Auto-generated transcript:
My dear brothers, sisters and elders, the series of khutbahs on Ibad-ur-Rahman is to give us a template to aim for and to ensure that we change ourselves and become Ibad-ur-Rahman and use the month of Ramadan al-Karim to power that change, to make it happen and make it happen faster than normal because Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gives us added benefits in the month of Ramadan. We spoke about three of the qualities of the Ibad-ur-Rahman. Today is the fourth. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, Walladheena iza anfaqoo lam yusarifoo wa lam yaquturoo wa kaana bayna zalika qawamaa. Allah said which means they are the people who when they spend they don’t show off, they are not extravagant nor are they stingy but they hold a medium way between those two extremes. The natural consequence of being focused on the akhiraas to spend in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Like I said last Jum’ah I call this funds transfer. It’s not going anywhere. It is your money, it remains your money. It is just going from one account to another account. Both the accounts belong to you. The other account is safer and the other account is accessible in the akhira. This one is not accessible in the akhira. So if you leave it in this account it will get left behind. But if you transfer it Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala promised to keep it safe and return it with his bonus. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said ma indaqum yanfadhu wa ma inda Allahi baq. wa la nazi anna alladheena sabaru ajrahum bi ahsani ma kaano yaamaloon. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said which means whatever you have will end. It will finish. It will perish. But whatever Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has is everlasting and we will certainly reward the steadfast according to the best of their deeds. But remember if Allah gave us the reward for each deed according to its quality this would be justice. And I don’t know how much reward we would get. But Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says for those who spend in his path Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will take one of their deeds which he liked very much and give that reward for all the deeds. Imagine the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said baqimu salata wa atu zakata wa ma tuqaddimu li anfusikum min khayrin tajidu inna Allah inna Allaha bi ma ta’amaloon wa vasil. Allah said which means establish the Salah and pay Zakat whatever you good whatever good you send forth for yourselves. And this refers to Salah, Zakat, it refers to sadaqat, it refers to all kinds of good things. You will find its reward with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. And surely Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sees all that you do. Remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is saying you will find its reward. Allah is not saying you send me ten I give you ten. No. You send me ten I will give you the reward. What is the reward Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala promised? Minimum. man ja’abil hasanati falahu ashro am saliyya. You send one good thing Allah said I will give you ten times like that. And that is the basic minimum. Allah does not give less than that. And then Allah said one is to seven hundred and so on. Allah said yu da’ifu li mayyasha and Allah increases as He wants. So let’s think about that whatever we spend in the path of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala not only will Allah return that He will return it in multiple times according to His majesty and grace. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala encouraged us to make this funds transfer because before it is too late. And He said and He said Allah said spend of that which we have provided for you before a day comes when there will be no bargaining, no friendship, no intercession. And it is the people who deny who are the zalimun, they are the transgressors. He jalla jalaluhu the glorious and magnificent said about the reward that He gives to those who do the smallest of good. Allah said Allah said the likeness, the example of the one who spends, the people who spend their wealth in the path of Allah is like the example of one grain of corn, one seed. It grows seven years and each year has a hundred grains. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gives manifold increase to whom He pleases and Allah is all sufficient for His creatures and He knows everything. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala warned us against extravagance and against showing off, spending to show the world. And He said Allah said which means and do not let your hand be tied like a miser to your neck nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach like a spendthrift so that you become blameworthy and in severe poverty. And then He said Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said and give to the kindred, give to your relatives and people related to you is due. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is saying that is their right and to the miskeen and to the poor person and to the wayfarer but do not spend wastefully and do not spend to show off in the manner of a spendthrift. Verily spendthrift are the brothers of shaitan, ikhwan shayateen and the shaitan is ever ungrateful to his rabb. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala called extravagant people who do israf, extravagant spending and people who do that Allah called them the brothers of shaitan. Now what can be a more powerful admonition and a more powerful warning to ban extravagance. Islam stands against all corruption and extravagance is one of the worst because it gives itself sets of false standards for people and people who are foolish enough to try to follow that they actually get themselves into serious trouble because the one they are trying to follow has the money to do it, you don’t have the money. So I know people who actually borrow money on interest to have a wedding party for their children because this is how it is done in our country. What level of stupidity is that? Just think about that. Now it’s a sign of intelligence to remember our akhirah and to ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala protection from the evil of it. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala described the signs of intelligence. Allah said and those, these are the people who remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala standing, sitting and lying down and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth saying, Oh our Rup, you did not create all this without purpose, glory be to you, give us salvation from the trouble to the fire. A life that is lived purely in the present without a thought for the future, measured only by momentary pleasure of sensations is the life of animals. It is the nature of intelligent beings to think about the consequences of their actions. It is logical to measure the action in terms of the gravity of the consequences, the magnitude, the severity and the period, the longevity, how long will this consequence last. Actions that have strong positive consequences that last for a long time are called investments and actions which have strong negative consequences that last for a long time are called disasters. What would any intelligent person call an action that results in everlasting torment? To do something which gives you everlasting torment, is this even a sign of intelligence or the sign of complete lack of intelligence? Which pleasure justifies everlasting pain? Justifies suffering, everlasting pain. We are free to choose, but I remind myself and you, no choice is free. Every choice has consequences and therefore I remind myself and you to choose wisely because nobody else is going to pay for the choices that I make. It’s a reality of our life that what we talk about becomes real, becomes real for us and what we don’t talk about no matter how real it is, it seems like a fantasy. Today in this world, global warming is a classic case in point. So is the looming water crisis. Think about this, how many of us even understand this? How many of us talk, is this part of conversation? Never. How many of us, for example, have installed water saving taps in our homes or in public buildings that are under our control? How many of us have stopped using air conditioning unnecessarily when we don’t need it? How many of us turn off lights? How many of us don’t use cars unnecessarily? We walk if we can walk. We use public transport. I can go on, we all know the answers. We don’t talk about it, we don’t try to understand it and so it is not a priority and we ignore it, imagining that by doing so it won’t happen. That’s not real. It is not real for us, though Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows it’s the most real and the biggest danger that hangs today over our collective heads, whether anyone likes to admit it or not. So also the akhirah. It is real. It’s not real for us because we seem to have restricted the mention of akhirah to formal religious gatherings where we sit in some posture of respect and that also depends on which country you are in. And the mind is wandering somewhere, speaker is speaking, right? And then when all is said and done, we go home, back to our usual lives and occupations, no change in anything. How many of us really come to a Juma or come to a Lekhi or come to a Khatira with the intention of learning something and making changes in our schedules and our priorities and our time use and our spending and our ethics and our values and our life and goals, how many of us come with those intentions? I want to go listen to that and get something out and make a change in my life. How many? Very, very, very few of me. I’m not saying nobody, but if you don’t do it, it’s not going to happen. It’s a simple, you can listen and listen and listen. The only problem is that when we stand before Allah, all the stuff you listen to and all the stuff you heard will become a witness against you. We cannot say, I can’t say I didn’t know. No, no, you knew. You listened to that 25 times. Can’t say you didn’t know. So be very careful. He asked Allah to help us to change our ways and to earn halal, eat halal and to follow what Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala ordered us to follow in the way of His Habib Muhammad Rasulullah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
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