Muhammad Ash-Shareef
American University, Washington DC
A
police officer in a Muslim country wrote the following letter to a Shaykh
describing the events that led to his return to Allah. He recalls:
Seeing
accidents and crash victims was a normal part of my day, but one incident was
different.
My
partner and I had parked on the shoulder of the highway and began to chat. In a
random second, the scene shattered to the hideous sound of metal bodies becoming
one. We threw our heads back to see what had happened: a head-on collision, the
result of a vehicle slipping into the lane of the oncoming traffic.
You
couldn’t describe the carnage. Two young men sprawled in the first car, both
in critical condition. We carried them gently away from the car and rested them
on the ground.
Quickly
we returned to assist the owner of the second car. He was dead. Back we went to
the two young men lying side by side on the pavement.
My
partner began dictating the Shahadah to them. “Say: La iIaha illAllah (there
is no god but Allah), La iIaha illAllah…”
...
their tongues wouldn’t acknowledge. They started humming the hypnotic lyrics
of some song. I was terrified. My partner had experience however and he kept
repeating his instruction.
I
stood watching, no movement, eyes locked. Never in my life had I seen anything
similar to what was going on before me. In fact, I’ve never actually seen
someone die, and never in such a satanic way.
My
partner continued to instruct them to say the Shahadah but there was no use. The
hum of their song came to a slow silence, slowly. The first one stopped and then
the other. Not a stir. Dead.
We
carried them to our patrol car, my partner made no effort to speak. Not a
whisper between us two as we carried the corpses to the nearest hospital...
Dear
brothers and sisters, Ubayy ibn Khalaf confronted Rasul Allah - sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam - one day with a rotted bone in his hand. He crushed it in
front of his hands, let the wind blow it away and said, “Muhammad do you claim
that Allah will bring these ashes to life?!?"
[Has
not man considered how We created him from a drop of semen? Yet he is an open
adversary! He makes something up to be compared with Us and forgets how he was
created. He says, "Who will revive [our] bones after they have rotted
away?]
Allah
replied Ubayy and everyone else who dares make the mistake: [Say 'The one Who
raised them up in the first place will revive them. He is aware of all
creation.']
-
Surah YaaSeen 36: 77-79 (From Tafseer Ibn Katheer)
Reflecting
over the topic of this khutbah, I came across a website where readers submit
stories of their biggest regret. For some, it was a lost love, for others it was
a job they passed up, and for still others it was a flip of fate that ended in a
horrific way.
But
in all, the regrets were worldly candies that had been lost - short-lived
pleasures of life. This is the world in which Allah decreed that summers always
come to an end.
Those
stories were of living beings recalling their regrets. However, what I would
like to see is a website where the dead would recall their regrets! They would
not regret the lost love, or the silly job or the twist of fate, they would
regret every second that they did not spend worshiping Allah.
We
are all here today because we claim that Laa ilaaha illa Allah Muhammadur Rasul
Allah is what we believe. Nevertheless, the problem is that for many it is a
belief that dropped its bags and sat down on the tongue and did not move on to
penetrate the heart.
There
are many men and women of our Deen for whom this was not the case. Muhammad ibn
Abi Imran narrates: I heard someone ask our shaykh Hatim al-Asum how he reached
the level he was at in reliance upon Allah. He replied, "I became
convinced in four things (i.e. that these four things penetrated my heart). One,
I am convinced that no one else will eat the provision Allah has decreed for me,
so I am content. And two, I am convinced that no one else is going to do good
works except me, so I am busy doing it myself. Three, I am certain death shall
come unexpectedly, so I am busying myself in expectation of it. And four, I am
certain I shall never escape the Sight of Allah, so I am shy to disobey him
while He is watching."
Even
though we all claim to believe what Hatim al-Asum is convinced of how many of us
have it carried it past their tongue and allowed it a space in their heart.
We
all know what the media does to distort facts on the nightly news. They take a
long speech, cut and paste, and take words out of context. Well, the media is
not the only one that takes things out of context. Consider the following verse:
[Say:
"My servants who have acted extravagantly against themselves still do
not despair of Allah's mercy. Allah forgives all offences; He is the Forgiving,
the Merciful.]
So
many of us have heard this verse out of context. It may seem like a human can do
all the bad that they want and when they die they will go to heaven. But read
on...
[And
turn in repentance towards your Lord and commit yourselves peacefully to Him
before torment comes to you; then you will not be supported.]
[Follow
the finest part of whatever has been sent down to you from your Lord before
torment comes upon you suddenly while you do not notice it.]
[Lest
some soul should say: "Alas my grief that I was undutiful to Allah and I
was indeed among those who scoffed (at the truth)]
-
surah az-Zumar 39/53-56
This
last verse is proof that the Qur'an cannot be translated. How do you explain the
grief of 'Yaa Hassrataa!'? Imam At-Taahir ibn Aashoor tries explaining: Hasrah
is extreme violent intoxicated regret. It is like a servant boy whose master
charged him with the care of a flock. Thinking that the master was not watching,
he slept and played, leaving the flock unattended. The flock went further and
further away until a pack of wolves came and devoured every one. The regret is
the regret that boy had to his master.
On
this line, Yahya ibn Mu'aadh - rahimahullah - said, "The most naïve
thing in my eyes is to linger in sin - with no regrets - hoping for a far off
pardon. And to hope to come closer to Allah without doing anything. And to wait
for the harvest of Jannah with the seeds of Hell - waiting for reward without
any deeds."
You
long for redemption but have not taken its road / Brother, boats don't sail in
the desert!
The
police officer that we mentioned earlier fell back into routine, as he narrates,
and started to drift from Allah. But another event happened to him that sealed
the return. He continues:
...
What an odd world. After some time, about six months, a strange accident took
place. A young man was moving along the highway normally, but within one of the
tunnels leading to the city, he was maimed by a flat tire.
To
the side of the tunnel he parked and stepped to the back to remove the spare
tire. The whistle of a speeding car from behind. In a second, it collided with
the crippled car, the young man in-between. He fell to the ground with critical
injuries.
I
rushed to the scene, myself and another partner other than the first. Together
we carried the young man’s body into our patrol car and phoned the hospital to
prepare for his arrival.
He
was a young adult in his blossom years. Religious, you could tell from his
appearance. He was mumbling when we carried him, but in our rush, we had not
paid attention to what he was saying.
However,
when we placed him on his back in the patrol car we could make it out. Through
the pain his heart was reciting Qur’an! He was so immersed in the recitation
... Subhan Allah, you would have never said that this person was in intense
pain.
Blood
had soaked his clothes crimson red, his bones had clearly snapped in several
places. To tell the truth, he looked like he was staring into the eyes of death.
He
continued to read in his unique, tender voice. Reciting each verse in proper
rhythm. In my entire life, I had never heard any recitation like it. I said to
myself, I’m ... I'm going to instruct him to say the Shahadah just like I saw
my friend doing; especially since I had previous experience.
My
partner and I listened intently to that soft voice. I felt a shiver shock my
back and up my arm, the hair stood.
Suddenly,
the hymn ceased. I watched silently as his hand rose softly. He had his index
finger pointed upward to the heavens, saying the Shahadah (La ilaha illa
Allah/There is no god but Allah). Then ... his head slumpt. Nothing.
I
jumped to the back seat, felt his hand, his heart, his breathing. He was dead!
I
couldn’t stop staring at him. A tear fell but I hid it in shame. I turned back
to my partner and told him that the boy’s life had ceased - he burst out loud
crying. Seeing a man cry like that, I could not control myself and my partner
faded away behind the fall of my own tears. The patrol car fogged from the
emotions.
We
arrived at the hospital. As we rushed through the corridors, we told all the
doctors, nurses, and onlookers what had happened. So many people were affected
by what we said, some stood there speechless and tearful.
No
one wanted to lose sight of the boy until they had been assured of the time and
place he would be buried.
One
of the hospital staff phoned the boys home. His brother picked it up and was
told of the accident.
His
brother told us about him: He used to go out every Monday to visit his only
grandmother outside of town. Whenever he visited her, he made sure to spend time
with the poor children idling the streets and the orphans.
The
town knew him - he was the one that would bring them the Islamic books and
tapes. His dusty Mazda would be filled with rice and sugar and even candies –
couldn’t forget the candies – for those families who were in need.
He
would not stand for anyone to discourage him from the long journey to that town.
He would always politely reply that the long drive gave him time to review his
Quran and listen to Islamic lectures on his cassette deck.
And
... and that with every step to the town he hoped for the reward he would find
with Allah...
It
is true, brothers and sisters, that Allah is Merciful and forgives and forgives.
[Yet I am quite Forgiving ... ] But to whom? [ ... towards anyone who turns (in
repentance) and believes and acts honorable; then he will be guided.]
-
Surah Taha 20/82
[O
our people! Respond to Allah's Caller (Muhammad - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam)
and believe in him, Allah will forgive you of your sins and will save your from
a painful torment.]
-
Surah al-Ahqaf 46/31
Just
like we reply someone's call when they phone us - this is Allah and His
Messenger calling us! Let us answer.
There
is a verse in the Qur'an that when Shaytaan read it he cried and felt regret.
Read this verse, it is the door to our happiness in this life and the next:
[And
those who, if they commit an immorality or wrong themselves, remember Allah and
seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah? - and
who do not persist in what they have done while they know.]
Allah
then continues: [For those - their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and
gardens beneath which rivers flow (in Jannah), wherein they shall abide
eternally. Excellent is the reward of the (righteous) workers.]
-
Surah Ali-Imraan 3/135,136
Allah
sent the Prophets and the books; He sent the warners and glad tiders; and He
sent the reminders. And atop all that, Allah comes down to Samaa' ad-Dunya - in
a way befitting of His Majesty - in the third portion of the night - every night
- calling to every one of His servants: "Is there anyone who shall make Dua'
so that I shall accept His Du'a? Is there anyone who shall ask for pardon so
that I may pardon him?"
Dear
brothers and sisters, let us make a pledge tonight to set our alarm clocks at 2
am in the morning. We all know that if there was some special sports event on tv
or someone had to catch a plane at that time they would be capable of waking up.
Let's
set the alarm to pray only 2 raka'at to Allah. And in Sajdah, recall just one
sin - just one - between us and Allah and ask Allah ta'ala to forgive us for
that sin, pledging that we shall never return to it.
Rasul
Allah - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam - taught us that Allah is more pleased with
the repentance of His servant than a man who loses his camel in the desert and
in that waste land loses hope of life; In that state he sits down awaiting death
to come; then he opens his eyes and finds his camel standing beside him with all
the provisions to take him home. In his extreme happiness he cries out: "O
Allah, you are my servant and I am your Lord!!" He said it wrong from the
bliss of happiness.
Rasul
Allah - sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam - said that verily Allah is more happy with
our towbah than this man!
Tonight
at 2 am, let's all try to make Allah happy with us. Believe me, we won't regret
it.
Ameen! Aqeemus salaah!
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