Sh Ali bin Abdur Rahman Al-Huthayfee – 03 Safar 1435

Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah, the All-Mighty, the Most Forgiving, and the All-knower of what is in the breasts. He has bestowed His favours upon us and upon all mankind and has saved whom He wills from all evils and punishments. I praise my Lord and thank Him. I turn to Him in repentance and ask Him for forgiveness. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, Who has no partners, the Most Forbearing and Most Appreciative of good deeds, and I bear witness that our prophet and master, Muhammad, is His servant and Messenger. O Allah! Bestow Your peace, prayers, and blessings upon Your servant and messenger Muhammad and upon his family and Companions, whose striving was appreciated by Allah and whose deeds were accepted by Him.

O Muslims!
Fear Allah by doing deeds that are pleasing to Him and avoiding acts of disobedience to Him, for our Lord is the One Who deserves to be feared and is the One Who forgives.

Servants of Allah!
Blessed are those who possess the traits and qualities that Allah loves and accepts, in addition to their deep faith and certainty, and wretched are those who have detestable traits and reprehensible qualities.  Indeed, the success of this ummah lies in following in the footsteps of its earliest generations of Muslims, who led an ascetic life, certain of the great rewards Allah has in store for the believers. Conversely, the destruction of this ummah lies in holding fast to this life and clinging to futile worldly ambitions.

The type of asceticism that we ought to practice is that in which we abstain from forbidden acts, restrain from encroaching upon people’s property or taking their lives, avoid unlawful earnings, shun doubtful matters in religion, and give people their due rights regarding debts and trusts. Any good deeds done beyond this are additional acts of goodness, virtue, and righteousness that purify those who observe them and cleanse their souls. Indeed, Islam recommends such acts, and Allah abundantly rewards those who do them and elevates their ranks in the hereafter. It is also by virtue of these acts that Allah keeps the righteous servants from disgrace and evil death and makes their ending a happy one. Allah, Exalted be He, says: “So keep your duty to Allah and fear Him as much as you can; listen and obey, and spend in charity; that is better for yourselves. And whosoever is saved from his own covetousness, then they are the successful.” (At-Taghabun: 16)

Eternal success is a rank that a servant attains by Allah’s mercy. Allah, Exalted be He, has describes His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and those who believed with him as the ones who will be successful. Allah, Exalted be He, says: “But the Messenger (Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him) and those who believed with him (in Islamic Monotheism) strove hard and fought with their wealth and their lives (in Allah’s Cause). Such are they for whom are the good things, and it is they who will be successful.” (At-Tawbah: 88)

Generosity, purity of heart, clearness of conscience, and good moral character are all qualities that fit and always accompany an ascetic life. These and similar qualities, or even any one of them, will lead those who possess them into Paradise in peace, as long as they have a sound creed.

Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
“We were once sitting with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he said, ‘A man from the people of Paradise will now enter.’ Thereupon, a man from Al-Ansar (the inhabitants of Al-Madinah who helped the Muslim emigrants from Makkah (Al-Muhajirun)) entered, with his beard dripping with water from wudhu’ (ablution), and holding his sandals in his left hand. The following day, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said the same thing and the same man entered, as he did in the first time. On the third day, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, again repeated his statement and the same man entered in the same condition as he was in the first time. When Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, had left, Abdullah Ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, followed the man and said to him, ‘I quarrelled with my father and I swore not to go home for three days. Would you shelter me until these three days have passed?’ the man replied, ‘Yes.’

Abdullah said that he stayed with this man for three nights and he did not see him performing voluntary prayers at night, but every time he moved and turned in bed he would remember Allah and say, ‘Allah is the Greatest’. He would do so until he woke up for the Dawn Prayer. Abdullah added, ‘But I didn’t hear anything from him but good.’

The three nights passed, and I still thought that the man’s deeds were not as great as I had expected. I said to the man, ‘O Servant of Allah! In fact, I did not abandon my father nor was I angry with him. I only heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, speaking of you on three separate occasions, saying, “A man from the people of Paradise will now enter,” and you were the one who entered each time.  So, I wanted to stay with you to see what you did so that I could follow your example, but I have not seen you do much. So what is it that you do which made Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, say what he said?’ The man replied, ‘Nothing more than what you have seen.’

When I was about to leave, he called me back and said, ‘Nothing more than what you have seen, except that I do not bear in myself any insincerity towards any Muslim and I never envy anyone for something good that Allah has given him.’ Abdullah then said, ‘It is this, then, that has made you one of the people of Paradise.’” (Reported by Ahmad and An-Nasa’i, with an authenticated chain of transmission (isnad sahih))

Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-‘As, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said, “I once said, “O Messenger of Allah! ‘Which of the people is best?’ He said, ‘Every believer who is clean-hearted and truthful in speech.’ We said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! What does it mean to be clean-hearted?’ He said, ‘It means having a pious, pure heart, in which there is no rancour, insincerity, injustice, or envy’” (Reported by Ibn Majah with an authenticate chain of transmission (isnad sahih)).

On the other hand, craving to amass worldly possessions by lawful and unlawful means is one of the diseases of the heart and one of the causes of destruction and having blessing removed from one’s provision, as well as one of the causes of great harm that is bound to occur sooner or later. Cupidity is always matched and accompanied with miserliness and covetousness. Miserliness is one of the detestable traits that Allah, Exalted be He, hates. Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “A generous person is close to Allah, close to people, close to Paradise, and far away from Hellfire. A miserly person is far from Allah, far from people, far from Paradise, and close to Hellfire. Allah loves an ignorant man who is generous more than a miserly man who is devoted to worship” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi).

Miserliness means withholding zakah and obligatory expenses, refusing to give alms to beggars or to honour one’s guests, and desisting from spending on good causes from one’s surplus wealth. Allah, Exalted be He, says: “But he who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient, and denies Al-Husna [the Best; a reward from Allah], We will make smooth for him the path for evil; and what will his wealth avail him when he goes down (in destruction).” (Al-Layl: 8-11)

Allah, Exalted be He, also says about the hypocrites:
“The hypocrites, men and women, are one from another; they enjoin (on the people) Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief and polytheism of all kinds and all that Islam has forbidden), and forbid (people) from Al-Ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and they close their hands [from giving (spending in Allah’s Cause) alms] . . .” (At-Tawbah: 67)

The words “they close their hands” in the verse means they are too miserly to spend on the various charitable causes.

Covetousness is far worse than miserliness. Covetousness is craving to get hold of other people’s wealth and seize their rights and seeking to obtain them and add them to one’s own possessions, unjustly and maliciously, motivated by cupidity and competition for this transient and deceptive life. This is all done out of envy, underestimation of the torment of Allah, Might and Majesty be to Him, lack of fear of the Lord, Glorified and Exalted be He, and forgetfulness of all the dire consequences awaiting covetous misers.

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, warned us against covetousness. Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Beware of injustice, for injustice will be darkness on the Day of Judgement. Beware of covetousness, for covetousness destroyed those before you. It caused them to shed one another’s blood and to make lawful what was unlawful” (Reported by Muslim).

Abdullah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Beware of obscene words or deeds, for Allah does not like obscene words or obscene deeds. And beware of covetousness, for it destroyed those before you. It commanded them to commit injustice and they committed it; it commanded them to engage in wickedness and they did; and it commanded them to sever ties of kinship, and they did” (Reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud).

Abul-Hayyaj Al-Asadi said, “While I was going around the Ka’bah, I found a man supplicating, ‘O Allah! Save me from the covetousness within me.’ He would not add anything to this supplication. I asked him about the reason for saying this and he said, ‘If I am saved from covetousness, I will not be stealing, nor fornicating, nor doing anything wrong.’ It turned out that this man was ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn ‘Awf, may Allah be pleased with him” (Reported by Jarir).

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The worst two qualities in a man are restless covetousness and unrestrained cowardice” (Reported by Ahmad and Abu Dawud).

One of the portents of the Hour is that covetousness will fill people’s hearts. Covetousness leads to the spread of aggression, injustice, oppression, severance of the ties of kinship, tribulations, and collecting money by any means, whether lawful or unlawful. It may even lead to killing. Covetousness will continue to spread until the earth throws out its riches of gold and silver like columns and every group of people will think that this is happening only in their own land, but in truth this will be happening all over the world. When this happens, no one will get any benefit from having gold or silver. The murderer will then say, “Was it for this that I committed murder?” Similarly, the one who severs the ties of kinship will say, “was it for this that I severed the ties of kinship?”, and the thief will say, “Was it for this that my hands were cut off?” This is one of the signs of the Hour.

Allah, Exalted be He, says:
“Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world. But the good righteous deeds, that last, are better with your Lord for rewards and better in respect of hope.” (Al-Kahf: 46)

May Allah bless you and me with the Great Qur’an and make us benefit from its verses and wise words and benefit from the guidance and right sayings of the Master of all Messengers. I have said what you have heard and I ask forgiveness of Allah for myself, for you, and for all Muslims for any sin we have committed. Ask Allah for forgiveness. He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.