His Eminence Sheikh Usamah Ibn Abdullah Khayyaat -may Allah protect him- delivered the Friday’s Khutbah titled “The Gravity of Doing Mischief on Earth” in which he warned against the consequences of this behaviour.

Praise be to Allah Who forbade mischief on earth, and denounced the work of the mischievous. I thank Him -may He be glorified- as a true thankful person should do, and I bear witness that there is no deity worth worshiping except Him with no associate. He is the Lord of the pious; I bear witness that our Master and Prophet Muhammad is the Servant and Messenger of Allah. He is the Imam of messengers, the Seal of prophets, and the leader of the pious and the righteous. O Lord, send Your Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy), Peace and Blessing on your Servant and Messenger, Muhammad, his family, 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 on all those who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgement.

Now then,

Servants of Allah! I exhort you to observe taqwa (fear of disobeying Allah), to observe the commandments of Allah Almighty, and to remember that you will definitely meet Him.

"Verily, We have warned you of a near torment, the Day when man will see that (the deeds) which his hands have sent forth, and the disbeliever will say: "Woe to me! I wish I were dust!" [Al-Naba’: 40]
 
"The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, Except him who brings to Allâh a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifâq (hypocrisy)]." [Al-Shu’ara’: 88-89]

Servants of Allah!

When Allah created the earth, He set it in perfect order by sending His messengers to mankind. With them, He sent down His books offering clear signs and foolproof evidence. He therefore delivered from error and saved from destruction whomever He granted the grace of faith, Islam and the bliss of tawheed (monotheism) and Sunnah.
 
Thus the grace of perfecting the creation of the earth by Allah is so enormous, and the gift so colossal that it is now incumbent upon His servants to maintain it and take good care of it by not doing mischief on it after Allah has set it in perfect order, as mischief constitutes irrevocable damage, leads to incorrigible consequences and forms sinister ingratitude. Hence the unequivocal prohibition:

"And do not do mischief on the earth, after it has been set in order, and invoke Him with fear and hope; Surely, Allâh's Mercy is (ever) near unto the good¬ doers." [Al-A’raf:56]

Thus Allah -may He be extolled- warned the people of Prophet Shu’aib -may Allah’s peace be upon him:

"… and do not mischief on the earth after it has been set in order, that will be better for you, if you are believers." [Al-A’raf: 85]

Since doing mischief on earth after it has been set in order is one of the most serious forms of disobedience to Allah and His Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him] and because it entails retention of benefits and runs contrary to the common good, and because the perpetrator introduces an innovation to be emulated as an example, such a hideous act is abominable to Allah Almighty Who says:

"and they (ever) strive to make mischief on earth. And Allâh does not like the Mufsidûn (mischief¬makers)." [Al-Ma’idah: 64]

Multi-faceted as these forms of mischief are, they are topped by shirk (polytheism, associating partners with Allah Almighty). Verily, this is the greatest źulm (injustice) as Luqman said in his exhortation to his son,

"O my son! Join not in worship others with Allâh. Verily! Joining others in worship with Allâh is a great Zulm (wrong) indeed." [Luqman: 13]

Man does himself a great injustice when he equates the Creator, the Omnipotent, the Provider, the Life-giver, the Death-causer, and the Single Possessor of Lordship, Deity, Names and Attributes with a helpless creature unable to do himself good or harm, or give himself life, death, or resurrection. Is there a more detrimental and malicious mischief with a worse-ending than this?

The parable of he who associates partners with Allah Almighty is the one who falls from a lofty summit to the lowest deck.

"…and whoever assigns partners to Allâh, it is as if he had fallen from the sky, and the birds had snatched him, or the wind had thrown him to a far off place." [Al-Hajj: 31]

No wonder then that mischief is one of the seven deadly sins which the Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be on him] ordered us to avoid on account of the great detriment, danger and mischief they entail. He said, “Beware of the seven deadly sins!” “What are they, O Prophet of Allah?” they asked. “Associating partners with Allah, witchcraft, taking the life that Allah has proscribed except for a right cause, dealing in usury, taking the orphan’s property unlawfully, running away from (or turning tail to) the enemy in the battlefield, and accusing of fornication virtuous, heedless, married women,” he answered.” [Narrated by the two Sheikhs in their two Sahihs]

The same punishment applies to all the sins whose perpetrators are promised curse, torture and deprivation of paradise. Such faith-decreasing, soul-tarnishing sins will make the perpetrator a Satan’s mount; thus, he may lead him to temptation, embellish his deeds, and make him go too far in his sins that he may see what is bad good, evil virtue, and wrong righteous.

The perpetrator, thus, considers his mischief to be good. This is the state of the hypocrites that Allah ‒Glorified be He‒ has told us about in Surat Al-Baqarah:

"And when it is said to them: "Make not mischief on the earth," they say: "We are only peacemakers." Verily! They are the ones who make mischief, but they perceive not." [Al-Baqarah: 11-12]
 
These are described by Imam Ibn Jareer -may Allah bless his soul‒ as “Those who do mischief on earth by disobeying their Lord, committing what has been proscribed, neglecting their religious duties, suspecting His religion and its veracity without which no good deed is accepted from anyone, lying to the believers by concealing their suspicion and scepticism, supporting those who reject Allah’s existence, His Books and Messengers whenever they find the opportunity to do so. This is the mischief the hypocrites do on earth, though they believe that doing so is doing reform.”
 
Mischief and corruption, O servants of Allah, is disbelief in Allah coupled with committing sins. Whoever disobeys Allah or orders others to disobey Him will be spreading mischief and corruption on earth; for the good functioning of heavenly and worldly life affairs is a consequence of obedience (to Allah), as Qatadah and other exegetes of the Salaf (scholars adhering to the prophet’s Sunnah and the Companions’ approach), may Allah have mercy on them, said.

Fear Allah, O servants of Allah, and obey Allah and the Messenger in order to earn the mercy of Allah. Moreover, take what Allah narrated to us about the advice that people gave to Qarūn (Korah), a moral lesson to learn from, a path to follow, and a signpost to be guided with, as Allah (May He be glorified) said:

"But seek, with that (wealth) which Allâh has bestowed on you, the home of the Hereafter, and forget not your portion of legal enjoyment in this world, and do good as Allâh has been good to you, and seek not mischief in the land. Verily, Allâh likes not the Mufsidûn (those who commit great crimes and sins, oppressors, tyrants, mischief-makers, corrupts)."[Al-Qasas: 77]

May Allah benefit you and me with His Book's guidance and the Sunnah of His Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him)!  I say this, and I ask Allah, the Almighty, the Glorious, to forgive my sins, yours and those of all Muslims; He is truly Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful!