Khutbah - Impediments to Growth

The base of Allah's throne

the base of Allah's throne that has leaves the size of elephant ears. He saw the Nahr of Al-Kawthar and he saw the pearls that lined the river of Al-Kawthar, and he saw the musk that was the liquid of Al-Kawthar.

The Story of the Hairdresser

He smelled beautiful scents as he was elevating. He smelled a scent in heaven and he asked Jibreel: "What is that scent that I smell?" He said: "That is the scent of the hairdresser of the daughter of the Pharaoh." He said: "What's her story?"

Here is a woman who was a servant of the daughter of the Pharaoh, and one day as she was combing the daughter of the Pharaoh's hair, the comb that was in her hand fell on the floor, and so she bent down and she said "Bismillah" - she picked up the comb saying "In the name of Allah" - she said "In the name of Allah."

So the daughter of Firaun said: "Do you mean my father?" She said: "My father?" He said: "No," she said: "No, she says I am talking about Rabbi wa Rabbu Abaki - my Lord and your father's Lord."

So the daughter said: "There is no Lord other than - there is no Lord other than my father," and she said: "I'm gonna tell my father on you. I'm gonna tell the Pharaoh on you." So she said: "Tell him."

So the mother was brought with all four of her children in front of the Pharaoh, and she said - he said to her: "What did you say? Who do you believe in? Who do you worship?" And she said with certainty, with confidence, unequivocally: "Rabbi wa Rabbuka - my Lord and your Lord - that is who I worship - Allah the creator of the heavens and the earth."

Imagine she's sitting in - standing in front of arguably one of the most despotic tyrannical people that have ever walked on this earth, and here is a slave woman with her four children right in front of her saying with confidence: "This is what I believe in and you will never take it from me." (الله أكبر الله أكبر - Allahu Akbar) - the power of conviction, the power of belief!

And so he said to her: "If that is the case, then I will kill you and all of your sons - all four of your children." He brought a big vat of molten metal, and son after son he would take the son and throw him in, and she was in pain but she was committed, and her sons were equally committed one son, the first, the second, and the third, until she was holding the last son who was still an infant - he was still an infant.

And the infant, the last son, noticed the hesitation in his mother, and so this is one of the miraculous moments when an infant spoke - just like when Jesus spoke to his mother - this infant spoke to his mother and said:

"Go forth with fervor and with confidence, for verily the pain of this dunya, the pain of this world, is far less than the pain of the afterlife."

And so then the infant and the mother were all killed in that moment, and the result was what? The beautiful scent of all five of these individuals in heaven. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) - their scent is the fragrance that beautifies the heavens.

Why? Why is that scent so beautiful? Because it's a scent that came from a strong belief, unwavering conviction in Allah, and that no matter what the pressures are, no matter what the challenges are, no matter what the threats are, we are committed to (لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله - la ilaha illallah muhammad rasulullah).

May Allah grant us the opportunity to smell the beautiful fragrance of heaven, and may Allah grant us to see the beautiful sights of heaven and to taste the beautiful flavors of heaven (اللهم آمين - Allahumma Ameen).

Visions of Punishment

So brothers and sisters, the Prophet saw much beauty and he experienced much wondrousness in that journey, but he also relates to us some of the pain that he saw, some of the agony that he saw.

Amongst the things that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) saw was he saw the dwellers of hellfire, and he saw the cousin of Jahannam - the gatekeeper of the hellfire - and this is someone who never smiled. And he saw the agony and the pain.

He saw people who were running, running to eat and devour rotten maggot-filled meat, leaving right next to it beautiful clean meat. So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "What's wrong with these people? Why are they running to this meat and neglecting and leaving the good meat?"

So Jibril said to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam): "These are the people who committed zina. These are the people who commit zina - they leave the halal and the tayyib and they go to that which is haram and khabith. They leave that which is beautiful and good and wholesome and go and consume that which is rotten and ugly."

Brothers and sisters, be mindful of your relationships, be mindful of the behaviors that we allow ourselves to fulfill just because our base desires want them. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is warning us - that's the reality of those people who commit zina in the dunya. Of course, of course there is an opportunity for repentance, there is an opportunity to seek forgiveness. Don't allow yourself to be someone who's committed to a relationship or to an act or to a conduct or to a behavior that you know is detestable in sight of God, you know that will hinder and hurt your relationship with Allah, that will hinder your ability to be elevated.

That's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is bringing us these distinct reports of what he saw, because he's saying to us effectively: if you want elevation with God, if you want that intimate connection with God, you can't be doing these things on earth. Be careful of the path that you follow, be careful of the behaviors that you allow yourself to do. May Allah forgive us for our actions and our conducts.

But the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) saw more than that. He saw other things that were extremely painful to see. He saw a people - (قوم لهم أظفار من نحاس يخدشون وجوههم وصدورهم - qawmun lahum azfarun min nuhasin yakhdishuna wujuuhahum wa sudurahum) - the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) saw people who had nails that were made of copper who were clawing and scratching at their face and chest uncontrollably.

So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: "Who are these people?" He asked Jibreel: "Who are these people who are scratching and clawing at themselves this way?" He said: "These are the people who backbite, these are the people who gossip." (لا إله إلا الله - la ilaha illallah) - may Allah forgive us - people clawing at themselves because they backbite and they gossip.

But the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) saw other things as well. He saw (قوم - qawm) - people - pay attention to this brothers and sisters - (يُقرض ألسنتهم وشفاههم بمقاريض من نار - yuqridu alsunatahum wa shifahahum bimaqarida min nar) - he saw people whose tongues and lips were being cut with scissors made of fire. And I know this is a very stark image, but this is what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) has reported to us.

So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) saw this sight - people with their tongues and their lips being cut off with scissors made of fire. He said: "Who are these people?" (خطباء الفتنة - khutaba' al-fitna) - "These are the people who spread false news and false reports, instigating fitnah, instigating discord in this world." May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى - subhanahu wa ta'ala) forgive us. (اللهم صل على سيدنا محمد - Allahumma salli ala sayyidina Muhammad)

Warning Against Spreading Discord

Brothers and sisters, the Prophet gave us clear distinct evident guidance about what we must be careful in our conduct, in our action in this world. He gave us these distinct accounts to say: be careful of what you do with your mouth, be careful of what you say with your tongue, be careful what you do with your body, because if you ever hope to be with God, you better not do things that will cause God's wrath to fall upon you.

There's no hypocrisy with Allah. I can't say that I'm someone who prays and fasts and gives zakah, but then I'm someone who (أختضم الحرام - akhtadimu al-haram) - I have no problem going to the haram and the greatest sins of the haram: gossip and backbiting and zina and all sorts of evils. That is a hypocrisy that Allah rejects, and he will deprive you of elevation in this life and the next if that is the way we treat him. May Allah forgive us and guide us.

Wallahi brothers and sisters, I see him - I look at our country today, the US, and I see the discord and the disconnect that is happening because of the nature of the way in which we speak about each other: the left and the right, the left and the right, the left and the right. It's a toxic demonic discourse, constantly saying "the left are this" and "the right are that," and people are doing it sometimes not necessarily ill- willed - sometimes they have good intentions, sometimes they're speaking from pain, sometimes they're speaking from grievance - but when you exaggerate and you go too far and you go into excess and you start spreading false news and false rumors and gossip, and you see you see that the entire industries

multi-billion dollar industries - that are grounded simply in these false narratives, these toxic reports, this fake news - that's a real thing by the way, fake news is a real thing - and unfortunately people are buying into it.

And so what happens? Discord. Divide. Why? Because I've become so charged with empty chatter, with empty speech, with lies and gossip that I can no longer control myself. I succumb to my base self, and then what happens? Divide. And then what happens after that? Violence. That's what happens. History repeats itself. If we don't control ourselves, if we don't control the way we speak, the way we think about each other, the way we treat each other, we are calling for God to allow his anger to descend upon us when we don't respect what God has given us, which is beautiful, beautiful lands, beautiful homes, opportunities for growth and excess, an opportunity to excel, a house of Allah, house of worship that Muslims across the world would do anything to have. But we allow ourselves to succumb to the lowest parts of ourself and to sow seeds of discord and division.

That is not the way of (لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله - la ilaha illallah muhammad rasulullah). The way of this ummah is a way of unity. The way of this ummah is the way of bringing people together. That is the way of this ummah. What we call people to - Muslims and non-Muslims alike - to unify under the banner of God is our Creator. That is what our call is - it is to be principled, honored, be honorable people, people who who employ and and convey others to be merciful and just and kind and compassionate. That is what the call of our Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said - to be one ummah, to be one people, to not feed into gossip, to not feed into what is being said.

You know that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says - and pay attention to this - he says:

Reference: Reported in various collections

"Fitna - discord between people - is sleeping. It it's always an opportunity, it's always a possibility for human beings to enter into a state of division and discord and hatred for one another. That's always sleeping, it's like a sleeping giant. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) says the curse of Allah is upon the one who awakens that fitna."

Brothers and sisters, you may have the best of intentions, you may think that you're speaking truth to power, you may think that you're speaking the righteous statement, but good intention or bad, if you are inflaming the fires of fitna - whether it's in society, whether it's in this world - if you are a representative of a country and you are flaming the, you are fueling the fires of fitna of discord, then beware and be careful of God. If you are someone who is a part of a society, a community, even in your home - I see this all the time - a husband and a wife who are gonna start, they're getting into a space of divorce. What happens? "My husband is second to the devil. My husband is this," telling this to the kids. "My wife though, your mother is a she-demon, your mother, you don't know what she's done, she has done this and that, she's a

liar," and your father is telling this to the kids and then telling it to the friends and community members, spreading false rumors and lies about people in your own community, your own family, and then we want Allah (سبحانه وتعالى - subhanahu wa ta'ala) to elevate us? We expect Allah's elevation when we're tearing each other apart?

Wallahi, that is not the way of (لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله - la ilaha illallah muhammad rasulullah) Wallahi it is not. I would be no rewatch Hika a leathery Ashraq at level do not was aloha alohi O Murad dunya well Akira and yeah Hilla be what Bina so hot look well and yanzila Alena got a book - "I seek refuge in you ya Allah from that your anger or that your wrath descends upon us."

Fitna is something brothers and sisters that we should be very careful about because it deals with the curse of God.

Unity and Harmony

As Muslims in this country, we have to be a source of harmony and mercy. Yes, Muslims deal with a lot of pain, a lot of struggle, but that should never allow a community to act like an unrelenting victim who cannot get over their problem. No, we have to be people who rise above the moment. Legitimate grievances may be there, and in any circumstance - whether you're in a home, you're in a community, you're a part of a masjid, you're a part of a society, you're a part of a world - you may have legitimate grievances that need to be fixed, and let's work on fixing them. But let's work on fixing them in a principled way that maintains the harmony of our of our of our countrymen, of our population, of our nation, that maintains the harmony of our community, that maintains the harmony of our homes. If anything we are doing is going to cause division, that that's what the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said when he saw Al-Aws wal-Khazraj - and I'll close with this - when he saw Al-Aws wal-Khazraj - two tribes of Medina.

They were connected, they were unified under the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)and then they came one day and they were just chatter - wallahi just banter: "Remember back in the day when we used to beat you and we used to be the more dominant force and we were the better warriors," and so the Khazraj says: "No, we used to definitely be - you, we were the far superior warriors." Playful banter - pay attention to the progression in the evolution - no ill will, but then suddenly the egos start flaring up and the nafs starts coming up, the lower self: "So what are you talking about? No, we were definitely the more dominant force, we were definitely more powerful than you." Word-for-word, tit-for-tat.

And then what happens? Both Al-Aws wal-Khazraj stand up and their battle-hardened with their swords out, ready to kill one another. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) sees this, and it's one of the few times the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) was angry, and his vein would come out right here when he was angry, and he said:

"I'll be Dawal Jahiliyya - do you call to the way of ignorance, the way of idiocy, the way of ignorance, and I am in your midst? Is this what I have taught you? You're gonna start killing one another and fighting one another? What did I bring you?" The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم asked them that: "I not bring you a message of unity, of oneness, of love, of compassion, of helping one another, aiding one another, supporting one another, not to fuel each other's egos until you find hatred for one another?"

Brothers and sisters, we have to be very careful, we have to be very careful to to flame up these flame these these ugly flames in our homes, in our communities, in our society at large. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم came to do away with nationalism and tribalism. There is no such thing as "the Americans are X," "the Arabs are Y," "the Sudanese are this," "the Somalis are that," "the Arabs are doing this," that talk is not a part of this ummah. You are - you cannot follow Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم fueling those flames. There is no such thing - we are all American. There is no such thing as "the Americans are this and the Egyptians are that" and over there and over here. There is one humanity under Allah سبحانه وتعالى . Every single Muslim has one obligation: to maintain that unity and to ensure that nothing I do will cause division or pain or fitna.

May Allah protect us from ourselves. May Allah help us to never be a source of pain in this world. May Allah only make us a source of mercy, a source of unity, a source of compassion. May Allah help us to follow in the footsteps of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم . May Allah help us to surrender in a complete surrender to Allah جل وعلا so that ultimately in that surrender, as we follow his path, that Allah will grant us elevation in this life and the next.

Second Khutbah

"Indeed, Allah confers blessing upon the Prophet, and His angels [ask Him to do so]. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace."

Preparation for Ramadan: The Importance of Dua

Brothers and sisters, in closing, as I mentioned inshallah, every khutbah until Ramadan, the second khutbah will be about reminders about the month of Ramadan and how to be prepared for the month of Ramadan. We spoke in the previous khutbah about the importance of the night prayer, we spoke about the importance of fasting, we spoke about the importance of istighfar, and we last week we spoke about

the importance of recitation of the Quran. Today I want to end off and remind my brothers and myself with that which I started off with, and that was dua.

That first thing that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did on the journey of elevation was he made dua - he supplicated and was in conversation with Allah. That is why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2969)

"Dua is worship." If you want to be someone who worships God, that you have to supplicate, you have to call upon Allah, you have to raise your hands.

And so from today I want myself and all of my brothers and sisters to train themselves to be people who every single day we speak to Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Allah in Surah Al-Baqarah he says:

"If my servants ask you about me, verily I am close. I respond to the call of the caller when he or she calls."

Our religion is a religion of calling upon Allah, speaking to Allah every single day. The companions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم before Ramadan would come, they would prepare their dua - they would have all of their supplications ready, making them every single day with the intentionality, knowing that in Ramadan the doors of istijab are wide open, the doors of acceptance are wide open.

And so from now we prepare our dua, we say our dua - obviously because there's still many opportunities to have your dua accepted now, especially between Adhan and Iqamah, especially in the early morning hours and so on and so - but we want to train ourselves to be people who make dua. Never cut yourself off from Allah. When you stop praying and you stop making dua, you've cut yourself off from the only true life force you have in this earth, and that is Allah سبحانه وتعالى.

So today's assignment is dua: prepare your dua list, make it every single day, make it in the special hours between Adhan and Iqamah and before Fajr and before sunset. And may Allah سبحانه وتعالى help us to be amongst those who make an abundance of dua and who are always close to Allah in prayer and in dua.

Closing Duas

"Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire."

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2720)

"Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded."

This khutbah has been reviewed and corrected for accuracy in Arabic verses and Hadiths with proper harakat and references.