Paying the Rent

Arshad Gamiet

Royal Holloway Univ. of London/ 14th September 2007.

“As-salámu 'alaikum wa rahmatul láhi wa barakátuh!”  

“A-úthu billáhi minash shaytánir rajeem.  Bismilláhir rahmánir raheem.

Al hamdu lillahi nahmaduhu wanasta’eenahu, wanastagh-firuhu, wanatoobu ilayhi, wana’oothu Billaahi min shuroori an-fusinaa, wamin sayyi aati a’maalinaa. May- Yahdillahu fa huwal muhtad, wa may- yudlill falan tajidaa lahu waliyan murshida. Wa ash-hadu an Laa ilaaha ill-Alláh, wahdahoo laa shareeka lah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhoo warasooluh

  All Praise is due to Alláh, We praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Alláh, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Alláh, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, sws, is His servant, and His messenger.

   Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem! Ya Ay-yuhal-latheena ‘aamanut taqul-laaha, haqqa tuqaatihee wala tamu tun-na, il-la wa antum Muslimoon.”

O You who believe, - Fear Allah, as He should be feared, and die not except as Muslims. [Sura Al-Imraan, ch3:v102]

 

 Ya Ay-yuhal-latheena ‘aamanut taqul-laaha, wa qooloo qawlan sadeedaa. Yuslih-lakum a’maalakum wa yaghfir lakum thunoobakum, wamay yu-til-laaha warasoolah, faqad faaza fawzan atheemaa.”

O You who believe, - Be aware of Allah, and speak a straightforward word. He will forgive your sins and repair your deeds. And whoever takes Allah and His prophet as a guide, has already achieved a mighty victory [Sura Al Ahzaab Ch33:70-71]

“Ya ay yuhan-naasut taqoo Rabbukum min nafseew waahida, wakhalaqa min haa zawjuhaa, wabath-thamin huma rijaalan katheeran wanisaa-a. Wat-taquLaah hal lathee tasaa aloona bihee, wal arhaam. Innal Laaha kaana ‘alaykum raqeebaa.”

O mankind! Show reverence to your Guardian-Lord, who created you from a single person, and created, of like nature, His mate, and from the two of them scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;- Show reverence to Allah, through whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and (show reverence to) the wombs (That bore you): for Allah always watches over you. [Sura Nisa 4:1]

My respected Brothers and Sisters,

Let us welcome our honourable guests and neighbours from the wider community. We want to de-mystify this way of life we call Islam, and we are so pleased to open all our Friday services to visitors from other faith communities, including those, perhaps, who feel they still have no faith to call their own.

We have just begun the holy month of Ramadhan. During this month, thirst strikes and hunger bites. Thirst and hunger really come up close and personal. But then, it’s also the month when God’s love, Allah’s love and mercy overflows. [for the benefit of our visitors, Allah is the Arabic name for God. Even Christian Arabs use Allah’s name in their prayers]. We are really close to God, to Allah, when we fast. His love increases, because we are responding to His call, we are fasting for His sake. Fasting is the only act of worship that you can do in absolute privacy and sincerity. No-one can tell that you’re fasting. Every other act is clearly visible, from praying to giving to charity and doing the pilgrimage to Makka But fasting is a private, intimate act of devotion between you and your Lord. In the Holy Quran [ch 33:v35] Allah says:

For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast [and deny themselves], for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah’s praise, for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and a great reward.”

During this month, we forgo some of the lawful necessities of life. Food and drink, as well as sexual relations, are forbidden from sunrise till sunset. So also is angry and intemperate behaviour. This rigorous exercise helps us to cultivate self-discipline, more compassion for the poor and greater obedience to the One who created us and who sustains us during every moment of our lives. The Holy Quran tells us that fasting is for Allah alone, and He will reward those who fast. Let us pray that Allah accepts our fasting and our sacrifice during this blessed month, Ameen.

Brothers and sisters, we live in an age where acts of faith, like fasting and prayer, have become the strangest things, and where trying to remain connected to God, to Allah, seems to be the most unusual thing. It seems more common today to be atomised, to be disconnected, to be an island unto yourself. Our secular material world encourages us to be ourselves, to indulge ourselves because we owe it to ourselves. The glossy magazines and TV celebrities tell us how to mix and match, how to select from a range of fashionable lifestyle options.  What you see here today, a preacher addressing his congregation, and the entire assembly performing the salaah, the Islamic form of prayer, is still one of the enduring examples of worship from a great age of faith.  Except for the outer forms of clothing, the essential practice, the words and the actions are exactly as Muslims prayed since the time of Prophet Muhammad [pboh] 1,428 years ago.

Human beings need stability and certainty in an ever changing world. For Muslims, Islam offers that stability. The principles of our faith, the forms of worship and the Sacred Book itself have not changed for 14 centuries. The Holy Quran is still precisely the same, word for word, commas and fullstops, exactly as Prophet Muhammad sws received the revelations from Jibreel, the archangel Gabriel. Some things will never change. We can thank God. We can thank Allah for that.

Brothers and sisters, my high school in South Africa had a motto in Latin, “Nosce te Ipsum”, which means, “Know thyself”. Prophet Muhammad sws said, “He who knows himself, knows his Lord.” Self-knowledge is a vital part of faith. We need to understand our human nature. But what is our human nature? Are we sinful, or merely forgetful? Islam teaches us that human beings are not sinful by nature, but we are forgetful. We are infinitely distractible. And it is to this forgetful, distractible and sometimes rebellious creature that Islam addresses itself. Allah tells us in His Noble Book that to Remember Him, with gratitude, is the greatest thing in life. Wa thikrul-Laahi akbar…”

Allah also reminds us that He created this world for our benefit, and He created us to worship Him.

“Laqad karamna bani Adam…” God says, in Ch.17 V.70I have honoured the Children of Adam, by giving them mastery over land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of our creation”

We have all the gifts of this world, its diverse plant and animal life, its mineral resources, all created by Allah for our benefit. All he wants is for us to worship Him. As Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad says, Allah is the landlord. We are the tenants, and we must pay the rent. Clearly He’s a very generous landlord. We can live a good life, and all he wants for the rent is for us to say ‘Thank You.’ That’s all. We only have to acknowledge Him with gratitude. And yet for so many people saying thank you to God seems to be the most difficult thing to do.

If you read the Holy Quran you will see constant reminders about the stories of the earlier Prophets, from Adam to Noah, David, Solomon and Abraham. From Moses to Jesus and finally to Muhammad, may Allah’s peace and blessings be on all of them.

“La nufarriqu bayna ahadim mir Rusulih,” says the Holy Quran, ch2v285 “We make no distinctions between the Prophets of Allah. These noble and illustrious guides were all messengers of monotheism. Each and every one was a leader and spiritual guide, calling his forgetful, distracted and rebellious people to reject their idols, their false gods, and to worship the One True God. All Prophets taught us how to live a virtuous life, how to uphold justice and to be generous to one another. But time and again, except for the small minority of believers, most people lapsed into their errant ways. Virtuous people, God-loving and God-fearing people have always been few and far between.

Our lifelong struggle is therefore against the lower inclinations of human nature, in Arabic, the nafs al amara bis sow. This is the inclination towards greed, towards vanity, self-indulgence and aggression. Life is a constant struggle, a jihad against the ego. Prophet Muhammad taught us that the greater jihad is the struggle within ourselves, to become good people. To realize our true humanity we must tame the beast within our breasts. This is what makes fasting so important.

Just as fasting reminds us of our obligations to the poor and hungry millions elsewhere, so our 5 daily prayers remind us of our absolute reliance on Allah. Islam is a very practical way of life, and every ritual has within it the elements of Divine wisdom. Everything points back to its source, and forward to its final destiny.

“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhir raaji oon.” says the Holy Quran.

From Allah have we come and to Him is our return”.

Every thing points to Allah. Every pillar, every practice of Islam seeks to cultivate a mental attitude, a mindset and a noble, elevated state of the heart. We’re talking here not of the physical heart but the spiritual heart, the locus of our personality. All our desires, our emotions and passions must be tamed and brought into service, to maintain God-awareness. The Arabic word is Taqwa. Every person that knows his fragile human nature, and strives to overcome it, develops this Taqwa, this constant Allah-awareness. The high summit of spiritual excellence is to worship God as if you can actually see him right there in front of you, knowing that even if you cannot see Him, then surely He sees you. We ask Allah to bring us to that high state of absolute sincerity and intimacy with Him.

Alhamdu lillahi Rabbil ‘Aalameen. Was-salaatu was-salaamu alaa Khairil mursaleen. Muhammadin-nabeey-yil Ummiy-yee, wa-‘alaa aalihee, wasah-bihee, aj-ma’een. 

Ammaa ba’ad:

Innalláha wa malaaikata yusallúna alan nabi. Yá ay yuhal latheena ámanu sallú alayhi wasalli mú tas leema. Allahumma salli alá Muhammad, wa ala áli Muhammad, kama salayta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali Ibrahim. Allahumma barik ala Muhammad, wa alaa áli Muhammad, kama barakta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali ibrahim. Fil ála meen, innaka hameedun majeed.”

 All praise is due to Alláh, the Lord of all the Worlds; may the greetings and peace be upon the best messenger, Muhammad, the unlettered prophet; and upon his family and upon all of his companions.    Amma ba’ad, And, after this,  

Behold, Alláh and his angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O you who believe! Ask for blessings on him, and salute him with a worthy greeting.

 O Alláh! Send your greetings upon Muhammad and his family,  just as you sent your greetings on Abraham, and his family. O Alláh, send your blessings on Muhammad and his family, just as you blessed Abraham and his family. In both worlds, you are praiseworthy and exalted."

Part Two:

 Sub' hanallahi wal hamdu lillah, wala hawla wala quwwata illah billah yu althi yual theem.

 "All glory is for Allah, and all praise is for Allah; There is no power and no strength except with Allah."

My respected brothers and sisters, and our honourable guests,

 Islam means submission, joyful, willing and passionate surrender of the whole self, the whole personality, to God, to Allah. Muslims do not render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. In Islam, everything belongs to Allah. As I said earlier, He is our landlord, and we are his tenants. We have no freehold rights. We came into this world with nothing, and we leave it with nothing except our record of deeds, good and bad. Many of us spend our whole lives amassing wealth, seeking to build great empires, but in the end we must be satisfied with just six feet of earth. An epitaph on the tomb of Darius, a great Persian emperor reads: “Grudge me not this mound of earth that covers my body.” Prophet Isa, Alayhis salaam, Jesus [may Allahs peace and blessings be on him,] is claimed to have said: “It will be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven”. He was, of course, referring to the great responsibility that comes with wealth and power. Rich or poor, we are all going to be held to account for our actions.

 Allah wants us to enjoy all the good things of life that He has provided for us. He wants us only to acknowledge Him and be grateful. That’s so generous of Him. He asks for so little. We owe him so much. Think for a moment how utterly we depend on Him for our very existence. Every moment dozens of finely-tuned chemical and biological processes keep our bodies comfortable, healthy and alive. Beneath our feet, beneath this green and verdant land, thousands of miles of superheated magma boils and churns round the core of planet earth, while we sleep peacefully. We are insulated from this inferno by a thin crust of tectonic plates, like a cracked eggshell. Above our heads, the fragile biosphere clings to life on a knife edge. Infinitesimally small differences between the earth’s gravity and mass, gives us clean air to breathe, instead of deadly ammonia that is released harmlessly into space. If we were just 1/4000th of 1% closer to, or further from the sun, we would be either roasted or frozen to death. Yet, as the Quran says, most people do not reflect. Most of us are so ungrateful.

 Fifty years ago, as a child in a Christian school in South Africa, I learnt a hymn which said, Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done… This is a Christian way of remembering God. In Islam we call it Dhikr. This is grateful and loving remembrance of Allah.

 Brothers and Sisters, friends and neighbours, let us be good tenants and pay our rent. Let us be truly thankful for what our Landlord has freely given us, to nourish and sustain us, for our comfort and enjoyment.

Brothers and sisters, to conclude our khutbah:

InnaAllaha, Yamuru bil adel, wal ihsaan, wa eetaa-i zil qurba; wa yanha anil fuhshaa-i, wal munkari walbaghi; ya-idzukhum lallakum tathak-karoon. (Quran 16:90),

"Surely Allah commands justice, good deeds and generosity to others and to relatives; and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, so that you may be reminded."

Fadth kuroonee adth kurkum, wash kuroolee walaa tak furoon [2:152]. 

“and remember Me: I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, do do not reject faith.”

wala thikrul-Laahi akbar, Wal-Laahu ya’lamu maa tasna’oon.” [29:45]. 

“and without doubt, Remembrance of Allah is the Greatest Thing in life, and Allah knows the deeds that you do.”

Ameen.        Let the prayers begin!           Aqeemus salaah!

 

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