Mufti MENK Friday congregation : 28 October 2022 (Maldives)

DUA

My beloved brothers, my sisters!

The first instruction that we find in the Quran, which is the book revealed by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, given as a gift and an instruction to us mankind, the creatures of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, We find that he says:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاس

O’ people! he is addressing everyone from mankind:

اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ 

Worship your lord, the one who made you, the one who is in control of every aspect of your living, the one who is the owner of every creature, worship your lord.

الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ

the one who created you, who made you in the first place

 وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ 

and he created those before you as well.

لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ

in order that you develop the correct relationship with him. So, if you want to develop your relationship with Allah, you need to worship him. And who is Allah? The one who made you and I. if I were to ask a question about those who existed before me, they came into existence and they went away from this worldly life. But as believers we know that it was not the end for them. Infect, they have gone from one stage to another. They have moved from this life to the eternal life. So, for us it would only be wise to prepare for the day that we are going to cross over into the eternal life. Just like there was a time when we crossed over from the wombs of our mothers into this life, there will be a time when we cross over from this life into the next. It is only the wise who would prepare for that day. And this is the reason why, the Almighty stresses it right at the beginning of the Quran in Surat al Bagarah,(Soorsthul Baqrah:21) this verse that I just recited for you, O’ people worship your lord.

رَبٌ ]   [ Rab is the one who nurtures you, the one who nourishes you, the one who provides for you, the one who will solve your problems, the one who will develop to cure, the one who will give you positive growth, the one who sustains you, worship him, develop a good relation with him. Revive your relationship with your maker, with Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, you have no choice but to build relation with him, who made you in the first place. With him, who is in control of everything and he, whom you are going to return to once you leave this temporary life.

The worldly life, on average, is approximately 70 years. One would say 60 to 70, some go a little bit earlier, and others go a little bit later, nonetheless, every one of us should ask ourselves, how is my relationship with my maker. And every one of us should continue to improve, be conscious of it.

Yes, we do love certain things in this worldly life because, it’s our nature as human beings. So, Allah has not prohibited things for us. Allah does not say that you should engage in a constant prayer and forget about the rest of what is around you. No! but he says you lead your life in a way that is pleasing to him. Yes, you love your family members, you love your -parents you love your spouse, you love your children you love your wealth, you love your business, you love so much more of this world. You love your homes your houses your conveyances. It’s not wrong to love all of those on condition, that that love does not exceed the love you have for Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.

So, if Allah has told you that this is the limit in something, consider it the limit. If Allah has told you do not cross this boundary, don’t cross that boundary. And if out of human nature or weakness or mistake, you have crossed a boundary, quickly come back.

التَّائِبُ مِنَ الذَّنْبِ كَمَنْ لاَ ذَنْبَ لَهُ

The one who seeks forgiveness from a sin is equivalent to he, who has no sin next to his name. May Allah forgive our shortcomings.

To develop or revive your relationship with your maker, you must make sure that you have read the book that he has sent to you, his word. Spare a moment every single day to read what Allah has told you. Not only in the Arabic language but in a language that you understand. Spare a moment to look into the words to ponder deeply over these words

أَفَلا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ

will they not deeply ponder over the verses of the Quran, Allah says, which is an instruction. So, you will not be able to revive you relation with Allah if you are not prepared to look deeply into the verses of the Quran. That is what will guide you. It will lead you to the sunnah of Mohammed S.A.W.  It will lead you to developing yourself. It will lead you to realize that you are one from the billions and trillions and countless creatures of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. I am one, you are one and subhaanallah! There are countless other creatures of Allah, the same Allah, whom I am trying to please. The same Allah, whom I would like to develop a relationship with. He is the one who made me. I, definitely, need to realize he created so many others. I must have a good relationship with all the creatures of the Almighty, if I want a good relationship with him. If I’m not prepared to respect others whom Allah has created, how am I going to be able to develop my relationship with the creator who made them. He knew that there will be differences. He knew that there will be disagreements. But he also knew that he has instructed you to disagree with respect. He has instructed you to teach others with utmost respect. One thing we are lacking on earth today, if anything, is the ability to respect one another with disagreement. That is something we need to highlight time and again. Because, as we travel the earth, we notice we are becoming advanced in technology, in infrastructure, in so much more. But the question is, are we going backward in terms of respecting one another. Are we going backwards in terms of tolerating one another? Are we going backwards in terms of communicating with one another? Remember, if you want to get to the maker who made everyone, you need to respect everyone so much so, that the prophet Mohammed PBUH asked us to respect even the dogs, and the animals, the cats and the birds, and all the creatures of Allah. He has asked us to respect these creatures. In fact, if you reach out to these creatures with compassion, the Almighty reaches out to you with even greater compassion.

ارحَموا  من في الأرضِ يرحَمْكم من في السَّماء

have mercy on those on earth. Whatever you find on earth, be merciful, compassionate towards it, the one in the heavens will have mercy on you. This is the Almighty. Revive your relationship with Allah by prayer on a regular basis, not just the 5 daily prayers. Yes, that is compulsory, that is a must. But beyond that, supplicate to your maker, call out to him, ask him, humble yourself, ask yourself: Have I, really, connected with my prayer to my maker, and Insha Allah we can do much better when it comes to this. The prophet Mohamed PBUH speaks about the heart, in a hadith, and he says:

أَلَا وَإِنَّ فِي الْجَسَدِ مُضْغَةً إِذَا صَلَحَتْ صَلَحَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ، وَإِذَا فَسَدَتْ فَسَدَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ، أَلَا وَهِيَ الْقَلْبُ

Behold! In the body there’s a piece of flesh. If it is pure and good the entire body will be pure and good. And if it is corrupt and diseased the entire body will be diseased and corrupt. What is the organ? He says: Behold! It is the heart. So, to cleanse your heart is also a means of reviving your relationship with your maker. Cleanse the heart of jealousy, of hatred, of ill feeling, cleanse the heart of miserliness, selfishness. Reach out to others. Clean the heart if its dirty qualities, and make sure that you come closer to your maker.

For indeed, my brothers and sisters! if you would like success in this world to begin with, it will not come holistically, unless you have a relationship with your maker.

When Allah Almighty speaks about the story of Qaroon in Surat al Qasas,(verse:77) Allah Almighty beautifully puts it where the people remind him

وابْتَغِ فِيمَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ ۖ وَلَا تَنْسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَأَحْسِنْ كَمَا أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ ۖ وَلَا تَبْغِ الْفَسَادَ فِي الْأَرْضِ  

Just those beautiful verses are enough for us to understand, and to realize the importance of reviving the relationship with our creator alone. Allah tells him, use what we have given you, use what Allah has given you, to build your hereafter. Today on earth we use what Allah gave us to build our worldly life. We buy a new car, we get a new apartment or a house, we want to have new conveyance, we want to enjoy here and there, but Allah says beyond that, that’s not prohibited, but beyond that, use what we have given you, whatever we gave you to build you’re hereafter. It’s not only wealth, but sometimes Allah also gives some of us, perhaps intellect, someone is given a qualification, someone is a doctor or whatever else they maybe, someone is in authority in their own way.  Use that position, use those possessions in order to gain your hereafter, by serving the people, by humbling yourself, by getting closer to Allah the more you have.

So, listen to the rest of the verse. Allah says:

 وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ ٱلدُّنْيَا 

Don’t ever forget your potion of this world. Which means, strike a balance, it doesn’t mean to be pious, you need to divorce yourself from the world. It doesn’t mean to be close to Allah, you need to divorce yourself from the whole world, no! you remember the potion of this world whatever I like, and I enjoy I will enjoy it within the limits of Allah. So, Allah is saying enjoy, but within his limits. Then, Allah Almighty continues to say something amazing. 

أَحْسِن كَمَآ أَحْسَنَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ

Do good to others, just like Allah has done good to you. When Allah gave you something, learn to share with others, learn to be good to others. Be kind to others. The lord of the world was kind to you. At a loss are those whom when their lord is kind to them, they become arrogant and haughty. At a loss are those whom when their lord has given them, they become miserly rather to develop and revive your relationship with Allah, you would share what he has given you.

And for this reason, Islam is the only religion on earth where it is a pillar of your faith to share what Allah has given you, if you have beyond a certain point, known as Zakat. To be charitable is a pillar of your faith. You are not a Muslim if you are not prepared to share what Allah has given you. How can you call yourself a Muslim when one of the pillars is Zakat and you don’t want to share?

So, this goes to show to connect with Allah, you must connect with the rest of the people as well, in a beautiful way. Then Allah says:

 وَلَا تَبْغِ ٱلْفَسَادَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ

don’t move around on the earth in a sinful manner. Don’t spread chaos on earth. Learn to build, not destroy. Allah says: He doesn’t like those who create chaos.

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ

Allah does not like those who spread mischief on earth. Learn to build, learn to empower, learn to give and contribute. Remember, collectively we become people who are closer to Allah, easy, in a much easier way. And therefore, the Jummah is known as the gathering, the weekly gathering of prayer, has been given so much importance, because together we build the nation. Together we stand for the ummah. This is why Jama’ah, which is the congregational prayer has been given so much of importance. The Hadith says, the reward of participating in prayer in Jama’ah is between 25 to 27 times more than if you were to read it alone. Have you ever asked yourselves why? One of the reasons is the importance given to the group of people for you to meet people, for you to know their problems and issues and reach out to them. This is Allah. My beloved brothers, my beloved sisters!

أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ ٱلْحَقِّ

Has the time not come for the believing men and women to soften their hearts towards the remembrance of Allah. What more are you waiting for? Let’s turn to Allah. It’s not too late, repent to Allah for your short comings. Seek strength from Allah by praying to him constantly, to help you overcome your shortcomings. Ask Allah to make you a beautiful person. Ask Allah to purify your heart, and work towards it. We as Muslims believe, together with Dua and supplication we need to act. We need to act towards what we want, work hard to achieve it. So, it’s not good enough to just say: Oh Allah! guide me, oh Allah! soften my heart, but, in reality, you are doing nothing about it.

My brothers! My sisters! Allah is great. He has granted us so much. He has blessed us with absolutely everything. Have you not seen how, from time to time he gives us reminders to turn back to him. Each time a person passes away we are reminded to turn to Allah. Because we are also going to pass away. Each time there is heavy rainfall or something that instils a little bit of fear in man, it’s a reminder to just turn to Allah. He will calm you. He will protect you. He will give you. He will look after you.

Allah says: Just turn to me, that’s the reason why Allah Almighty tests us one after the other, when he wants us to gain closeness to him. May Allah Almighty really bless every single one of us with goodness. May he help us to develop our relationship with him. May he open our doors, and may Allah help us purify our hearts. May the Almighty bless this nation. And may Allah Almighty bless the ummah and humanity at large. May Allah Almighty truly develop us into the most beautiful of people such that when others see us they immediately see a brother of theirs. They see a sister of theirs who cares for them rather than those whom when they are looked at, people don’t even want to talk to them. May Allah Almighty grant us every goodness.

Special Thanks to: Dr. Ibrahim Zakariyya Moosa

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