     faisal | Monday, July 10, 2000 - 02:21 am
Khutba - Fear of Allah (9/10/98)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Note that anyone who is going to use one of these Khutba's must ensure that the rules of Jummah Khutba are adhered to. )
Al hamdullilah, Al hamdilillahi Nahmadahu wa nasta'eenahu wa nastaghfiruhuu wa nu'minu bihi wa natawakkalu alaih. Wa na'uzubillahi min shuroori anfusina wa min say'iaati a'maalina
Many yahdilillahi fala mudilalahu
Wa many yudlilahu fala hadialah
Wa nashadu an-laa illaha ilallah wahdahu laa shareeka lahu
Wa nashadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa Rasuulahu
Amma ba'd, fa-uuzubillahi minashaytaanirajiim bismillahi-rahmaanirahiim
YAA 'AYYUHAA 'ALLADHENA 'AAMANO ITTAQO 'ALLAAH H.AQQ TUQAAH -HU WA- LAA TAMOTUNNA 'ILLAA WA- 'ANTUM MUSLIMON
Qaala Rassuululah (saw) : "Qullu amalin laysa alaihi amruna fahuwa ridd"
Ya Ma sharal Muslimeen Itakullah haythu ma kunt!
Allah (swt) tells us in the Quran in the Ayah that I recited:
"O ye who believe! fear Allah as He should be feared and die not except in a state of Islam." [TMQ 3:102]
And it is this topic of Fearing Allah that I want to address today. There was a time when the Muslims understood what these words meant, these words carried weight. For example if we look to one of the Khutba's of Umar bin al Khattab we see that after reciting the Fard sections of the Khutba, the rest of his Khutba consisted of only 2 words. He said: "Ittaqullah", meaning "Fear Allah". After saying this he lead the Jumma prayer.
But today I know that I cannot only say these words and lead the prayer. Because today we are in a situation where these words don't carry any weight for some Muslims. Today we are in a situation where these words may be 'lip service' not affecting the hearts and the minds of the Muslims. Therefore it is necessary for me to expand on this topic.
[What do people fear today]
If we look around today we can see people fear different things and because of this fear they may conduct their behaviour in a certain manner.
E.g. I know that some Muslims who are at University would take drugs when they are not at home but when they at home they wouldn't even think of it, due to the fear of parents. So their behaviour changes according to what they fear.
E.g. Muslim student who comes to University may fear their 'peer group' or their friends and therefore they go with the flow to the nightclubs, pubs, parties, etc. Even though at the back of their mind they feel guilty and they know it is wrong. This is the consequence of fearing other things.
E.g. People who commit haram for the fear of money, e.g. people who gamble saying that they need the money, or having casino's like the Casino which has been built in Palestine.
E.g. people may miss their prayers due to their fear of their tutors or lecturers.
E.g. Fearing the loss or the damage to their own pride - So when people of different nationalities or tribes fight because of people inciting them against each other, we can see it clearly when even Muslims attack each other labeling each other 'Pakistani', 'Bangladeshi', 'Turk' or 'Arab' and people conflicting on this basis.
E.g. People fearing America and the Western world - If we look at the moment to Afghanistan vs Iran massing troops against each other and who did they call on to mediate and to resolve their conflict, did they look to Allah and his Messenger. No they turned to the United Nations. So whom do they fear?
[Why?]
We can see that some Muslims fear of Allah may only be ignited when they feel weak or when they feel hardship or when their emotions are triggered.
E.g. We all know that when it comes to exam time a lot of Muslims who don't normally pray suddenly spend hours in Nafil salah.
E.g. When a friend or a relative passes away we then may see people beginning to pray but I saw many a time when the effects wears off some go back to their old ways.
E.g. In ramadhan we even see the drug dealers coming to the Mosque.
The question we have to ask is, why does this happen? Why the inconsistency in peoples behaviour? Why do people prioritise the fear of other things over the fear of Allah.
Is it because Allah is less powerful than their parents?
Is it because Allah is less powerful than their friends?
Is it because wealth and money is greater than Allah?
Is it because America and the United Nations are greater than and more powerful than Allah?
Why do people fear the words of a man even though Allah (swt) told us in the Quran:
'INNA-MAA DHAALIKUM ASH- SHAYT.AAN YUKHAWWIF AWLIYAA' -HU FA- LAA TAKHAAFO -HUM WA- KHAAFO -NI 'IN KUNTUM MU'MINEN
"It is only Shaytan that suggests to you the fear of his Auliya (supporters and friends), so fear them not, but fear Me, if you are true believers."
[TMQ 3:175]
[If we understand the Aqeeda we should only fear Allah]
If we look carefully we would realise that the central reason for people prioritising the fear of other things over the fear of Allah is that peoples understanding of Islam and its Aqeeda (belief) is weak.
Clearly if someone believes in something he will act according to it
E.g. If this room was on fire - all of us know that fire burns therefore we would evacuate the room.
E.g. You have come to this University for a particular reason to gain a qualification otherwise we wouldn't be here.
E.g. If we look to natural disasters like the hurricanes in America or the floods in Bangladesh - people know the consequences of these things and they act accordingly.
Therefore for us as Muslims we Must have conviction in the Islamic belief in the same way that we have conviction in the fact that fire burns, in the same way that we have conviction in the fact that water flows.
In the Ayah I recited at the beginning where it says:
"O ye who believe! fear Allah as He should be feared"
For us to fear Allah as He should be feared we must have definite conviction in Him and his revelation - the Quran.
Allah (swt) many times in the Quran emphasised the way that we can attain this conviction. Allah (swt) says in Surah Ya-seen:
WA- 'AAYAH LA- -HUM AL- LAYL NASLAK -HU MIN -HU AN- NAHAAR FA- 'IDHAA HUM MUZ.LIMON
WA- ASH- SHAMS TAJRE LI- MUSTAQARR LA- -HAA DHAALIKA TAQDER AL- 'AZEZ AL- 'ALEM
"And a Sign for them is the Night: We withdraw therefrom the Day and behold they are plunged in darkness; And the Sun runs his course for a period determined for him: that is the decree of (Him) the exalted in Might the All-Knowing."
[TMQ 36:37]
Allah (swt) many times in the Quran tells us to think, ponder and contemplate upon how we and our surroundings were created.
We are not Muslims because our parents are or because our friends are, we should be Muslims because we have total conviction in our belief not a half hearted belief.
[Muslims in the past had understanding of fearing Allah - we need to have this understanding]
If we look to the Muslims of the past we can see the manifestation of having firm conviction in Allah (swt).
E.g. When Bilal (ra) was made to lie on the hot sand and a boulder was placed upon his chest. What was his reply? He replied "Ahad, Ahad", "One" meaning only one God.
E.g. Before the Prophet (saw) passed away he made a list of the hypocrites and left it with Hudhayfa. After the Prophet (saw) had passed away Umar bin al Khattab (ra) went to Hudhayfa and asked him if his own name was on that list. This is the fear of Allah that they had.
It is this mentality which allowed the Muslims prior to the establishment of Islam in Madina able to endure all trials, tribulations and torture which they went through. And it is this mentality that allowed to Muslims to overcome any obstacle their faced and crush any army in their path.
We can see this in the words of Khalid bin Waleed to the Roman emperor:
"I will send you an army that loves death the way you love life!"
Even if we look to our rulers in the past they understood what it meant to fear Allah, let us look at one of the statements of the Sahaba, Sa'id ibn Amr al Jumahi (ra) advised Umar (ra) at the beginning of his rule:
"I adjure you to fear Allah in dealing with people and do not fear people in your relationship with Allah"
Contrast this to the rulers of today.
We need to gain this understanding of fear of Allah for us as an Ummah to regain our rightful status on this earth.
I will conclude with the words of the Prophet (saw):
"Bring glad tidings to this Ummah, she will have the power, the pride, the deen, the victory and the authority on earth. So he who worked to reap the rewards in this life rather than in the hereafter, he would have no reward in the hereafter." [Imam Ahmad]
Aquulu qawli haza astaghfirullahil Azeem! |
