Seeking His Pleasure Through Patience

Striving to Preserve Our Faith

My respected brothers,

Iman is the greatest blessing from Allah s.w.t. Our status in Allah’s measure is through our iman. Allah s.w.t. says in  surah al-Hujurat verse : 13

إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

Which means : “Verily the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is (he who is) the most righteous of you.”

Taqwa and confidence will bring about a positive impact to our lives, whether in our religious practices, in our behaviour and personality, as well as in our relationship with others.

My dear brothers,

Let us ask ourselves, how profound is our iman to Allah s.w.t.? Are we among those who have true faith in Allah s.w.t.?

We live in this world guided by the objectives that Allah s.w.t. has stated for us, that is to lead our lives in the most complete manner. There are many responsibilities required of us, to see who among us are the best in their actions. These responsibilities include those that are due to Allah, and due to our community, society and environment.

To gain Allah’s blessings, we must obey His orders. And part of His orders is to encourage others to do good and preventing them from doing wrong. We had discussed this in the past few weeks. Today, we need to ask ourselves, have we done something about it? Do we still think this is a duty only for certain people, such as for the religious teachers?

My dear brothers,

This is a role and duty that we all share. It is an ibadah that will increase our iman. We should try to do this as individuals or collectively, in small or big ways. However, we must base this effort in knowledge and a wise approach (i.e. with hikmah).

For a start, we can accustom ourselves to offering others our salam when we meet them, to smile cheerfully to others, and to visit one another, in the bid to encourage and call others to do good.

When we see something wrong (mungkar), we should try to advice those involved. Imagine if we take the approach of “that is not my problem”, then what will happen to the community as a whole, because no one is interested to advice those who do wrong.

In a hadith narrated by Imam -Tirmizhi, the Prophet s.a.w said,

” By He whom my life is in His hands, you shall call others to do good, and stop them from doing wrong. Or (if you do not do so) Allah s.w.t will bring to you a punishment and then you ask for His help and your prayers will not be answered.”

My dear brothers,

This hadith of the Prophet s.a.w. means that the whole community should develop together to become one which is prosperous and successful. To become a community in which good acts thrive, and bad acts diminish and disappear totally. So let us continue to advice one another.  Surely, we will like to see our Muslim brother or sister do good, and we will not be pleased to see our brother or sister do wrong.

As such, I would like to call upon all brothers to work hand in hand and be committed to the path of inviting others to do good, and advising them from doing wrong. We must also ask Allah s.w.t. so that we remain steadfast in our iman to do so. Strengthened by our confidence and tawakkal to Allah after our efforts, InshaAllah, there will be a positive change and let us start now.

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Ameen.

I think this week’s khutbah is a little different. It makes the listeners question themselves, which is good, because I myself have discovered  that it’s only through constant reflection that you learn from your mistakes, and learn in what ways you can improve. It’s also a good way to get closer to Allah swt, believe me.

It’s very motivating, this week’s khutbah. But you know, I think the best people for us to start with is our families. Didn’t Rasulullah s.a.w.started spreading Islam through his relatives first? (:

It’s the hardest, but we’ve got to do it anyway, because if we try so hard to guide ourselves and our friends, but if we leave our own families unguided, we’re going to suffer in the end. Because family truly is the backbone of society.

Let me show you this verse from An-Nisaa’:

وَاعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَلاَ تُشْرِكُواْ بِهِ شَيْئًا

وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَبِذِي الْقُرْبَى

وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ

وَالْجَارِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْجَارِ الْجُنُبِ

وَالصَّاحِبِ بِالجَنبِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ

وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ

إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ

مُخْتَالاً فَخُورًا

[4:36] (Asad) And worship Allah [alone], and do not ascribe divinity, in any way, to aught beside Him. And do good unto your parents, and near of kin, and unto orphans, and the needy, and the neighbour from among your own people, and the neighbour who is a stranger, and the friend by your side, and the wayfarer, and those whom you rightfully possess. Verily, God does not love any of those who, full of self-conceit, act in a boastful manner;

And this verse from Al-Baqarah:

وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ

لاَ تَعْبُدُونَ إِلاَّ اللّهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَاناً

وَذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى

وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَقُولُواْ لِلنَّاسِ

حُسْناً وَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلاَةَ وَآتُواْ الزَّكَاةَ

ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً مِّنكُمْ

وَأَنتُم مِّعْرِضُونَ

2:83 (Asad) AND LO! We accepted this solemn pledge from [you,] ‘ the children of Israel:  ”You shall worship none but God; and you shall do good unto your parents and kinsfolk, and the orphans, and the poor; and you shall speak unto all people in a kindly way; and you shall be constant in prayer; and you shall spend in charity.”And yet, save for a few of you, you turned away: for you are obstinate folk!

Do you see how our obligations towards our parents and our family comes first before any other person in our lives?

Okay, except Rasulullah s.a.w. of course, but what I mean is the people currently living and breathing around us right now.

I’ve been trying it myself, and believe me, it’s hard, because I’m so used to letting my family see the negative side of me. It’s about time I increase the positive and slowly erase the negative. It’s gonna be a long jihad, and I know it won’t end here, it’ll continue if Allah swt were to Bless me with a family of my own, Insya’Allah (:

Okay, I have to draw up a lesson plan for my youngest bro now. (:

Hope this post has benefited you!

Fi Amanillah!