By Sheikh Saudal-Shuraim – 01 Safar 1437

His Eminence Sheikh Saudal-Shuraim –May Allah protect him– delivered this Friday Khutbah titled “Negligence: Its Negative Effects on the Muslim Ummah” in which he addressed the detrimental effects of negligence on the individual as well as the community, showing that it has been sharply censured in both the Book (Qur’an) and the Sunnah, in the words of scholars, wise people and poets. Sheikh al-Shuraim mentioned two examples from the Sunnah that censure negligence both on the individual and communal levels.

Praise be to Allah Who originates creation and then repeats it, the Effecter of what He intends. He created mankind and decreed their destiny. Whatever He intends will be and whatever He does not will not be. He knows what was (in the past) and what will be (in the future) and, if it were to be, how it would be like. He is All-Knowing, All-Wise. I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah alone with no partner, and I also bear witness that Muhammad is the Servant and Messenger of Allah, His close friend and select of all His creatures. He delivered the Message, conveyed the Trust, offered counsel to the Ummah, performed true jihad in the cause of Allah, and left us on the flawless Straight Path of which the night and day are equally bright; none but the doomed will deviate away from it. May Allah send His profuse Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy) and Peace upon him, his noble and immaculate family, his wives ‒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 all those who followed in their footsteps in righteousness until the Day of Judgement!

Now then,

O Servants of Allah! Do observe Taqwa (fear of disobeying Allah) truly and sincerely, adhere to Islam’s most trustworthy hold, and beware of the sins, for they are deadly; they cause regression, pettiness, and disgrace rather than progression, grandeur, and honour respectively.

“And whomsoever Allâh disgraces, none can honour him. Verily! Allâh does what He wills”[Al-Hajj: 18]

O Muslims!

Negligence is intrinsic to human nature. All human beings are fallible, and the best of the fallible humans are the repentant. Perfection is an attribute of Allah alone, and infallibility is an attribute of His prophets and messengers.

Today, a close scrutiny of the reality of Muslim individuals, communities, states or even institutions reveals that a world teeming with practical, religious, and worldly necessities needs to reorganize its priorities and to keep what is important and preferable distinct from what is more important and preferable. It also needs to specify the level of its efficiency or complacency with the status quo and to feel whether the entire society is classified among the positive rather than the negative, the serious rather than the negligent, or the successful rather than the procrastinating societies.

Such an outcome can only be realised through a true and major criterion that can measure negativity and positivity, success and failure. It is the criterion of the existence (vs. nonexistence), of negligence, and the attitude of the Ummah, both as individuals and as groups, towards it.

Yes indeed! It is negligence –the bridge to failure and perdition, procrastination and disparagement. Except for a few who are blessed by the Lord, negligence has become a common household item, a characteristic of us all, and the bane of all societies.

Yes indeed, O Servants of Allah! It is negligence – the ladder for descent and regression rather than ascent and progression. The Muslim Ummah possesses potentialities and abilities that allow it to compete with world civilization leaders. It rightfully possesses the power to build its own world class future by the hands of its youths and the minds of its scholars provided it relinquishes negligence.

But alas! It is indeed regrettable! It is a shame! Shame on a nation that has the ability and creativity but lacksresolution! Listen to the following wise words of a poet:

Never have I seen a human flaw Worse than able flesh but unwilling spirit!

O Servants of Allah!

Negligence is a passive behaviour found in almost every society but with varying degrees. To find a perfect, negligence-free nation is impossible. It is also stupid and contemptible for a nation to fall into negligence with no diligence. A happy medium is the best in this case. One must not transcend the human nature which is intrinsically characterised by imperfection; at the same time, one must not be carried away with lethargy at the expense of assiduity and advertence. For lack of probity and knowledge is part of the human disposition:

“Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results).”[Al- Ahzab: 72]

In negligence, the two descriptions are manifest: man’s being unjust to himself by letting negligence take over him, and man’s ignorance of the serious consequences of negligence, and both descriptions are negative and reprehensible. The Prophet ‒May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him‒ put it best in this hadith: “All people strive daily to provide for themselves; there are those who sell themselves (to Allah) to gain salvation and those who sell themselves (to Satan) at their own peril.” O Servants of Allah! “Those who sell themselves (to Allah) to gain salvation” are the hard workers, and “Those who sell themselves (to Satan) at their own peril” are the lethargic and the negligent, whether their negligenceis an individual or a collective characteristic. Negligence is collective when a society’s educational and academic curricula are auxiliary causes added to individual negligence. The problem lies here, and there nt is beyond repair!

O Servants of Allah!

The religious texts (i.e. the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah), rational evidence, poets and wise men have all condemned negligence. It is praised only in the jargon of the lethargic and the lexicon of the lazy and the sluggish.

Some have neglected their religion and worked hard for their duniya (the herein); some have neglected their duniya and worked hard for their hereafter. Others yet have neglected both and consequently lost both the herein and the hereafter. This is clear perdition! Ibn Al-Qayyim ‒May Allah bless his soul‒ said: “The most deleterious thing for a Mukallaf is negligence, renunciation of holding oneself to account, and continuing to be so without restraint or inhibition. This is a detrimental behaviour which reflects an inflated ego.”

There is not a single failure or calamity that befalls the nation or the individual but can be traced to negligence,be it intentional or unintentional. Such calamities are always the result of negligence, for people fail to take precautions to avoid misfortunes before they strike or at least to find the means and ways to pick up the pieces after they strike.

O Servants of Allah! Once the human self gets accustomed to peacefulness and not wanting to do anything, afflictions will fall one after the other until it becomes used to them and immune to their effects. It will then become heedless, and nothing will thereafter frighten it.

This is best described by the poet who said:
If a wall does not produce a cloud of dust when it collapses, It will leave no dust after it does so.

O Servants of Allah! It is therefore incumbent upon the Ummah as individuals, peoples, leaders, scholars, parents, teachers and the like to be aware of the danger of the spread of this negligence epidemic amongst them. For others have advanced ahead of us in this duniya (worldly life) because they rejected it, while we are lagging behind both in this duniya and the hereafter because we are reluctant to resist it. Had the Ummah realized this, it would have easily distinguished its enemy from its friend and its success from its failure. It would not have mistaken swelling for fatness nor thought every black thing a piece of coal, and every white thing a piece of (animal) fat. Then, it would have travelled all paths of life and religion to benefit from what Allah has granted it in both.

Thus, such an Ummah deserves to be strong not weak and creative not made; when it says something, it does it; when it does, it succeeds, and when it succeeds, it is guided (by Allah).

(The Sheikh quotes two lines of poetry that can be paraphrased as follows):

You desire to accomplish the task but without determination, And you have spectres of hopes,
Hold on! You have enough indolence, Verily, nothing is more harmful in you than negligence.

“O You who believe (Muslims)! When the call is proclaimed for the Salât (prayer) on the day of Friday (Jumu’ah prayer), come to the remembrance of Allâh [Jumu’ah religious talk (Khutbah) and Salât (prayer)] and leave off business (and every other thing), that is better for you if you did but know! Then when the (Jumu’ah) Salât (prayer) is finished, you may disperse through the land, and seek the Bounty of Allâh (by working, etc.), and remember Allâh much, that you may be successful.” [Al-Jumu’ah: 9-10]

May Allah bless you and me by the Noble Qur’an and the Sunnah, and may He grant us the benefit of the signs, the remembrance and wisdom they contain. 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, men and women,our sins and wrong-doings. So do ask Him for forgiveness and repent unto Him, for our Lord is indeed All-Forgiving, All-Merciful!