Impacted by Quran

Impacted by Quran

Khutbah by Dr. Tahir Wyatt

March 16, 2018

Opening Khutbah

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَسَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا ، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims.

O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs.

وَالْأَرْحَامَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَيْكُمْ رَقِيبًا

O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.

عَظِيمًا

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا ، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ. ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ

Main Body of the Khutbah

Introduction: The Power of the Quran

Brothers and sisters in Islam, all of us as Muslims are looking for ways to be better, looking for ways to draw closer to Allah, looking to prepare for that inevitable meeting with Him. And today inshallah we're going to talk about one of the most prominent ways of getting closer to Allah, and that is through reading the Quran. Reading the Quran will change your life forever.

That is, a repetitive and consistent reading of the Quran has a tremendous effect on the heart. But that's only if your heart is alive. That is why Allah says in the Quran:

Indeed in that, there is a reminder for the one who has a heart.

Now obviously, everybody that's alive has a heart. This is not what Allah is saying here. Ibn Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentions that the word "heart" here refers to the heart that is alive. The heart that is receptive.

As Allah says:

So Allah says in the Quran that we didn't teach him poetry. We didn't teach the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) poetry. Nor is it proper for him. It is only a reminder and a clear Quran to serve as a warning for those who are alive.

That means that their hearts are alive. And so when the Quran is being recited and when you read the Quran, you need to look for your heart at that time. How are you responding to it?

The Prophet's Heart and the Quran

Our Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had the best of all hearts. And this is why the Quran had such a profound effect on him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was the most generous of all people. We know that, as Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) said. But when was he the most generous?

He was the most generous in Ramadan. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) says because Jibreel would come to him every night and they would revise the Quran. So he was more generous. He was more generous with his good and with his wealth than a breeze that would come.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6)

So what we understand from this is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he was revising the Quran with Jibreel, even his level of iman would increase. His level of certainty in the reward of Allah. And so he would become more generous because he's reading those ayat where Allah is talking about those who spend in His cause and those who lend Allah a good loan. And so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) became more generous as a result of that, because his heart was alive.

When the Quran was recited to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he would sometimes cry. We know that hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) who said that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Recite to me the Quran." He said: "Why should I recite to you the Quran? And the Quran was revealed to you." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I like to hear it from other than me."

So Ibn Mas'ud began to recite from the beginning of Surah An-Nisa. And so he got to the ayah:

How will it be when we bring forth from every nation a witness and we will bring you as a witness over them?

And he said he looked at the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and tears were coming down his eyes, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was affected by what he heard in the Quran.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5050 and Sahih Muslim, Hadith 800)

The Effect of the Quran on Abu Bakr

But this wasn't just the case with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). In fact, this wasn't just the case for Muslims that the Quran had this effect. If you look at the story of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), as it comes in Sahih al-Bukhari, when the Muslims were being persecuted and they had to make hijrah, they had to leave Mecca and they were going to Abyssinia, Al-Habesha, Abu Bakr wasn't from the first of those to go. So he was actually going a little bit later.

And as he was on his way to Al-Habesha, he was stopped by a trade partner of his named Ibn al-Dughunnah. He said to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq: "Where are you on the way to?" He said: "I'm on the way to Abyssinia. You know, I've been forced out by my people."

And Ibn al-Dughunnah said to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq: "A man like you, who helps people who are in need, who feed the poor, who offer them shelter, a man like you is not to be removed from his land. Go back to Mecca, you're under my protection." And so Abu Bakr went back to Mecca under the protection of Ibn al-Dughunnah.

And while he was there, he said he's going to worship Allah, and he would recite the Quran in his yard, the yard of his home. He would recite the Quran, and he had a beautiful voice. And the Quran itself is beautiful. And what happened was, the women, the wives of the noblemen of Quraish, their children, they would come around and they wanted to hear what Abu Bakr was reciting, because now he's under protection, he's not worried about being persecuted. And so they used to come and they would listen to him until the noblemen of Quraish became scared that their own families would now become Muslims because they're hearing the Quran.

And so they went to Ibn al-Dughunnah, and they said to him: "Listen, we respect your protection of him. However, you have to tell him to go in his house and worship his Lord, not outside the house, because our women and children are being affected." So Ibn al-Dughunnah gave this proposition to Abu Bakr. He said: "You can take back your protection, I'm under the protection of Allah. Take it back." And he continued to recite the Quran outside of his home until we know what happened with the rest of the situation with the persecution of the Muslims.

But the point is, is that even the non-Muslims, it was penetrating their hearts.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3905)

The Effect of the Quran on Jubair ibn Mut'im

Consider the story of Jubair ibn Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him). Probably a long time, and for you brothers who still have your phones on, please turn your phones off. It's extremely distracting, not only to me, but to the people who are listening.

Jubair ibn Mut'im (may Allah be pleased with him) was not a Muslim in the beginning of Islam, and he was actually brought to Medina to ransom those who had been taken during the Battle of Badr. And so he was held

at the masjid of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he narrates his story. He says that: "I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reciting Surat at-Tur in Maghrib." He said, and when he got to the statement of Allah:

To the end of what he recited, which means: Are they themselves created from nothing? Or are they themselves the creators? Or are they the ones that created the heavens and the earth? No, they have no certainty.

They have no certainty about their faith. He said: "When I heard these ayat," and he's not a Muslim at this time, he's a mushrik. He says: "When I heard these ayat, it was like my heart was going to take flight." In another narration, he says: "That was the first time that iman took root in my heart." All from what? From listening to the Quran.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4854)

The Effect of the Quran on Mountains

In fact, to go a bit further, we know that the Quran has this effect even on inanimate objects. Allah says in the Quran:

If we would have revealed this Quran, sent it down upon a mountain, something that is that strong, it's inanimate, it's not like the heart which moves, it's strong, solid. If we would have sent down the Quran on a mountain, we would have, you would have seen it trembling, crumbling in awe of Allah.

This is the effect that the Quran has on inanimate objects. So what about our hearts? What about the hearts?

The Value of the Quran: A Reflection

Brothers and sisters in Islam, let's just take it to the side for a minute. If you had someone that you loved dearly, perhaps someone that you admired even, and they were on their deathbed, and they said: "I want to write to you, I want to write down some words, some words of advice, some wisdom, I want to share this with you." And so they penned down this letter to you. And you know that they were good for you, and you know that they lived a life of experience, and they have wisdom, and so you're eager.

You want to know what it is that they have to write to you. And they write down a letter that is very valuable, you cherish it. In fact, maybe you even take a picture of it, so that it's always on your phone, it's easily accessible. Anytime you want to go back and read it, you can go back and read it. You know, think about it, you're about to lose this person, and this is what they leave behind for you. And so you want that, and you keep that, and you read it frequently.

And in fact, maybe even share it with others. You know, people that are going through certain situations, and there's something relevant in that letter to their lives, and so you share it with them. Maybe he's giving you some wisdom that is, you know, overarching. It's not just something for you, but something that all people can benefit from. And so maybe you tweet it, or you send it out on social media, or whatever.

If this is the relationship that you would have with that type of correspondence that comes from another man, just like you, or another woman that's like you, then what about the communication that has come from the Lord of the Worlds? The communication that has come from our Maker? He didn't send down the Quran to be played with, or just to be recited. He sent down the Quran to be understood.

What is our relationship with that? What is our relationship with the Quran? Is it a book that we just put up on a shelf? Or is it something that we read and ponder over and try to understand?

What the Quran Teaches Us

You know, Allah has taught us in the Quran about Himself. So, if we just pick up the Quran and we read it, we'll learn about His qualities and His attributes and His compassion so that we grow to love Him, so that we love Him and hopefully that we earn His love.

He teaches us in the Quran about His justice, so that we respect His laws, so that we have a healthy fear of Allah, so that we don't step out of bounds.

He teaches us about His mercy, so that when we do fall short, we don't lose hope and we don't despair.

Allah teaches us about life in the Quran. What is this life even all about? So that we can begin to prioritize things. So that we can begin to prepare for the other thing that Allah teaches us in the Quran, which is the hereafter. Death. Which everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, everybody's going to taste that. And everybody has to prepare for that. So Allah is teaching us about this in the Quran.

The Modern Disconnect from the Quran

However, what tends to happen, and it is a wonder, that with all of the depression that we find, that we have Muslims that are clinically depressed, they have to take medication. And the anxiety and the worry and the sadness, that we turn to other than the book of Allah. Now, this is the reality.

Muslims caught up in the whole self-help movement. So they read, you know, Covey's Seven Habits or Carnegie or whatever's the flavor of the month. They read it. They adhere to the principles. They write down the program. They stick to it strictly.

That's not to say that we can't benefit from other than the Quran. No, we can benefit from various sources. But why is the Quran, or why does it seem to be our last resort?

So if this is the case for you, if you feel like your heart is hard when you hear the Quran, it doesn't have that same effect on you, then you have to be real with yourself. Don't blame it on anyone else. Recognize that there's some degree of neglect as it relates to the book of Allah. Recognize that we can do better.

Recognize that you have to cut out some time to dedicate to the book of Allah. Because if you feel that heart being hard, it is definitely without a doubt due to its distance from revelation.

Allah says in the Quran:

قُلُوبُهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ

Has not the time come for those who believe to surrender their hearts to the remembrance of Allah and that which He has revealed from the truth, the Quran, the revelation, and that they not be like those who were given the book before, and so the time span, it was a long time span between revelations, and so their hearts became hard.

Many of the Muslims are just simply not taking the time necessary to have that relationship with the speech of Allah. In fact, some Muslims only read the Quran in Ramadan, as if that's what we're required to do. That's a great thing for us to read the Quran in Ramadan, and then even that reading is a reading for barakah, meaning it comes off the lips because you want a reward for every letter, there's ten rewards.

The Quran was revealed for you to ponder over the Quran, for you to reflect over its meanings, so that you act according to the Quran. And whoever approaches the Quran in this manner, then the Quran will be a guide for them. It will be a light at times of darkness. It will be a security at times of instability. And it will serve as a cure, a cure for spiritual, emotional illness and even physical diseases.

We reveal from the Quran that which is a heal, a cure and a mercy for the believers.

Making Time for the Quran

We live in a time where you might ask a seven-year-old to do something, "Because I'm busy right now." Everybody is busy, or at least that's the claim. And if you really were to take a step back and examine, well, what exactly are you busy with, you'll find that a lot of times we're busy with things that are not very beneficial for us. They may not contribute to our well-being or the well-being of our families and society. It's just busy— reading posts on social media for hours a day, watching the news for hours a day.

And you really have to take a step back as it relates to the book of Allah and ask yourself: What value does it add to you? Because everything that is valuable to you, you make time for it. It's just the reality. We make time for the things that we value, for the things that we hold dear, for the things that we love. We make time for it.

And so it is my sincere advice to myself first and then to all of you that we make time for the Quran. At least, and this is like the very minimum, that you take at least 20 minutes of the day to dedicate to the Quran.

Now, some of you—and