His Eminence Sheikh Ali ibn Abdur-Rahman Al-Hudhaifi, may Allah preserve him, delivered the Friday khutbah entitled, “True Honour Lies in Servitude to Allah”, in which he urged Muslims to hasten to seek the pleasure of Allah, Exalted be He, by performing acts of obedience and avoiding sins and evil deeds, as this alone can give the servant true honour in this worldly life and in the hereafter. He showed that in order to ease the duties of worship, Allah, Exalted be He, has blessed us with a religion that involves a variety of acts of worship, such as prayer, fasting, showing kindness to one’s parents, and maintaining the ties of kinship. He also warned against introducing innovations in religion. At the end of his khutbah, he stressed the need for exchanging sincere advice and demonstrating mutual love among Muslims.
Praise be to Allah. Praise be to Allah, Who is Free from all needs from His creation. He does not benefit by the obedience of those who obey Him, nor is He harmed by the disobedience of those who disobey Him. Whoever does good deeds will win the reward reserved for the good-doers, and whoever commits sins is among the losers and will not do the least harm to Allah; and Allah will reward the grateful. I praise my Lord and thank Him for His innumerable favours. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, Who has no partners, the Lord of all creation. I also bear witness that our prophet and master, Muhammad, is His servant and messenger, whom Allah sent with guidance and the religion of truth to be a mercy to the worlds. O Allah! Bestow Your prayers, peace, and blessings on Your servant, messenger, and khalil (close friend) Muhammad and on his family and pious Companions.
O Muslims!
Fear Allah by performing the acts of obedience that are pleasing to Him and abandoning the forbidden acts that bring about His wrath.
Servants of Allah!
Know that a Muslim’s honour lies in his servitude to his Lord, Might and Majesty be to Him. A Muslim’s strength lies in having trust in his Lord, his richness lies in continuously supplicating Allah, Exalted be He, to grant him all his needs, and his true success lies in performing his prayers well. His good ending is attained by fear of the Lord of the Worlds, his happiness and satisfaction are achieved by being kind to his parents, keeping the ties of kinship, and doing good to others. His heart finds rest by frequently remembering the Benefactor, Glorified and Exalted be He.
Stability and straightness in all man’s affairs are achieved by following the lawful means and avoiding the unlawful ones, entrusting all matters to the Creator, the Regulator of the All Things, Glorified and Exalted be He, and performing all acts on time, without delay or laziness. Conversely, loss and disappointment occur to the servant when he is content with this worldly life, forgets about the hereafter, and turns away from serving the Lord, Glorified and Exalted be He. Allah, Exalted be He, says:
"Verily, those who hope not for their meeting with Us, but are pleased and satisfied with the life of the present world, and those who are heedless of Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.). Those, their abode will be the Fire, because of what they used to earn." (Yunus: 7-8)
Allah, Exalted be He, also says:
"And who does more wrong than he who is reminded of the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of his Lord, then he turns aside therefrom? Verily, We shall exact retribution from the Mujrimun (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners)." (As-Sajdah: 22)
We can draw lessons from previous nations and generations, whom Allah, Exalted be He, endowed with long lives, and who had rivers flowing beneath them, built palaces, founded cities, enjoyed strong bodies, hearing, and eyesight, and were established on the earth and given means to its control by Allah. However, their power and prosperity availed them nothing, and their wealth and children failed to protect them. Allah, Exalted be He, says:
"And indeed We had firmly established them with that wherewith We have not established you (O Quraish)! And We had assigned them the (faculties of) hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and hearts, but their hearing (ears), seeing (eyes), and their hearts availed them nothing since they used to deny the Ayat (Allah’s Prophets and their Prophethood, proofs, evidences, verses, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allah, and they were completely encircled by that which they used to mock at!" (Al-Ahqaf: 26)
The happy ones are those who learn lessons from others, and the wretched ones are those who serve as lessons for others. Allah, Exalted be he, says:
So prepare yourselves for meeting Allah by doing all the good deeds that you can do, and let none of you be deceived by this worldly life and have vain hopes in it. Allah, Exalted be He, says:
"Until, when death comes to one of them (those who join partners with Allah), he says: “My Lord! Send me back, so that I may do good in that which I have left behind!” No! It is but a word that he speaks, and behind them is Barzakh (a barrier) until the Day when they will be resurrected." (Al-Mu’minun: 99-100)
Know that all good lies in worshipping Allah, Might and Majesty be to Him, alone, without associating any partners with Him, in accordance with the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, with purity of faith and love for Allah, Exalted be He, and with love for His Messenger, peace and blessings be to him. No one will attain the pleasure of Allah, Might and Majesty be to Him, be admitted to His Paradise, or be happy in this life and in the afterlife, except by worshipping Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He.
Those who are morally accountable for their deeds were only created for worshipping Allah. Allah, Exalted be He, says:
"And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me." (Adh-Dhariyat: 56)
Because Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, is pleased with worship, and because worship brings many benefits to the morally accountable and is a source of innumerable blessings and bountiful goodness in this life and the hereafter, Allah commands us to perform acts of worship at night and during the day, both the obligatory ones and the recommended ones, whether they are restricted (e.g. by a certain time, place, or reason) or not restricted, so that the foremost ones may worship Allah in abundance and the negligent ones may have the opportunity to join the company of the worshippers.
Perfect worship means true love for the Lord of the Worlds and complete submission and humility to the One Who alone deserves to be worshipped, Exalted be He, in addition to following the guidance of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
It is because of the mercy of Allah, Might and Majesty be to Him, on His servants, His kindness towards them, and His all-encompassing generosity and munificence, that He has prescribed acts of worship to all the morally accountable so that they may get closer to Him and be rewarded for that. He has shown them the blessed times for worship, such as the times of prayers and other acts of worship, in which the reward or worship is multiplied so that they may increase their share of good deeds. Had He not shown them such blessed times, they would not have known about them. Allah, Exalted be He, says:
"… and teaching you that which you used not to know." (Al-Baqarah: 151)
Allah, Exalted be He, also says:
"… And when you are in safety, offer the Salat (prayer) in the manner He has taught you, which you knew not (before)." (Al- Baqarah: 239)
For instance, if anyone lost his parents before he grew up, he is permitted to pray for them, give to charity and perform hajj on their behalf, maintain the ties of their kinship, and honour their friends. If anyone lost his parents after he grew up, he should also continue to honour them by performing such acts.
Abu Usaid As-Sa’idi, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “A man once said, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Is there any act of dutifulness which I can do for my parents after their death?’ The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, replied, ‘Yes, by praying for them, asking Allah to forgive them, fulfilling their pledges after their death, maintaining the ties of kinship which cannot be maintained except through them, and honouring their friends’” (Reported by Abu-Dawud).
The maternal aunt holds the same status as that of the mother. Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him and his father, said, “A man said to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, ‘O Messenger of Allah! I have committed a grave sin. How can I repent of it?’ He replied, ‘Is your mother still alive?’ He said, ‘No.’ He further asked, ‘Do you have a maternal aunt?’ The man said, ‘Yes.” He said, ‘Then treat her with kindness’” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi).
If one does not have enough money to give in charity, he should engage in manual labour to benefit himself and spend in charity from the money he earns. Sa’id ibn Abi Burdah narrated on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Every Muslim must give charity.” It was said, “What if he cannot find [anything to give]?” He said, “He should work with his hands and benefit himself and give in charity [from what he earns].” It was said, “What if he cannot do that?” He said, “Let him help someone who is in desperate need.” It was said, “What if he cannot do that?” He said, “Let him refrain from doing evil, for that is an act of charity” (Reported by Muslim).
The Prophet, Peace and blessings be upon him, also said, “Whoever prays Fajr (Dawn prayer) in congregation and then sits in his place remembering Allah until the sun rises, then prays two Rak’ah, will have a reward equal to that of a person who has performed a perfect hajj and umrah”.
O Muslims!
Act in sincerity and purity of faith, and follow the guidance of the Prophet, peace be upon him. Do not turn away from any good deed however small it may be, and do not belittle any sin however minor it may appear, for it will be recorded against you and you will be called to account for it.
O Muslims!
Beware of committing innovations in religion, for they destroy your religion, render your good deeds vain or at least diminish the reward for righteous deeds. Allah, Exalted be He, says:
"O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger (Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him) and render not vain your deeds." (Muhammad: 33)
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said regarding those who introduce innovations in religion and those who will be driven away from his Cistern on the Day of Judgment, “Away with him who changes [the religion] after me” (Reported by Al-Bukhari).
You must also, O Muslims, beware of committing forbidden deeds, keep away from them, and abhor them, for they harden the heart, heighten hypocrisy, and make those who turn away from Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, doomed to eternal misery. They also nourish hypocrisy and are one of the causes of a bad ending. Allah, Exalted be He, says:
"Then, there has succeeded them a posterity who have given up the prayers (i.e. made their prayers to be lost, either by not offering them or by not offering them perfectly or by not offering them in their proper fixed times] and have followed lusts. So they will be thrown in Ghayy (Hell). Except those who repent and believe (in the Oneness of Allah and His Messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him), and work righteousness. Such will enter Paradise and they will not be wronged in aught." (Maryam: 59-60)
The word ghayy in the verse (glossed above as Hell) is the name of a dreadful, extremely hot valley in Hell.
Be keen, O Muslims, on hastening to do good deeds, to be among those who are promised the highest degrees in Paradise. Beware of delaying good deeds, for fear of being punished by not joining the company of the successful or by entering Hell along with those who enter it. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Some men continue to fall behind [in doing good deeds] until Allah puts them behind.” Another version of this hadith reads, “Some men continue to fall behind until Allah puts them behind in Hell.” Allah, Exalted be He, says:
"And the foremost ones [(in Islamic Faith of Monotheism and in performing righteous deeds) in the life of this world on the very first call for to embrace Islam,] will be the foremost (in Paradise). These will be those nearest (to Allah), in the Gardens of Delight (Paradise). A multitude of those (foremost) will be from the first generations (who embraced Islam). And a few of those (foremost) will be from the later generations." (Al-Waqi’ah: 10-14)
May Allah bless you and me with the Great Qur’an and make us benefit from its verses and wise words. 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.
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