Quran as a Healing - Corrected Khutba

Quran as a Healing

By: Yasmin Mogahed

Opening

As-salāmu 'alaykum wa-rahmatu llāhi wa-barakātuh

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.

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

وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and companions.

My Lord, explain to my heart and ease my affairs, and release my tongue, so that it may understand my speech.

It's extremely humbling to be standing on this side of the audience. The sister said that you were here to listen to me, and I just want to correct that statement. We are here because of one reason, and that is what unites all of us, and what brings all of our hearts together, and that is (لا إله إلا الله - la ilaha illallah).

The Power of La Ilaha Illallah

(لا إله إلا الله) is a very, very powerful concept. It is (لا إله إلا الله) that transforms people. It is (لا إله إلا الله) that changed a people who used to bury their girls alive into some of the greatest human beings that ever walked the earth. It is (لا إله إلا الله) that heals the hearts.

This concept of (لا إله إلا الله) is at the very core of healing through the Quran. Because (لا إله إلا الله) is not just a statement. We all know that (لا إله إلا الله) is what we say to turn us from a disbeliever into a believer.

We all know that (لا إله إلا الله) is what we say many times a day in our prayers. But (لا إله إلا الله) is not only a statement of the tongue. (لا إله إلا الله) is a transformation and a revolution of the heart and the entire life and then the entire society.

Freedom from Slavery to Creation

Why is that? It is because of this concept actually frees us. One of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ when he came to bring the message of Islam he summarized this concept and he said I have come to free you from the slavery to the slave and bring you to the slavery of the lord of the slave. That is (لا إله إلا الله)

That is Islam. When we say Islam we mean submission. When we say I am a Muslim what we are saying is I have submitted but we are not unique in the submission because every human being everything alive submits to something.

Everything submits to something. The question is what do you submit to? Don't think that you are not a slave. We are all slaves. We are all slaves. The question is what are we slaves to? As Muslims we have taken witness that we will only be slaves to our creator because everyone is a slave to something and there are some people who are slaves to money and when I say they are slaves to money it doesn't mean that money is actual physical chains around their hands but when you say that a person is enslaved to money it means that I love money most. It means that I would do anything to get more money.

It means that the most important thing to me is money and so if that is the case then I am a slave to money. There are people who are slaves to status. They obviously do not pray to status they do not bow to status they are not chained physically by status but it means that a person says that I love status most that the most important motivation in my life that my most important objective that my greatest hope is in getting more status and my greatest fear is in losing status and in that way that person becomes a slave to status.

Liberation from Society's Standards

There are people who have enslaved themselves to the standards of society to the beauty standards of society to the fashion standards of society they don't bow down to fashion they don't worship fashion by praying to fashion but they become slaves to fashion because they make fashion their number one priority. I dress because fashion says so and when fashion says this is in style we hear and we obey and then fashion changes its mind and now fashion says this is in style we hear and we obey. This is when I have enslaved myself to fashion when I enslave myself to the standards of society for my self worth for my beauty when society says this is what is considered beautiful and I submit to that I have enslaved myself to society's standard of beauty when society says I'm supposed to look this way and I'm supposed to be this size and I'm supposed to dress this way and unless I look this way and I'm this size and I dress this way then I don't have any worth as women throughout the world we have become enslaved in this way we are told by magazines we are told by ads we are told by television we are told by Hollywood and Bollywood and every other wood that our worth as human beings as women is measured by the way we look it's measured by how skinny we are it's measured in some cultures by how fair we are and if we are fair enough and thin enough and pretty enough and attractive enough for men then we think we have

worth and if we are not if we are not thin enough if we are not fair enough if we are not pretty enough and attractive enough then we feel that we do not have worth.

Allah has come and freed us from that slavery we do not get dressed in the morning for any other reason than to be beautiful to our creator because you can be beautiful to society or you can be beautiful to your creator and you make that decision every single time you get dressed you make decisions at every moment of what you're going to worship and what you're going to enslave yourself to everyone is a slave to something except that we as Muslims Allah has come and freed us he has freed us through (لا إله إلا الله) because (لا إله إلا الله) means that there is nothing that I will enslave myself to there is nothing that will define my purpose and my worth there is nothing that I will put at the center of my existence except for God except for my creator and that is (لا إله إلا الله) and that is what frees us from the slavery to the slave and brings us to the slavery of the lord of the slave.

The Quran as Healing

The Quran is a healing for every disease the Quran is a healing for society's diseases, the Quran is a healing for our emotional diseases, the Quran is a healing for our relationship diseases and if we look into the Quran we find these healings.

Healing from Hardship and Loss

One example often what makes us broken inside what becomes a barrier to our healing is that we go through things that hurt us that we go through hardship that we go through loss that we go through trials that we go through tragedy this is a natural part of this life there is not a single human being who will live this life without going through some sort of hardship without going through some sort of trial without going through some sort of loss it is the nature of dunya but the Quran gives us a healing for these things the Quran gives us a healing for loss the Quran gives us a healing for hardship you know why? because Allah tells us:

It may be that you hate something and it is good for you.

And so Allah through the Quran has given us a completely different lens to see the world now all of a sudden those things that we thought were bad for us we realize that in fact they could be good for us even if it means losing something we love we all will go through loss of something that we love Allah tells us this in the Quran:

Allah tells us Allah warns us Allah prepares us - Indeed you will surely be tested with something of fear.

See the fear that we experience in this life is only a glimpse of true fear it's only a glimpse it is just a piece a bit of fear because real fear is when we are seeking refuge in Allah, real fear is when a person is standing about to enter hellfire that is real fear real fear is standing on the day of judgment bare we in this life experience just a glimpse of what fear of what real fear is like yes we feel afraid in this life Allah shows us just a little bit a little glimpse of what fear is like real fear and so he tells us you will surely be tested you know if someone is warning you of something clearly warning you then how then can you be surprised when it happens right Allah is warning us so how then can we be surprised when it happens and yet we get surprised don't we we get surprised that we were tested we get surprised that we're afraid we get surprised that something was taken from us we get surprised but if we read the Quran and reflect on the Quran and then absorb the Quran the Quranic paradigm into our hearts it changes the way we view the world now all of a sudden we aren't surprised we aren't surprised in fact we expect it why do we expect it because our creator has warned us has prepared us that we will surely be tested.

بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ - with something of fear and hunger.

Again, the hunger of this life is only a glimpse of real hunger. When a person is in hellfire and has nothing to drink except boiling water, what we experience in this life is nothing compared to that. And we ask Allah for protection. But Allah gives us a glimpse شَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ

So something of fear and hunger. And then comes the loss. And then Allah gives us a glimpse, gives us something. He tests us with something of loss. Do we lose things in this life? Anyone ever lost something? We are always losing something. Allah tells us in Surah Al-Asr:

He swears by time that indeed mankind is in a state of loss.

We are always losing something. We lose time. We lose health. We lose beauty. We lose intellect. Every minute that we live, every day that we live is closer to what? To losing those things.

I am coming closer to losing my health, my youth, my intellect, everything. إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا But there is a group of people who are saved from loss.

Capital L. Now we lose things of dunya. That's a fact. But the ultimate loss, capital L, is not for the believers. Because the believers, they don't lose. You know why? Whatever they lose of dunya is saved for them. Whatever they lose of dunya is saved for them with Allah.

If they are believers. And so Allah tells us that there is one group of people who are saved from this loss:

Except for those who believe. We have to believe.

The Conditions for Salvation from Loss

We have to believe to be able to hold on to anything from this life. If we do not believe, then we will lose everything, everything. You will not hold on to your money.

Your money will not come to you in your grave, except in one situation. In fact, two situations. When that money is used for the sake of Allah, when that money is used for a sadaqa, for a charity that continues to benefit others, it actually comes back in your grave.

You want your money to come with you to your grave? Use it for Allah. Use it. Give it.

Because the money that you hold on to, you lose. Have you ever heard of anyone taking their money with them in their grave? Even if they tried, it would disintegrate, wouldn't it? It's paper. But there's only one way to hold on to that money.

Give it for Allah. Give it for Allah and it will come back to you in your grave. As the Prophet ﷺ said, that there are three things that continue to benefit us in our grave.

And one of them is the sadaqa, the charity that continues to benefit people even after we die. You want to hold on to your money? You give it. And so there is one group of people who are saved from loss.

The first characteristic is that they are those who believe. If you want to hold on to what you have, you have to believe. But belief alone is not enough. Allah tells us the second characteristic in Surah Al-Asr:

And they do righteous deeds. It is not enough for you to say that my Iman is in my heart, but it doesn't show up in my actions. It's not enough.

Because anytime something is in your heart, it necessarily shows in your action. When you love someone, it shows in your actions. And when you don't care about someone, it shows in your actions.

When you are sincere, when you are humble, when you are miserly inside, it shows in your actions. And yet we try to say that we have Iman in our hearts and we love Allah in our hearts, but it doesn't show in our actions. That is a contradiction.

The Test of True Love

When you really have love in your heart, it must show in your actions. Can I prove it to you? A mother's love for her child. We all agree that mothers love their children, correct? This is just one of those things.

Believer, non-believer, atheist, agnostic. Mothers love their children. So can a mother say, yes, I love my child, but I left my child on the doorstep to starve. But I love my child. I'm overflowing with love for my child, but I neglected my child on the doorstep. That is a contradiction of love.

And I make a deal with you. If you patiently endure me taking my own car back, I in response to that will give you a hundred billion dollars. That's my deal.

All you have to do is be patient about me taking something that belongs to me anyways. And in exchange for your patience, I'm going to give you a hundred billion dollars. Wow.

That's quite a deal, right? Right? That's an intense deal, right? Allah is making a better deal with us. A better deal than that. In exchange for our patience, when he takes back what already belongs to him anyways, he gives us something not worth a hundred billion dollars, but something absolutely priceless, something infinite.

The blessings, mercy, and guidance of Allah. You can't put a price tag on that. In exchange for our patience, Allah gives us forever.

He gives us infinity. Isn't that a... I mean that's a deal. That's a deal.

Right? We like sales, right? We like to go to the mall and get a sale. Everyone likes to get a deal, right?

You know like when you go to the mall and you're like, I got this, you know, laptop, and it was like originally $1500, and like I got it for $25. You'd be like really happy, right? And everyone would think that you're really cool.

Right? You know you go and you are, you know there's a dress and it's like $2000, you get it for a penny. Whoa! I got a deal. You know? Allah is making a deal with us that can't be even compared to this.

We give something so small called patience, and in exchange He gives us infinity. Allah is so generous. He's taking back what belongs to Him, and then rewarding us for it.

Look at that generosity of Allah. Now how did this all happen? How did something that is normally seen as a tragedy become a source of infinite reward, of infinite blessings? It came through the healing of the Quran. It came through this lens, this Quranic paradigm that we would not have had without the Quran.

The Quran changes, it transforms the way we interact with our lives, and with this whole world.

Healing for Emotional Struggles

Allah has given us a healing for the emotional struggles that we go through. There are two emotions that we struggle with in this world.

Two main emotions. And if you look at, you know, within psychology, if you look at even just the, which psychological disorders, and then which medications most people take, you will find that they fall into two categories. One is depression, and one is anxiety disorders.

Depression and anxiety. In other words, sadness and fear. Despair and fear.

Allah has given us a healing in the Quran for these two, for these two emotions.

Healing for Sadness and Despair

When you look at the emotion of sadness and despair, one of the reasons why we fall into despair is because we believe that bad things are happening to us. But can you imagine a paradigm where you know that bad things never happen to you? Can you imagine that? You'd never be sad, right? You would never need to be sad.

If I told you, if I guaranteed that no bad thing would ever happen to you, would you ever need to be sad? You know that the Prophet ﷺ told us this? He already told us that bad things don't happen to the believers. But then you're going to say, wait a minute, but that's not true, because we lose things and we get hurt, and yes, we go through hardship, but it's not bad. Yes, we go through hardship, but the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Muslim 2999)

"The matter of a believer is strange." This is why it's strange, because you're going to say, but wait a minute, bad things do happen to believers. So I don't understand what you mean bad things don't happen. The Prophet ﷺ said: The matters of a believer are strange. His matters are all good.

You guys, can you reflect on that for a second? Rasulullah is telling you and me that if, and this is a capital IF, if we are believers, truly believers, then everything is good for us. Whoa.

Do you understand what that means? Do you understand what that means? It means no matter what happens in your life, it's good for you. Do you understand the power of that? The power of that? So nothing can make you despair. Nothing.

Because everything is good for you.

That the matters of a believer are strange. Everything is good for him.

And you know what the Prophet ﷺ says about this? He says, this is only the case for a believer. Only for a believer. If something that he loves happens, happens, he is grateful.

So it is good for him. If something that he does not want, or a hardship comes, he is patient.

So it is good for him.

Do you understand the revolutionary nature of this concept? Meaning that no matter what happens in my life, I gain money, I lose money. I gain status, I lose status. I gain health, I lose health.

I get people, I lose people. That it is all good for me? So there is no reason for me to despair about anything. Because it's all good for me.

And I, as a believer, just need to be between the wings of gratitude and patience. When it is time for me to be patient, I am patient. And when it's time for me to be thankful, I am thankful.

And in that way, no matter what happens to me, it's always good for me. I will always be rewarded. I will always be, it will always be for my own good.

And a purification. Only if I'm a believer. This is honestly a revolutionary concept that takes away the idea of despair.

This is a healing. This is a healing for sadness and depression of the deep, paralyzing type. Yes, we will still feel sadness, but that paralyzing despair, this is a healing for that.

Because everything is good for you.

Healing for Anxiety and Fear

Lastly, there is anxiety. Anxiety is one of those emotions that can become a prison for people.

Fear. Fear. It's one of the worst emotions ever.

Terror. Allah has given us a healing for terror. And you know what it's called? Tawakkul.

It's a healing for fear. You know why? Because tawakkul means that I put my trust in Allah. Now imagine that you have entrusted someone with your money.

Entrusted someone with your property. And it is someone who you are 150% sure that they would never ever betray your trust. Are you going to sit and be anxious and be worried about your money and your property? Yes or no? No.

I entrusted this person and this person would never betray my trust and this person will protect what I gave them. I am not afraid anymore. But what if you don't trust the one you have entrusted? What if you're not really sure if they're going to protect what you have given them? Are you going to be anxious? Yes.

You're going to be constantly worried. Constantly worried. What's going to happen to my money? What's going to happen to my property? What's going to happen? What's going to happen? Isn't this how we act? Isn't this how we act? We are always scared of what's going to happen to our dunya.

Right? Always thinking of different scenarios of how we might be harmed. Correct? How we might lose something. How someone might hurt us.

How someone might degrade us or say something bad about us or think bad about us or spread bad things about us or harm our children or take our property. We are constantly afraid. Why does that happen? Because we have not entrusted someone who we know will take care of everything.

Who is that? (الْوَكِيلُ - Al-Wakeel). Allah, one of the attributes of Allah is الْوَكِيلُ The trustee.

Remember I talked about the person you entrusted as a trustee for your money and your property. That's a human being. And sometimes they might mess up.

They could lose your property. They could fall asleep on the job. They could decide they want it for themselves.

Lots of things could happen. Allah doesn't lose anything. Allah doesn't fall asleep.

Allah doesn't become weak. Allah owns everything. Can you imagine if the one you have entrusted is the owner? Can you like understand? So imagine that your trustee meaning your protector is actually the owner of what you are afraid of losing.

How could you be afraid? If you have entrusted the owner of the heavens and the earth how can you be afraid? If nothing can happen in the entire universe without his knowledge and permission how can you be afraid? If you know that not even a leaf can fall from a tree anywhere without his knowledge and permission then how can you be afraid that you're going to get harmed? Or that you're going to lose something?

And not be able to handle it. No harm no true harm can come to a believer. Even when it looks like harm on the outside even when it looks like it's painful and it's lost it's always good for you if you are a believer.

And if you entrust Allah then you have just healed yourself. From that paralyzing emotion of fear. It is a healing for the prison of fear.

Because you know that I have entrusted the owner of the heavens and the earth. How can you not entrust him? And when you entrust him how can you worry after that?

Closing

I say this and ask Allah's forgiveness for me and for you. He is Forgiving and Merciful.

Glory be to Allah and praise be to Him. I bear witness that there is no god but You. I ask Your forgiveness and I repent to You.

And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.