Khutbah With Every Difficulty There Is Ease - Corrected

He called it a difficulty. He didn't trivialize it. He didn't say ignore it, don't worry about it. No, you're not gonna solve a problem by ignoring it. It is a problem.

But when Allah is saying this is a problem, but realize one thing Ya Rasulullah: never do you have an عُسْر except that Allah will give you يُسْر along with it. Now the point here: Allah says مَعَ الْعُسْرِ not بَعْدَ الْعُسْرِ Yes, it is true in other verses in the Quran:

It is true that Allah says after every difficulty there will also be ease. This is a Quranic rule - memorize it: after difficulty there will be ease. But my dear brothers and sisters, in this surah it is not "after" - in this surah it is مع - alongside.

The Meaning of "Ma'a" (With)

What does this mean? Never - listen to this brothers and sisters - never does Allah send down something that is difficult for you except that alongside it, simultaneous to it, contemporaneous with it, is another qadr that is good for you. And this is directly from the Quran:

Never does Allah send down الْعُسْر except that along with it there is a يُسْر. The problem is me and you - we don't think of the good, we only think of the negative. We only think of our health when we don't have health. We have a headache, we think how beneficial we were to have health. We only think of money when we don't have money. We don't think of the positives, we only think of the negatives.

And so Allah is saying: I am telling you Ya Rasulullah that never does الْعُسْر come except that I have a يُسْر which is an ease along with it.

Arabic Grammar Point

Another benefit here: notice a little bit of Arabic grammar here. The عُسْر is with the alif-lam : فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ, and then the يُسْر is nakira which is without the alif-lam: فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا.

And to be very simplistic, not to go into an Arabic grammar tangent here, what this means is: for every specific difficulty - one difficulty - الْعُسْر - there will be multiple يُسْر - one يُسْر. فَإِنَّ مَعَ - the إِنَّ مَعَ - يُسْر another - يُسْر - يُسْرِ same

So this verse is saying - listen to me carefully now - for every one يُسْر, for every one difficulty, at least two يُسرs come down. Ibn Abbas said: Ibn Abbas said one عُسْر will always be beaten by two يُسْرs. Ibn Abbas said one difficulty will always lose in the face of two good deeds or two blessings.

Two blessings - never does Allah try you with one trying situation, with one difficulty, except that along with that difficulty, at the same time as the difficulty, Allah will open up at least two doors of mercy, at least. And the nakira could imply more than two, by the way - those who understand Arabic grammar -

nakira here فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا - nakira means you can have multiple يُسْرs: two, three, four, two hundred, two thousand. The point being: for every one difficulty Allah will give you multiple يُسر.

Practical Application

So our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has been consoled: Ya Rasulullah, don't worry, I know it's difficult, but Allah has revealed multiple blessings along with these difficulties. فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

Next time brothers and sisters you face a difficulty in life, next time you face a problematic situation, remind yourself of this verse: that along with this problematic situation Allah has revealed blessings. Let me think about those blessings. Because we don't think of blessings - we take them for granted. We don't appreciate blessings until they're taken away from us. As long as we have them we take them for granted. The minute they're gone, that's when we realize how important those blessings were.

So our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is being told: Ya Rasulullah, you have so many يُسْرs, and every time a difficulty will come I will give you even more يُسْر. And this is something to console our hearts.

The Final Directive

Then what does Allah tell our brothers and sisters:

Three words. One of the famous scholars of Tafsir, Al-Tahir Ibn Ashur, he said these three words are of the most eloquent and of the most jami' or the most comprehensive of words in the whole Quran. They have so many meanings, they have so many meanings. We cannot talk about all of them in this short khutbah.

Can have many, many meanings. We only talk about two or three of them.

Meanings of "Fansab"

The first meaning: The meaning of فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ - when you finish فَرَغْتَ - when you finish, when you have spare time. فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ - when you finish what you were doing. فانصب

فانصب can have many meanings linguistically. نصب means to stand tall and erect, or نصب means to plant in the ground. نصب - you نَصَب a flag, you plant it in the ground. This is what نصب means.

So one of the meanings of نصب is to raise your hands for du'a, because you are raising your hands up. So meaning number one: when you finish doing whatever you're doing, make sure you pray to Allah to bless it. فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ . Don't forget about the spiritual element of whatever you're doing. Whatever you're doing, when you finish doing it فانصب - ask Allah to bless you with it.

A second meaning which is very similar: فَانصَبْ is to stand in salah. So when you finish your daily routine, then stand in salah at night. When you finish your daily chores, don't forget about your نصب your qiyam al-layl. Don't forget about your relationship with Allah.

And the point here is a very beautiful verse. As Al-Tahir Ibn Ashur points out, that Allah did not tell our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم exactly what to do to respond to the problem of his time. In other words, He didn't tell him go to so-and-so, do this and that. Rather, He left it open: go do your work. فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ - you have to do one chore, you have to keep on doing it.

A third meaning - by the way I forgot to mention - فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَبْ - the third meaning: when you finish one deed, فَانصَبْ - go stand up and do another deed. Always be proactive. When you finish one technique to stop them criticizing, to stop the hassle, to stop the intimidation, go try another technique. When you finish one tactic, try another tactic. In other words, you don't have time to relax, you don't have time to live a chilled life, you don't have time to just have a lifelong vacation.

Always be productive, always do something useful. Don't just go home and sleep and chill and do nothing. Of course we have to sleep to live our lives, but I'm saying have a productive life. Once you finish plan A, move on to plan B. When you've done plan B, try plan C. Now you've done plan C, your whole life is going to be فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَب - do one, then something else, then do this, then do that.

The Ultimate Goal

So all of these meanings are valid, by the way. So meaning number one: pray to Allah. Meaning number two: make du'a to Allah. Meaning number three: keep on having different plans.

From this we derive so many benefits, ya muslimun, oh Muslims. Think about this: every time you have a problem, Allah is telling you keep on trying to solve it. Don't just sit home and say "tawakkal ala Allah, Allah will solve it from up above." No, Allah will solve it from up above if you put in the effort. Allah will solve it from up above if you show Him you're interested in a solution.

Rizq will not come to you from rain just onto your house - money is going to fall. Children will not come until you get married and get a job and procreate. It's not going to happen like this. You need to have a vision and a goal and a plan, and then you need to strive to get to that plan. This is فَإِذَا فَرَغْتَ فَانصَب

Keep on trying another plan. Plan A failed, move on to plan B. Plan B failed, move on to plan C.

And as you're doing all of these plans, don't forget: the plan itself is important, but just as important is the relationship with Allah. When you finish plan A, make sure you make du'a for Allah to bless plan A. Then move on to plan B. Make sure you ask Allah to do plan B. And make sure along with all of this that you are saying your your salah.

Combining Dunya and Deen

And this is another problem we have: that suppose we want rizq and money. Well, many of us, we will concentrate on the degree, on the job, on the business. We will neglect our spiritual relationship with Allah. We will neglect what we need to do on the other side. If Allah has not willed it, it's not going to happen. We need to have both plans: the spiritual plan and the physical plan.

The physical plan: I need to get an education, I need to get a job, I need to have a good resume. This is the physical plan. There is a spiritual side as well: I need to be a good Muslim, I need to have my salah established, I need to make regular du'a, I need to make sure that Allah is pleased with me. Then He's going to give me what I want through these plans.

Combined dunya and deen.

And throughout all of this, always have your ultimate goal and desire be to your Lord:

Your rabba, your desire, your goal should always be to your Lord. وَإِلَى رَبِّكَ فَارْغَب

And if you do this Ya Rasulullah - and this is a beautiful point here - if you truly have your ultimate goal the pleasure of Allah then the problems of this world automatically become secondary to you. When your pleasure is linked to Allah and not to the dunya, when your goal becomes Allah and the pleasure of Allah, that is your ultimate goal, then who cares if the Quraysh criticize you? Who cares if you don't get that particular job that you wanted? Who cares if you don't get the million dollars you want? Who cares? He who has Allah has everything, and he who doesn't have Allah, doesn't matter how much he has, he has nothing.

Summary and Application

So our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is being reminded very subtly, not directly, very subtly: don't link your happiness and pleasures to the Quraysh and the response of the Quraysh. Put your raghba, put your hope and goals in Allah, and when you do that then you will be successful regardless of the situation on earth.

And this is a beautiful point here we can apply it to any situation, any situation. Even if you don't get what you want in this dunya, if you have your pleasure of Allah and the goal of pleasing Allah, you will get that goal and that is the ultimate goal of every Muslim.

In this surah brothers and sisters, our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is being reminded of some very simple facts:

Key Points from the Surah

Fact number one: Always look on the bright side, always look at the positive.

Fact number two: The blessings that every one of us have are infinitely more compared to the blessings of those who don't have religion, who don't have Allah. What you have as a Muslim - which is Islam, which is forgiveness of sins, which is knowing your purpose in life, which is knowing your creator, which is a real legacy of Jannah - this is a real treasure. Who cares about the rest of these treasures that they go after?

Fact number three: Yes, life is full of problems. The Quran didn't say, Surah Ash-Sharh didn't say if you put your iman in Allah you're not going to have any problems in life. No, the عُسْر is there the عشر is existent. No matter how pious you are, life is still going to be problematic. But if you truly have taqwa, if you truly have iman in Allah, then for every عُسْر there will be multiple for every difficulty there will be multiple ease.

Fact number four: What do you do then? What should you do? For every situation you need to have your plans. Think about what I can do to better the situation. But as you do these plans, the next point: make sure you have a relationship with Allah. Make sure you're praying, make sure you're making du'a, make sure you're asking Allah to bless you in that plan.

And the final fact of the surah, the final benefit of the surah: Throughout all of this, don't make the dunya your ultimate goal. Don't make the Quraysh - in this case - don't make your business, don't make the pleasure of people, and don't make this dunya the ultimate goal.

Make the ultimate goal the pleasure of Allah, and if you follow these points Ya Rasulullah, if we follow these points, then wallahi brothers and sisters we will benefit the way that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم benefited.

Never after this surah did he feel depressed. Never after this surah did he feel "my Lord has abandoned me." Never after this surah was he pessimistic. This surah gave him a sense of optimism, a sense of pro- activism, a sense of always doing something. After this surah was revealed, for the rest of his prophethood, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم never went back to those thoughts that he had before this surah was revealed.

And similarly we too, through this surah, can eliminate these evil thoughts and have a good thought of Allah.

Historical Reflection: Al-Rashid Mosque

Second Khutbah

Brothers and sisters, this is my first time in the city of Edmonton. And I was told that this masjid, Masjid Al-Rashid, is the first masjid built in Canada, maybe even in all of North America. And this is a great honor and a great privilege for me to be able to speak in this masjid.

And I was told that this masjid - the first khutbah ever given in this Masjid Al-Rashid was by the famous translator Abdullah Yusuf Ali back in 1935 or something - I forgot the exact date. And this is a very historic masjid because of this. And it's a very big honor for me to be standing on a symbolic pulpit. Remember that Abdullah Yusuf Ali...

And you here in the city of Edmonton should be very proud that here is a masjid that has been operating for over 80, 85 years now. Alhamdulillah, this is a very positive sign. Look at all of the negative things that must have happened for the Muslims for the last 8 decades. And yet alhamdulillah, the community is now thriving. The Muslims are now flourishing.

And this goes back directly to this surah:

I don't know how many people prayed here when Abdullah Yusuf Ali gave the khutbah. But I do not think there were more than 10-15 Muslims in Edmonton. And in my humble opinion, back in the 1932-33, probably not even 10 Muslims. They could never have imagined that one day there would be over 50 or 40,000 Muslims in the whole city, there would be over 15 masajid, that the very masjid that there were only 10 people, now there are over 2-3,000 people.

And inshallah, this is just the beginning. That inshallah, the next generation, there will be another khatib of the next generation coming, and he will talk about the 150th anniversary and the 200th anniversary, and the population will be not just 2-3, but inshallah 20-30,000. This is the way of Allah:

New Year Reflection

And it is also very humbling and symbolic for me to be standing here today on the first of Muharram of the new year of the Islamic calendar. The first of Muharram of the new year of the Islamic calendar, which fits in perfectly with the khutbah itself. And that is the sign of optimism, that is to always look at the bright side, that inshallah the future will be better.

That as Allah says in the Quran, Surah Ad-Duha, the other surah that was revealed because of the same reason:

That the akhira - akhira here doesn't just mean the next world, it also means tomorrow, the future - will be better than the past yesterday. And this ayah وَالْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الْأُولَى it signifies that the believer by nature is an optimist. That the believer at heart always thinks tomorrow is going to be better, this year is going to be better, next year is going to be even better. The morning brings up a new dawn, and a new dawn brings more opportunities.

And today is the first day of Muharram. The first day of Muharram. One year has gone, another year is in front of us. Every one of us should take account of the last year. Look at the negative things that we've done, look at the positives that we've done.

Take account of yourselves before Allah will take account of you. And then set a plan, set a goal, set an agenda: This year inshallah will be better for me - physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, religiously in every single element and aspect. I will be a better person. I will be more proactive. I will be better with my family. I will spend more time in the masjid. I will make sure my salawat are on time.

Every one of us, we have to have this positive attitude towards ourselves, towards our family, towards our community, and most importantly towards Allah.

Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that Allah said:

(Bukhari hadith 7405)

That I will treat my servant the way that he assumes I will treat him. If my servant has positive thoughts of me, then I will fulfill those positive thoughts. And if my servant has stingy, negative thoughts, well then if that's what he thinks of me, then that's what he's going to get.

This hadith shows us brothers and sisters that (حُسْنُ الظَّنّ بِاللهِ - thinking good thoughts of Allah) - is a sign of iman. Every one of us, today is the first of Muharram. We've all had problems last year. I've had problems, you've had problems. Life is problematic. You're not gonna have life without problems.

This year we have a positive attitude. We will say: whatever those problems were, we're gonna turn over a new leaf. We will have plans - Plan A, B, C, D - to solve those problems. We'll make du'a to Allah. We'll have a spiritual relationship with Allah. And inshallah, this year will be better than last year, and the year after this will be even better than this year. This is the attitude of the Muslim.

That Allah will give me better today, and He's gonna give me even better tomorrow. Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: Allah will treat you the way you think He will treat you. Allah will deal with you the way you think He's going to deal with you.

So if you have positive thoughts of Allah - Allah will forgive me, Allah will be generous, Allah will do this and that - as long as you have a good relationship with Him, then He will have a good relationship with you. As long as you are righteous, you are making du'a, you are praying, and you have good thoughts of Allah, then inshallah as well Allah will fulfill those positive thoughts.

Today is the first of Muharram. Every one of us should have this attitude towards the upcoming year, towards our future life, that inshallah ta'ala things will be better for me, my family, my relatives, my loved ones, for every problem that we're facing.

And always remember, always, brothers and sisters, the ultimate goal:

That's the ultimate goal. Have your raghba, have your heart attached up there, not down here. Once you attach your heart up there, then this world it becomes secondary for you, and you will live happily. You will live despite all of the problems. If your pleasure is linked with the pleasure of Allah, then all of these issues and problems will become secondary. And this life and the akhira will be easier and better and at our grasp.

Closing Du'a

May Allah make us of those righteous people who live as Muslims and die as Muslims.

الْفَاتِحَة