By Sheikh Saud al-Shuraim – 28 Rabiul Awwal 1437

His Eminence Sheikh Saud al-Shuraim –May Allah protect him– delivered this Friday khutbah entitled “Consciousness and Caution” in which he talked about being conscious of what’s going on around Muslims, and the importance of being cautious and alert to the conspiracies that are being woven against them. He pointed out that if the Ummah attributes due importance to consciousness in life, then it will not fail during crises. Also, mishaps and calamities will not take it unawares.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the Merciful, the Compassionate, the Owner of the Day of Judgement! Praise be to Him until He is content, praise be to Him after contentment, and praise be to Him in every situation! He created everything and then proportioned it. He destined and then guided1. Praise be to Him in the First life (the Herein) and the Last life (the Hereafter)! Judgement is His and to Him we shall all return. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Servant and Messenger of Allah, the bearer of good tidings, the warner, and the shining torch. He has conveyed the Message, delivered the Trust, advised the Ummah, and made Jihad for the sake of Allah in the best way until his death. May Allah’s Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy) and Peace be upon him, his good pure family, his wives ‒the Mothers of the Believers‒ his Companions, the tabi’in (The contemporaries of the Companions of the Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him] after his death), and those who followed them in righteousness until the Day of Judgement!

Now then,

The recommendation to me and to you –O you people– is to observe Taqwa vis-à-vis Allah in private and public; for Taqwa is His recommendation to first and last generations of humankind.

“We have recommended to the people of the Scripture before you, and to you (O Muslims) that you (all) fear Allâh, and keep your duty to Him” [Al-Nisa’: 131]

O You People!

Allah –Exalted be He– has granted humans the great blessing of the senses: mind, hearing, and eyesight:

“And Allâh has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while you know nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts that you might give thanks (to Allâh).” [Al-Nahl: 78]

It is a blessing that most Humans enjoy. However, many of them do not use it properly as Allah wanted it to be used, for it didn’t serve them as a means towards rational thinking, consciousness, or guidance. Rather, they have used such a blessing to go astray and perhaps to mislead others. They have missed out on the pleasure of using it in what pleases Allah in this worldly life and in what would earn them a good ending in the hereafter:

“And surely, We have created many of the jinns and mankind for Hell. They have hearts wherewith they understand not, they have eyes wherewith they see not, and they have ears wherewith they hear not (the truth). They are like cattle, nay even more astray; those! They are the heedless ones.” [Al-A’raf: 179]

If these senses do not lead people to good, then they are indeed doomed to loss and perdition. Certainly, one of the most important things in which these senses could be used is to accomplish full consciousness as well as sane and subtle reasoning to help keep them (the senses) aloof from the effects that contradict logic and truth.

Undoubtedly, whoever has good consciousness, will have good caution, and will be able to read between the lines of mishaps and calamities. In fact, consciousness and caution are more than just hearing and seeing, for not everybody who can see is conscious and cautious of what he sees, and the same is true of everyone who can hear.

“Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind.” [Al-Hajj: 46]

The Ummah has recently been going through gloomy misfortunes and ever increasing calamities, followed by developments impregnated with what nobody knows except Allah. If individuals are successful in their consciousness, then they will be so in their caution. Hence, the whole society in general will be conscious of the value of unity and togetherness during crises. In this case, it will leave aside the various differences among people, and perhaps it will put-off speaking about contradictions because the approaching danger is greater, and therefore dealing with it is a priority.

Indeed, such would be a conscious Ummah and a successful society which distinguishes good from bad and friend from foe. That is why Allah –Glorified and exalted be He– recommended the believers thus:

“O You who believe! Take your precautions” [Al-Nisa’: 71]

The Ummah’s consciousness and caution guarantee –by Allah’s granted success– to make this Ummah strong and formidable in the face of its enemies and rivals who are lying in wait for it. The Ummah, then, will know when to be lenient and when to be decisive, when to keep its distance and when to make decisions and act. Sometimes, those who are lenient might be trodden and exploited. Indeed decisiveness creates fear (in the heart of the enemy), and force creates power and success –with Allah’s support.

(The Sheikh quotes a line of poetry that can be translated as follows):

If you are a man of opinion, then be determined,
For hesitation renders bad a sound opinion.

Allah –Sublime be He– recommended the Muslim Ummah to get the means of power, so that it will not be a plunder for the greedy or a target to those lying in wait for it. Allah, the Almighty, said:

“And make ready against them all you can of power” [Al-Anfal: 60]

The means of power of the Ummah must be at all levels: economic, political, scientific, sociological, and military. For the power of the state means the ability to influence, and when the state is conscious and cautious thanks to this power, then these means of power will be major sources of influence and consolidation for its existence. The Ummah will then be able to use the sources of its power in order to determine its position in times of peace and in times of crises. In this regard, a poet said:

To use leniency in the place of decisiveness,
Is as harmful as using decisiveness in place of leniency.

If a Muslim society gives privilege to consciousness and makes it a priority, then that Muslim society will not fail ‒Allah willing‒ during crises, for it will know when it should be alert and when not. It will know when to avoid dangers before they approach, and that it is better than dealing with them after they have taken place.

A conscious Muslim society ‒O servants of Allah‒ is that which succeeds in extirpating its internal enemies before they turn into second-order enemies. Yes, indeed! They become internal enemies through their selfishness and egotism, through the nurturing of conflicts, differences, and divisions, as if they were messengers for the outside enemies. Therefore, it is lawfully decided that all this must be avoided as soon as outside enemies stick out their necks and show their fangs. That is why Allah, the Almighty, said:

“O you who believe! When you meet (an enemy) force, take a firm stand against them and remember the Name of Allâh much (both with tongue and mind), so that you may be successful.(45) And obey Allâh and His Messenger, and do not dispute (with one another) lest you lose courage and your strength depart, and be patient. Surely, Allâh is with those who are As-Sâbirin (the patient ones, etc.).” [Al-Anfal: 45-46]

May Allah bless you and me by the Noble Qur’an and may He grant us the benefit of the signs, the remembrance and wisdom it contains. This is what I have said. If it is correct, it is so thanks to Allah, but if it is wrong, it is my own fault and Satan’s. I ask Allah to forgive me, you, and all Muslims, males and females, our sins and wrong-doings. So do ask Him for forgiveness and repent unto Him, for our Lord is indeed All-Forgiving, All-Merciful!