Corrected Khutba - Hardships Path to the Most Merciful

First thing that person does is it seeks the creation. It seeks the means for protection. What does that mean in this case? It means they're going to call for help.

They're going to call the Coast Guard. But only when that doesn't work, they look for the next means. Now they're going to look for the lifeboat.

But all the lifeboats are damaged. Now they're going to look for the lifejacket. But all of the lifejackets are also lost.

Now they have exhausted every single means, every single avenue of the creation. Now what do they do when nothing else can work? (يَا الله - Ya Allah). And this is what we do.

When we, as soon as we are hit with a hardship, where do we turn first? That's a very important question to ask ourselves. Where do we go first? This is not to say we cannot seek the means. This is not to say, I'm sick, I can't go to the doctor.

But it means, where do I turn first? And where is my dependence? Who do I really think is going to save me from that storm? Do I really think that a doctor can cure me? Do I really believe that the medicine is curing me? Because if I do, I have been fooled. I have been deceived by the means. Those things are just tools.

The medicine is just a tool. The doctor is just a tool. The one who cures, the one who saves, is Allah.

The State of Tadarra (Complete Humility)

So when I'm in that storm and I'm in that boat, to bring it back to tadarra, and at that point, when I have nowhere else to turn, and the illusion of all the rest of the tools has been taken away from my eyes, and then I ask Allah, what type of state I will be in, that is tadarra. It is not just humility, it's absolute desperation. Finally, really realizing your need for Allah.

So it isn't just raising your hand and asking for help. It is getting down on your hands and knees and begging for help. And that's actually the point.

That's actually the point. When Allah sends you a hardship, the reason it feels heavy is because we're trying to carry it ourselves. We don't depend on Allah when we have a hardship.

We might say that we depend on Allah, but the truth is, we try every other means. We'll call our friend, we'll call the doctor, we'll go to our bank account, we'll go to our house, we'll try to depend on everything else to solve our problem, but not Allah. And sometimes Allah, out of His mercy, does something amazing.

The Mercy in Closed Doors

You go, you have a problem, you go to your friend. But your friend hangs up the phone in your face, or your friend isn't there for you. Your friend lets you down.

Then you go to a doctor, or you go to this, and you go to that. And every single place that you try to go for help or for refuge, the door gets slammed in your face. The door closes, another door closes, another door closes.

Do you guys feel what I'm saying? And every time you seek those other means, the door closes in your face. Has that ever happened to you? When you're at the hardest time in your life, and you know, you're like, I tried, you know, no one was there for me. Has anyone ever felt that way? No one was there for me when I needed them most.

For some reason, this is like a rule of life, right? You know, when you really, really need the life jacket, that's when it's not working. When you really need the lifeboat, that's when it's broken. When you really needed that friend, that's when she wasn't there for you.

When you really needed that person, when you really needed the doctor to pick up, whatever it was, when you really needed it to work, that's when it doesn't. Do you ever wonder why that happens? One of the reasons why this happens, wallahu ta'ala alam, Allah, in this way, directs you towards Him. Because we're trying to put our dependence in the wrong place.

We're seeking help from the wrong things. We are not asking Allah for help. And instead, we seek other things for help.

Now, do you guys ever realize, maybe you guys have experienced this, that you may have, at first, tried to seek help from other things. Seek other things to depend on, to get you out of that problem. And when they didn't work, then what did you do? Usually, you'll find that you end up turning to Allah in a way that you never would have otherwise.

And you'll find that your closeness to Allah is most during those hardest times of your life. Do you know why that happens? Because of this concept. At that place, in that state of need, in that state of (تَضَرُّع - tadawrah), is when we are closest to Allah.

So now, if Allah wants to bring us close, what does He do? You guys see where I'm going? If the only way you and I, because we're so engrossed in the illusions of the creation, if the only way we're gonna turn to Him is when everything else is closed, so that's what He does. It is not a punishment if we respond correctly. In fact, it's a mercy.

Because had that storm never come, had that storm never come, you would have never tasted that closeness to Allah. Perhaps. Some people may, but most people, unfortunately, get very deceived by ease.

The Test of Ease vs. The Test of Hardship

Translation: And Allah tells us this in the Quran, that when the storm hits in the middle of the ocean, and the waves are like mountains surrounding them, that's when they call on Allah in a state of tawheed. Now the tawheed happens. Allah brings us to tawheed in that situation.

We're no longer asking from anyone else, because no one else can help us. It's only when no one else can help us that we are able to ask Allah and Allah alone, and really realize (لَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللهِ - la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah). That there is no change in state, no power, no strength, except by Allah.

And sometimes it takes a storm to make us realize that. But then Allah tells us that as soon as that person is saved, and he goes to the shore, you know, now things are easy again. What do we do? Just think about yourself.

What do you do? Once that hardship, Allah has saved you from it. What do you do? Be honest. Are you still asking Him in the same desperate, humble way? No.

In fact, we turn away from Allah, and we become again distracted with our many distractions. Am I right? That is the way we are. So it is within the hardship itself that we are directed to Allah.

But what we have to do is this. Even in the ease, we need to not be deceived. A lot of people think that tests only come in the form of hardships.

But do you know that an even greater test perhaps than hardship is the test of ease. Why is that? Remember I said on shore, on shore we're farther from Allah. Because when we're given ease, it's even harder.

That's why it's even harder to turn completely to Allah. That's why ease can be even a harder test than hardship. It's as if the hardship, it's like a multiple choice test.

But there's only one right answer. I'm sorry, there's only one option and it's the right answer. Do you get what I'm saying? Because Allah gives you the hardship and closes every other avenue of help.

So basically He's given you a multiple choice exam with only one option and it's Allah. So it's the right answer. Then as soon as you get into the ease, now you have lots of options in the multiple choice test.

Now the question is there, but the answers are many. Your money, your status, your spouse, your friend, your father, your mother. You guys understand? And those are the things that we become distracted with and those are the things that we begin to love more than Allah.

But that happens during ease often. So the test of ease is sometimes more difficult than the test of hardship.

The Process of Purification (Tamhees)

Arabic Reference: (لِيُمَحِّصَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا - Quran 3:141)

Translation: Now in talking about some of the other reasons why Allah gives us hardship, Allah also speaks about something called tamhees (تَمْحِيص).

And Allah says in one of the ayats about hardship, "so that Allah may purify those who believe." What that means is Allah sends the hardship in order to make those who believe undergo a process called tamhees (تَمْحِيص). What's تَمْحِيص تَمْحِيص is purification.

But it's not just, you know, purification, but more specifically, that's the Egyptian event, right? So the concept of تَمْحِيص is like what happens to gold. When you want to purify gold, what do you do to it? What do you do to gold to purify it? You heat it up. What happens when you heat up gold? You remove all the impurities.

Guess what happens when you heat up a believer? Allah is doing that to the believer, He says in the Qur'an. When you heat up a believer, you put them through something hard, you heat them up, Allah is removing the impurities. Because our insides are full of some good and some bad.

And when Allah wants to separate the good from the bad, He gives us hardships. And it has that same effect that heating up gold does that. So in this way, hardship purifies us, it brings us back to Allah, and it humbles us.

Therefore, if we respond correctly to hardships, no hardship is a punishment for you. If you respond correctly. Now what is the correct response to hardship? At the very least, the minimum that a believer should have as a response is sabr (صَبْر).

The Levels of Response to Hardship

First Level: Sabr (Patience)

Patience. Patience, صَبْر means, it may hurt internally, but you don't complain. You don't complain, and let me explain what I mean by complain, because sometimes this is misunderstood.

Complaining about Allah is different than complaining to Allah. Complaining about Allah is different than complaining to Allah. Complaining about Allah means that you are not, you are complaining about the situation in that you are not, that you are resentful, that you are angry, that you're saying, Oh Allah, how could you do this to me? Oh Allah, why me? Why not that person? Why me all the time? That is not

We can never respond in that way. Because if we respond in that way, we will not get the benefits of hardship in the purification, and in the humility, and in the blessing, and the mercy that can come out of it. But complaining to Allah is what even the prophets did.

Arabic Reference - Prophet Yaqub : (إِنَّمَا أَشْكُو بَنِّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللّهِ - Quran 12:86)

Translation: Yaqub عليه السلام, when he lost Yusuf عليه السلام, what did he say in Surah Yusuf? "I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah." But was he complaining in that he was saying, Oh Allah, why did you do this to me? No. A'udhu billah.

That's not the type of complaint. It's when you turn to Allah and you say, Oh Allah, help me, I'm weak. Oh Allah, it hurts. That's fine. You're complaining to Allah, because Allah is your refuge. Allah is your refuge.

If you're not going to go to Allah for refuge, where are you going to go? Really, where are you going to go? Even the prophets عليهم السلام,after Ta'if, what did he say? He complained to Allah. That is not ingratitude. Crying does not mean you are not in a state of صبر

The prophets عليهم السلامcried when his son died. But his heart was patient. His heart was content with the decision of Allah.

But that doesn't mean you don't cry. And it doesn't mean you can't complain to Allah. And it doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't hurt inside.

It may hurt, but you are not angry at Allah. You are not complaining about what Allah gave you. But you're asking for help, and you're admitting your own weakness.

Arabic Hadith about Patience: (مَن يَتَصَبَّرْ يُصَبّرْهُ الله - Bukhari 1469)

Translation: And then there's an even higher level than صبر. The fruits of صبر, among many, is that your sins will be erased. And we're told by the prophets عليه السلام, that when a believer goes through any kind of pain, or hardship, or loss, even the prick of a thorn, And actually, I have scars.

I have roses, and they have thorns. And subhanallah, they scratch me. I still have the scar, subhanallah.

And I remember that hadith. Because the hadith says that it removes your sins, even if it's a thorn prick. And specifically, it was a thorn prick.

Subhanallah. That it removes your sins like leaves falling from a tree. That's if you respond with بر But there's an even higher level of response to hardship. And that's رضا (rida(. رضا is contentment.

Second Level: Rida (Contentment)

صبر is when it still hurts inside, but you're struggling. You're still trying to be patient. You know, the prophets عليه السلام said, whoever strives to be patient, Allah will bless him with patience.

So even if you're not able to be patient, struggle, Allah will see that, and Allah will bless you with patience inshallah. But a higher level is when it's actually internally there's peace, no matter what circumstance you're in. And that's the highest level.

That's the level of رضا. You know, there's a story of Abu Hanifa, rahmatullahi. He was sitting and he was teaching.

And he had property. And you know, when we talk about not being attached to this world, it doesn't mean that you don't own things. You know, it's like the saying that Ali (رضي الله عنه) said that زهد (zuhd), that detachment, not being attached to this life does not mean that you do not own anything, but that nothing owns you.

It does not mean that you do not own anything, but that nothing owns you. So you own your money, but your money doesn't own you. See the difference? If your money is given or your money is taken, it doesn't destroy or build you.

It's not something that can control you, but you control the money. So Abu Hanifa was teaching, and he had property, he had wealth, and he had been told as he was teaching that some of his ships had sunk. So he was teaching and he stopped, he paused, and then he said, (الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - alhamdulillah).

And then he continued to teach. And then a little while later they came back to him and told him, actually we made a mistake, it wasn't your ships, your ships are fine. He stopped, he paused, he said الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ and then he continued teaching.

And later on they came and asked him what was that about? Why did you do that? And he explained that the first time when they told me that my ships had sunk, I stopped and I examined my heart, and I found that my heart was not moved. So I said الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ that my heart was unmoved. And the second time when they told me that actually I didn't lose my ships, I stopped, I examined my heart, and I found that again my heart was unmoved.

It didn't move. I said الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. You see the lesson here, is that regardless of what circumstance he was in, it did not change the state of his heart.

His heart was still in رضا. His heart was still in a state of contentment, whether he lost his wealth or he gained his wealth. And that is the highest level.

And this is the level that if we respond in this way, and we ask Allah to make this response easy for us. If we respond in this way, not only are the sins forgiven, but a person is elevated in stations with Allah. He's elevated.

Closing Du'a

We ask Allah to make us among those who have sabr, who have ridha, and who have you know, the ability to respond to hardship in a way that will purify us, elevate us, and bring us nearer to Allah.

I conclude my speech with this, and I seek Allah's forgiveness for myself and for you. Indeed, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Glory is to You, O Allah, and praise is to You. I bear witness that there is no deity except You. I seek Your forgiveness and I repent to You.