgment, a proof for them on the day of judgment.

And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bestow upon them sincerity inshaAllah. And I think that the best way that you could repay them for the effort that they're putting together is by benefiting, by listening and by benefiting and by tuning in for the next 10 nights inshaAllah.

Understanding the Heart

The topic that I was given is Let Us Submit Our Hearts. And when we're talking about the hearts, there are several things to keep in mind. Number one, I wanted to just sort of give a brief definition of the heart.

And then at the same time, if we can tie that to the heart of Ramadan and what exactly is expected from us when we're talking about the heart of Ramadan. And most of the time when we think of the heart, we associate with the piece of flesh, the lump of flesh that is beating in the chest where the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 52)

"There is a piece of flesh in the body. If that piece of flesh within the body, within the human body becomes good, everything else will be good."

And the ulema have talked about the meaning of the heart from a spiritual perspective and from a bodily perspective. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was drawing for us an analogy, but at the same time the word قلب in the Arabic language which is what we're going to be talking about today before we even start talking about Ramadan. The word قَلْب in the Arabic language means the center.

It means it is certainly your spiritual heart. It is certainly a part of you that is the most essential part that Allah جل جلاله has actually made the determining factor of whether or not you will enter paradise. And that's something that's very profound where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says:

"The Day when there will not benefit wealth or children except a person who comes before Allah with a sound heart."

The Four Types of Hearts

Now defining a sound heart is where we have the problems because a lot of people will try to claim that they have a good heart. Usually when a person makes it a point to say that he has a good heart and that he has a pure heart that's a pretty good indication that that person does not have a pure heart because that means that that person has feelings of insecurity.

But particularly what is Allah جل جلاله talking about when Allah جل جلاله calls it a sound heart? When Allah جل جلاله says قلب سليم a sound heart and the Mufassireen they define this Al-Qurtubi said:

قَلْبِ سَلِيمٍ سَلِيمٍ مِنْ كُلِّ سُوءٍ

"A sound heart is a heart that has found itself free of all forms of impurity."

And there are many different ahadith which define different types of hearts. So we have one hadith for example where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave us four types of heart:

1. Al-Qalb al-Ajrad (القلب الأجرد)

Where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told us about قَلْبٌ أَجْرَدْ - a heart that is full of the mercy that is full of the love of Allah جل جلاله. Wherever you put this heart it's going to be thinking of Allah جل جلاله. The circumstances around although they might affect the heart somewhat, the heart is constantly full of iman, the heart is constantly full of the love of Allah جل جلاله. The heart is constantly looking for things to remind it of Allah جل جلاله

2. Al-Qalb al-Aghlaf (القلب الأغلف)

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that there is also قَلْبٌ أَغْلَفْ - A heart that is enveloped. A heart that is wrapped. أغلّف literally means that it's wrapped in some sort of cloth.

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that is the heart of a disbeliever. He conceals what he knows to be the truth meaning he recognizes that this deen, he recognizes that remembrance of Allah جل جلاله requires a form of commitment from him so he turns it away and he buries those feelings those natural inclinations that he has towards God deep inside of his heart so that he can feel comfortable living the life that he's living.

3. Al-Qalb al-Mankus (القلب المنكوس)

And then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said there is also قَلْبٌ مَنْكُوسٌ - There is a heart that is turned upside down. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that is the heart of a hypocrite. Whatever goes into it he automatically turns his heart upside down.

4. The Adaptable Heart

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم finally said that there is a heart and most of us fall into this category - there is a heart that adapts to its environment. It has two sources: (إيمان - iman) and (نفاق - nifaq) - Faith and hypocrisy.

One source is pure water, one source is blood. One source is impure fluid. And what that means is that this heart adapts to whatever circumstance it's in.

If it's in an environment that nurtures a sound heart then that heart is naturally going to be sound but as soon as that heart is taken into a place or taken into an environment where it's going to be tested that heart cannot hold its own.

The Test of Hearts

And Allah جل جلاله tells us in the Quran and this is something that's very dangerous because you don't want to be living on the edge in regards to your hereafter. You don't want to be gambling with your eternity because we know that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told us that a person will be raised up according to the last of his actions.

And Allah جل جلاله says in the Quran:

"Those are the ones Allah has tested their hearts for righteousness."

When Allah is talking about the believers He says that they are the people whose hearts have been tested for Taqwa - for faith, for God consciousness, for piety. Taqwa sometimes is called fear of God sometimes it's called piety sometimes it's called consciousness of God and in reality it's a combination of all of those things.

The Purpose of Ramadan

Notice the word here though and these are the two terms that we're going to be talking about here and this is how we relate it to Ramadan. Allah جل جلاله says these hearts have been tested for taqwa and Allah says:

"Fasting has been prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you so that you may gain this special attribute of taqwa"

And this is exactly what we want to talk about today. What is qalbun saleem? And what is taqwa? We know that the word taqwa is a shield.

It comes from the words waqaya which literally means to shield. Okay, so you literally build yourself a shield in Ramadan.

The Problem with Our Approach

Now here's the problem. Most of the time when we go into Ramadan we think with the mentality of I'm going to do more and more good. This is for the person who's actually somewhat concerned about Ramadan. Most people of course going to Ramadan it's just habits, it's just culture.

But there is also a problem when a person tries to make an effort but that effort is misguided. And what happens here is that a person goes into Ramadan sometimes with solely the mentality of feeling like I need to do more good. I need to read more Quran. I need to come to the masjid more. I need to give more sadaqah. And that's all good. All of that is beneficial.

But at the same time Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala teaches us in the Quran that just as good deeds wipe out bad deeds, bad deeds can also wipe out good deeds:

"Don't void your charity by reminders and hurt"

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says don't void your charity by praising yourself and by glorifying yourself and gloating over your charity.

Imam Ahmad rahimahullah talks about that and he says that a glance that a person might take could undo his salah. Just as the salah can undo a glance. So not lowering your gaze could undo a salah and the salah could undo a glance. And at the end of the day if this is the process that's taking place you're left with absolutely nothing.

The True Purpose of Fasting

As Sufyan al-Thawri rahimahullah he was asked what's priority? Is priority to make istighfar? To ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for forgiveness to repent to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or is priority to do more good to glorify Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala more. And Imam Sufyan al-Thawri rahimahullah said that if you have a dirty thawb if you have a dirty piece of cloth the priority is to wash that stain not to accessorize your thawb.

So if you got a big brown stain right here on your thawb but you're putting pins all over the place and you're putting nice collars and whatever it is you know on your thawb on your shirt you're only accessorizing a dirty thawb but if you walk into any place the first thing people are going to notice is that dirty stain that you have on your thawb.

So the priority is to get rid of that. And that's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sends to us Ramadan because Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم narrates from his Lord in the authentic Hadith Qudsi:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1904)

"All of the actions of the son of Adam are for him except for fasting. Fasting is for me and I am the one who rewards that fasting."

Allah عز وجل says: Because he abandoned not just his food and his drink - before his food and his drink his desires, his lowly desires, he abandoned his desires, he abandoned his food, he abandoned his drink out of his love for me.

So Ramadan is not so much about increasing in Ibadat and doing more good as much as it is about getting rid of the demons in your life and trying to get rid of the things that are displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in your life and purifying your heart because a sound heart is a heart that stays away that rids itself of every single impurity.

The Warning Against Half-hearted Fasting

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned to us, Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari 1903)

"Whoever does not leave ill speech and acting according to ill speech, then Allah has no need from him that he should abandon his food and his drink."

If he's not getting rid of the haram things in Ramadan, if he's not taking care of the things he's doing to displease Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala - the things he should be fasting from throughout the entire year - then what's the point of fasting from food and drink?

The Balance in Islam

And unfortunately sometimes we get caught up in this disease where there are two extremes and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said the nations that came before you were destroyed because of their ghuluw - because of their extremism. But he didn't just say extremism is going to the extreme right but he said extremism is also going to the extreme left.

Where there's the extreme where there's no spirituality, where there's harsh heartedness, where there's only an emphasis on law, on minor aspects of sunnah. And there's the other extreme that's often not talked about or at least not identified as an extreme which is also dangerous to the heart where a person only focuses on matters of spirituality, only focuses on matters that he deems good and because of that he creates a smoke screen for himself.

Following the Sunnah Properly

So that he doesn't have to deal with the problems in his life, he doesn't have to deal with the sins that he has in his life. Imam Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah said:

"There was a group of people who claimed to love Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala"

So Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala tested them with this verse:

"Say, if you really love Allah, follow me [the messenger] and Allah will love you back and he will forgive your sins"

So follow the sunnah - meaning you want to show love to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala, you show love to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala the way he wants you to show love to him.

The Importance of Abandoning Sin

When we're talking about purifying our heart, purifying our قَلْب , when you excel in a certain action you know that's a good deed - are you doing that good deed because you love Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala or are you doing that good deed because you feel like that good deed is actually yielding you some sort of satisfaction? The object of your intention is no longer Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala because if it was then you would be doing the things that are pleasing to Him, you would be purifying your hearts with the things that are pleasing to Him and that starts first and foremost with getting rid of the impurities.

Imam al-Qayyim rahimahu Allah said:

"Good deeds - as far as good deeds are concerned - a person who is a transgressor and a person who is obedient to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala both of them are capable of doing good deeds. But abandoning sins, no one will abandon sins except for someone who is truthful."

And Imam al-Qayyim rahimahu Allah says the reason for that is that the motive for not doing good deeds is laziness. The motive for not abandoning sin is because you are not willing to give up a desire for the sake of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. Your heart is distracted by something other than Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala, your heart is engulfed with something other than Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Categories of Hearts in the Quran

And that's where Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala gives us three types of hearts in the Quran. Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala tells us about a heart that is alive, that is well - it fits with qalbun ajrad, it is qalbun saleem - it is free from all impurities.

Then Allah says there is a heart that is sick:

"No! But on their hearts is stain of the (ill) which they do!"

That there is a stain that goes on their heart every time they sin as a result of their sins. Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala causes a stain to be there.

Then Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala tells us about people whose hearts die literally - they're dead:

"Do they not then earnestly seek to understand the Quran, or are their hearts locked up by them?"

They're not able to contemplate the Quran, they're not able to find any taste for loving Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Breezes of Mercy

Now how does this all relate to Ramadan and how do we put this all within the grand scheme of Ramadan? Think very deeply about this hadith that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says:

"There are certain days, certain time periods where Allah sends to us breezes of mercy. So present yourself to those breezes of mercy, find those gifts of mercy that Allah sends to you so that a person might find that that nafha, that breeze of mercy touches him - he will never find himself in a wretched, miserable situation after that ever again."

And what that means dear brothers and sisters, there are certain time periods, there are certain days, there are certain opportunities that Allah presents to us where we can free our hearts of those impurities and the peak of that is Ramadan where Allah eliminates one of the variables of distraction - the key variable of distraction which is shaytan. Allah causes them to be locked up so now it's the war is between you and yourself.

Preparing for Ramadan

The greatest way to prepare yourself for Ramadan is to set an environment, to plan your Ramadan in a way that there is going to - that within those nights of taraweeh, somewhere along the lines of your reading Quran on your own so that you can understand what the imam is reciting in taraweeh, somewhere along those lines of quietness and i'tikaf and peace that you seclude yourself in the masjid somewhere one of those times hopefully one of those breezes of mercy will touch you and it will completely change your life.

You know, you fail to plan, you plan to fail - that's common sense. If you don't plan your Ramadan out, if you don't set an atmosphere for yourself, set an environment where your heart can have nothing but the remembrance of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala in it, where there are no distractions around you, where your cell phone is off, where you've prepared yourself to understand what you're reciting - if you're not setting that environment then how do you expect Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala's love to somehow come into your heart? It's impossible.

The True Essence of Submission

Dear brothers and sisters, Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala has given us this month as a breath of mercy. The concept of surrendering our hearts - Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala did not ask us to do things that are out of this world or out of the ordinary. Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala did not ask us to do things that require such an effort that it would place a burden upon us that we cannot handle. Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala has asked us to do things that we can handle, that we can bear.

Examples of True Submission

I want to consider this - and I'm going to mention the story of someone actually who converted to Islam just two weeks ago, even less than two weeks ago subhanAllah. And this brother comes into Islam, comes to the masjid without having been given any da'wah whatsoever. No one found him and gave him da'wah. Just through the internet he found various things that started bringing him close to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala.

When he came to the masjid he already knew how to pray, he already knew how to make wudu, he already had five alarms on his phone - this is just within two weeks - he already had five alarms on his phone so that he can get up for salah and make sure that he's praying.

Not only that, he was even telling me - listen, this is what I call submission, this is what we have to look at as submission - he was even sharing with the brothers. He says, you know I had an iPhone. I just bought an iPhone 32 gig, you know, so that I could load my phone up with all the music in the world, all the different genres and these types of things. That's the whole purpose why I spent all these hundreds of dollars to get this phone. But as soon as I found Islam, I decided to delete all of that from my phone and I just filled it up with Quran. I don't understand what it's saying yet, but I just filled it up with Quran and different lectures and these types of things.

And he's already telling us that he doesn't feel comfortable anymore watching certain things on TV because he used to watch certain reality TV with his wife and his wife is saying, "hey, you know, why don't you come watch this show?" but he's saying, "I don't feel comfortable watching that." He's already lowering his gaze.

Now what's the difference between that person and a person who's been given that same message consistently? Don't do this. Most of our halaqat quite frankly sound like after school programs or D.A.R.E. programs: don't do drugs, don't do this, don't date, lower your gaze, don't do this, don't listen to this, don't do this. Our halaqat usually sound that way.

What's the difference between a person who's been hearing that same message consistently for 17, 18, 19, 20 years of his life and a person who just accepted Islam two weeks ago? That person came to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala with a sound heart. He came to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala with a heart free of impurities.

The True Test of Hearts

You see sisters who come into the deen brand new, fresh. You know, there's a very special sister in our community - sister Jane Aslam - who has brought so many people to Islam through good character. From the first day she said, "Wallahi, from the time that I took my shahadah I never took my hijab off from the time that I took my shahadah."

What's the difference between that sister and a sister who's been hearing the message consistently over and over and over again? It's a willingness. It's coming to Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala willing: "Oh Allah, you tell me how I can love you. You tell me the way that's appropriate for me to love you. You tell me how to express that love. You tell me what I need to change in my life."

Anybody can do more good deeds. Anybody can read more books. Anyone can pray more. But a person who's truthful is a person who's willing to eliminate things that are pleasing to him - his lowly desires - for the sake of one in which he values His pleasure more than anyone else's pleasure and more than his own pleasure and more than his own desires, as long as it's pleasing to you, oh Allah.

The Call to Action

And this is the atmosphere that we want to create in Ramadan. I want each and every single person here inshaAllah ta'ala tonight - you know, make a commitment that I'm going to change something about my life. I'm going to rid my heart of some sort of impurity. I'm going to start doing this obligation that I know has been an obligation.

And you know, sometimes people say, "well I'm not convinced about certain things" and there's a whole other thing about intellectual submission. You know, the first aspect is that your heart is not willing to submit. You know something's right, you know something's wrong, but your heart's not willing to submit.

Then there's intellectual submission. And Imam al-Qayyim rahimahullah said a person who is not willing to submit his heart will never be willing to submit his intellect because Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala says:

"They have hearts that don't comprehend"

And what that means is that the people who find imperfections with the message of Islam, who try to find things in the Quran and they start debating minor points in these types of things, are the people that were never willing to submit themselves in the first place. And the only way that they can feel better about their lack of commitment is by saying that there is something wrong with the message itself.

Closing - The Three People Cursed

Dear brothers and sisters, no one of us should come out of Ramadan the same person that he was before because that's one of the three people that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم made dua against where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said "Ameen, Ameen, Ameen" three times and the sahaba said "why are you saying Ameen?" and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said Jibreel عليه السلام was making dua.

He made three duas and he would say خَابَ وَخَسِرَ - "he has failed and he has lost and may his nose be placed in the dirt, you know, what a humiliated person he is." And amongst those three people, Jibreel عليه السلام said: a person who Ramadan comes upon him and departs from him and he's not forgiven.

Meaning when this breeze of mercy, when these 30 days come where Allah جل جلاله removes the variable of shaytan, Allah جل جلاله removes the distraction of food and drink and all these other types of things because you nourish your body too much - now you need to nourish your heart - when Allah جل جلاله removes all of that and you're still not able to make a change in your life.

So I hope - I want to see inshaAllah - what would make me happy: brothers who would make commitments inshaAllah today to change something about themselves, sisters who would make commitments inshaAllah to change something about themselves. And I ask Allah جل جلاله to make this speech something that's beneficial inshaAllah.

Closing Dua

"Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. And accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful."

"O Allah, make this Ramadan the most beautiful Ramadan for all of us, if Allah wills, and make these words beneficial for me and for you, if Allah wills, and allow one of those breezes of mercy to reach us, if Allah wills, the Exalted."

"And may Allah send blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions, and grant them abundant peace."

"Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah, and His blessings."

Jazakumullah khair for everything and for all the time that you all put in coming here inshaAllah ta'ala.