Something of Heaven...

Arshad Gamiet/Royal Holloway Univ. of London/ 25 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.

 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…

My respected Brothers and Sisters,

Something of Heaven lives within each and every one of us. It’s the Ruuh, the soul, the breath of Allah that was inspired into our mortal flesh shortly before we were born, and it will detach from this body when we die. When life as we know it comes to an end, our bodies will return to the earth whence it came. Our bodies decompose into its constituent elements, carbon and hydrogen and magnesium, and all the minerals and gases and liquids that sustained us through life. After death these elements will again nourish the earth and what’s left of our bodies will help to ‘push up the daisies’ as the saying goes. When we die, our soul also returns to its origins, to the timeless, space-less realm of eternity, whence it came. Before we were born, our soul was pure, unblemished, like a shining mirror. When we die it returns to Allah, carrying with it a record of our deeds. We should remember this fact, so that we are constantly mindful of the burden that we place on our soul to carry into the next world.

Brothers and sisters, our human personality is made up of a body, a mind and a soul. Modern life lays so much emphasis on the needs of the body and the mind, but it cares little about the soul. What is the relationship between the body and the soul? Which one is more important? Am I a body, attached to a soul, or am I a soul, attached to a body? This is a very important question. If we believe our body is more important than our soul, then our main concern throughout life will be to satisfy our bodily needs, and we may neglect the soul. If we believe that our soul is more important then we need to know more about the nature of the soul, what strengthens it and what harms it.

The materialists and secularists deny that we have a soul. They believe that human beings need only to satisfy our material and physical needs. Christians will remember what Jesus said, that “man shall not live by bread alone,” meaning that it’s not enough simply to fulfil our biological needs. Human beings need much more to complete their human destiny. Believers from all faiths contend that the Soul is more important than the Body. But the soul and the body each have its own needs. How do we satisfy one without harming the other? Different faiths have different answers. Some teach that renunciation of the world and the demands of the body will lead to spiritual fulfilment, or Nirvana. That’s why some people devote their lives to seclusion in monasteries and temples. Islam teaches a holistic message that we can and should enjoy physical, intellectual and spiritual growth in a balanced way. Muslims daily recite this well-known prayer, [Sura Al Baqara, 2:201]

“Rabbana aatina fid dunya hasanatan, wafil aakhirati hasanatan, wa qina athaaban naar.”

“Our Lord, grant us the best of this life, and the best of the life to come, and defend us from the torment of the fire.”

To a Muslim, it’s not an either-or situation. We don’t have to make a choice between the body and the soul. Each one has its place, and we must enjoy life in a holistic way. Everything we have is a gift from Allah to be enjoyed as a trust, in due proportion. Unfortunately, those human beings who know how to balance body, mind and soul perfectly are very hard to find. Indeed the very best examples were the Prophets, human beings chosen by Allah to be our spiritual guides and role models.

If we look around us we can see how the wrong approach to satisfying body and soul has damaged so many lives. Many of the problems we encounter in human relationships can be traced to this imbalance. From personal values to family and community life, to international affairs, human suffering and human happiness is directly connected to the balance or imbalance between body, mind and soul. How do we address their needs? Whose formula do we apply? Do we rely on our human, subjective solutions, or do we turn to the One who created us all and Who continues to sustain us?

The Holy Quran describes the human soul in these beautiful words: [Ash-Shams, 91:7-10]

“Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem!” “Wan-nafsiw wamaa sow-waahaa, fa al hamahaa fujoorahaa wataq’waa haa. Qad’ aflaha man zak-kaha, wa qad’ khaaba man-das-saahaa.”

“By the Soul and the proportion and order given to it; and its enlightenment as to its wrong and right; Truly he succeeds that purifies it, and he fails that corrupts it.”

My dear respected Brothers and Sisters, if we follow the natural inclination of our soul, constantly seeking unity with Allah, yearning to return to Him and earnestly seeking His good pleasure, then we will bring some order and proportion to our lives. This is the big challenge we face. And, it’s not only seeking balance, order and proportion in our own lives, but bringing something of this beauty and grace, this serenity, this sakina, into the lives of our families, our communities and the world beyond.

It begins with us, within ourselves. We have to rediscover that little bit of heaven that Allah breathed into us, even before we took our own first breath of fresh air in the physical world. We need to explore the nature of the Ruuh, the soul, the ‘breath of Allah’ within us, try to understand its needs, try to understand how every thought we think and every action we make has an impact on our soul. Our soul will be our crown witness on the Day of Judgement. We must learn how to purify it and not to corrupt it.

In Sura Nisa, 4:111 we read:

“Wamay yaksib ithman fa innamaa yaksibuhoo ‘alaa nafsihee; Wa kaana-Allahu ‘aleeman hakeemaa.”

“And if anyone earns sin, he earns it against his own soul: for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.!

Every time we commit a shameful deed, we do not only harm others, we also harm ourselves. That’s why the Holy Quran frequently uses the term, “O you who have sinned against your own souls…” This clearly tell us that our disobedience and rebellion against Allah inflicts harm on ourselves. It also implies that in its natural state, the human soul is pure. There is no blemish, no stain of ‘original sin.’ Allah gave us a pure human soul and he expects us to take good care of it. When we die, we must then return it to him in the same factory-perfect condition. This is what our whole life’s endeavour is all about.

….. xxxxx …..

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."

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.”

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,

In the 19^th Century Charles Darwin put forward his theory of ‘natural selection’ and from this we’ve learnt about ‘survival of the fittest’ also known as the ‘law of the jungle.’ Sadly this attitude has also informed the behaviour of human beings at every level. The ugly use of brute force to impose the will of rich nations on others is simply a global picture of the playground bully, who makes life miserable for so many school children. The values we adopt at the personal level have a resonance at the international level, and at every stage in between.

According to the Bible, Jesus, Nabi Esa, said that it would 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 explaining the huge responsibility on the shoulders of wealthy people, to use their influence as a force for good, rather than as an opportunity to indulge their greed and vanity. Prophet Muhammad sws so impressed his followers with the importance of spending “fee sabeelil Laah,”  “in the way of Allah,” that his companion, Abu Bakr R.A. wanted to give away all his wealth to the poor. When the Prophet Muhammad sws asked him, how much will he keep for his family, his replied that Allah and His Prophet are enough for his family.

Brothers and sisters, do you really think that it's enough to say, I am a Muslim, and therefore I expect to find a place in paradise? We Muslims are not Allah’s chosen people. We have no guarantees of paradise, simply because we call ourselves Muslims. To earn our salvation, we must work hard to live a virtuous life. We must be inspiring role models for others. We are not superior to anyone, and we are not inferior to anyone.

The correct Islamic attitude is summed up in a Latin term, “Primus inter pares,” which means, ‘senior among equals.’ It’s not about superiority or inferiority about race or language or colour. It’s about good actions, right conduct. In his last sermon, the Prophet Muhammad sws warned that Arabs are not superior to non-Arabs and non-Arabs are not superior to Arabs. We are all children of Adam and Adam was made out of clay. We are all equal in Allah’s sight. Only good deeds distinguish true human worth. Everything else is peripheral. Only selfless actions to please Allah, to relieve suffering, to enjoin right and forbid wrong, will earn our salvation. In Islam, every human being has an equal chance to be a winner, to enter Paradise, Al-Jannah. We must simply focus our lives on doing the good deeds that please Allah and benefit all His creatures. The Holy Quran reminds us that only those with a pure heart, "Qalbun Saleem," will enter Allah's Garden. Let me then remind myself and you, to strive to our utmost, every day, to keep our hearts clean and our intentions pure.

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.                   Aqeemus salaah!

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