Safe Landings
“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.
In the opening verse of Sura An-Nisaa’, Allah says:
O mankind! Show reverence towards your Guardian-Lord Who created you from a single person, created, of like nature, his mate and from the two of them scattered (like seeds) countless men and women;― Be conscious of Allah, through Whom ye demand your mutual (rights) and (show reverence towards) the wombs (that bore you): for surely, Allah ever watches over you.`
My Dear Sisters and Brothers,
It has taken a cloud of volcanic ash to remind us how exposed we are, how vulnerable we are to the awesome forces of nature. Our sense of vulnerability is heightened when we travel. Travel has become a part of modern life. We’re always travelling. We travel from home to work, to study, to visit our relatives. We travel from town to town and from country to country, by road, by rail, sea and air. We almost take it for granted, that when we set out on a journey, we’ll get there safely. But there’s no guarantee. Accidents do happen. Bad weather, volcanic eruptions, human error and mechanical failure: things happen, and within seconds a routine journey can end in disaster.
The recent air crash that killed the Polish president and his entire entourage is just one example. Some people think that safe travel is only a matter of technology. Those who have no faith background depend entirely on technology and luck, but Muslims know that there’s no such thing as ‘luck.’ There is only Allah’s Decree, Destiny or Foreordainment, His Qadaa’ and Qadr. That is why we always say, insha-Allah, “if it pleases Allah.” We recognise that everything is under His control, and nothing happens in the heavens or the earth without His permission. We mortal human beings rely utterly on Allah’s mercy. No one but Allah can guarantee a safe journey. Only Allah can ensure that our trip to the supermarket and our flight to distant lands will bring us safely to our destination. Sura An-‘Am reminds us [ch 6:v63]
“Say: “who is it that delivers you from the dark recesses of land and sea, when you call upon Him in humility and silent terror: `if He only delivers us from these (dangers), (we vow) we shall truly show our gratitude’?” (63) Say: “It is Allah that delivers you from these and all (other) distresses: and yet ye worship false gods!”
Believers know that. They know that even the shortest routine journey can be fraught with hidden dangers.
While other people hope for a safe arrival, the true believer knows that only Allah can guarantee our safety. That is why our beloved Prophet Muhammad sws recommended specific prayers for the traveller. There are many prayers for travelling, and this is one of my personal favourites:
“Rabbee anzilnee manzilan mubarakan wa anta khairul-munzileen.”
“O My Lord! Cause me to land at a blessed landing place, and you are the Best of those to deliver safe landings”. [sura al-mu’minoon 23:29]
This was the prayer of Noah, Nabi Nooh, as the floodwaters rose up around the Ark which Allah ordered him to build. The Ark as we know enabled its passengers to survive the terrible flood. Eventually, when the flood subsided it came to rest at a safe landfall.
Modern transport is much faster and in some ways safer than the methods used by our ancestors. They had no satnav systems, no airbags, no ambulances or air-sea rescue teams in case of an emergency. They had to be in good health, physically, mentally and spiritually, to endure the rigors of travel. Distances we cover in a few hours today, took them several months of hardship and patience.
Times change, but our helplessness and vulnerability does not change. We still rely utterly on Allah’s mercy, not on luck. We human beings are by nature forgetful, insaan, and our Noble Quran helps us to remember how much we depend on our generous Lord and Educator. That’s why it teaches us this lovely prayer:
“Rabbee anzilnee manzilan mubarakan wa anta khairul-munzileen.”
“O My Lord! Cause me to land at a blessed landing place, and you are the Best of those to deliver safe landings”. [sura al-mu’minoon 23:29]
“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, kama barakta ala Ibrahim, wa ala ali ibrahim. Fil ála meen, innaka hameedun majeed.”
Second Khutbah:
“Soob’ hanallahi wal hamdu lillah, wala hawla wala quwwata illah billah yu althi yual theem”
Glory to Allah! Praise to Allah! There is no power and no strength except from Allah!
My dear sisters and brothers,
We’re constantly on the move, on a journey, not just from one place to another in the physical world, but also from one state to another, in the spiritual world.
When we were born, our soul, our Ruuh has travelled from the realm of eternity into the world of time and space. It accompanies our body on this journey through life, and when we die, our Soul will separate from the body and travel again, back to eternity, back to Allah, back to the timeless and space-less dimension whence it began. Soob’haanal-Laah!
Our whole life is a journey, a most important journey. From our birth to our death, to our re-awakening in that eternal realm that awaits us all beyond the barzagh, the curtain of our physical death, this is the greatest of all journeys. This is the only chance we have, while body and soul are still connected as one personality. This is the only chance we have to live a successful life as our Lord, Creator and Sustainer has decreed. We must purify the soul, we must remove all the moral pollution, the greed, envy, anger, jealousy, arrogance and lust that drags the soul downward toward destruction. This is clear in Sura Al Shams ch91:v7-10
“Wa nafsiw-wama sow-waa haa. Fa-al hamahaa fujoorahaa wataq’waahaa. Qad’aflaha man zak-kaahaa. Waqad’ khaaba man das-saahaa…”
“By the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; [7] and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right; [8] Truly the successful ones purify it, [9] and the failures corrupt it…”
My dear Sisters and Brothers, the whole purpose of our journey through life is to be among the successful ones who have purified their soul and who return to Allah with a “qalb saleeem,” a “sound heart.”
“Al Jannah firdaws.” An elevated place in Allah’s Garden: that is our destination; that’s where we all want to be. Every wise person would want to arrive at this safest of all landing places. Al Jannah firdaws, that will be our reward for all the hardship, sacrifice, service to others out of love and gratitude to Allah. That’s the real prize. But if we lose, heaven forbid it, if we miss the opportunity, we might just find ourselves in the company of that nasty fellow downstairs, the one with the horns and the spiky tail, who whispers seductive and misleading ideas into our hearts, and who in the end will have led us to hellfire. Wa A-oothubil-Laah!
We should think, say and do all the right things, day by day, hour by hour, that will bring us to that blessed landing place, to Allah’s Ridwaan, His good pleasure.
As we journey through life, we should imagine that we are actually on a fast flowing river, racing to meet our destiny. Every moment, we’re being drawn, irresistibly, towards Allah.
“Inna lil-Laahi wa inna ilayhir raaji-oon.”
“From Allah have we come, and to Him, surely, we will return.” [Sura Al Baqara ch2:v156]
Dear Sisters and brothers, it’s not enough that we should desire for ourselves only to have a safe landing place. We should have that same desire for our families, for our wider communities and indeed for every human being. Prophet Muhammad (sws) said that a Believer is not a Believer until he desires for his brother whatever he desires for himself. Even if we don’t think of it that way, we’re all in the same ‘boat’ together. Planet earth is like a leaky boat, and we will ultimately either sink together or float together.
Imagine you’re standing on a riverbank where the torrent is rushing past. You hear a shout and you see someone struggling in the floodwater, reaching out to you for help. There’s a rope lying at your feet. You only have seconds to throw the rope and save him. He’s calling desperately for help. What do you do? Do you first ask him: Are you a Muslim? Are you a Christian or Jewish? Does it matter whether he’s a Sufi or a Salafi, or a Deobandi, Barehelwi or Wahhabi? Heavens, no, he’s just another human being like you, desperately needing help! You don’t have to think about it. Seeing any human being in distress should evoke a primeval, instinctive response. Throw the rope! Save a life! The Holy Quran assures us that to save one human life is like saving all mankind!
In a way, we’re all like that man in the floodwater, struggling to keep ourselves safe, out of debt, out of danger, out of the clutches of Shaitaan and hellfire. Allah reaches out to us, as He declares in His Noble Book:
“Wa’tasimu bi hablil-laahi jamee-aa…..”
“And hold fast, all together, to the rope which Allah (stretches out for you) and do not be divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah’s favour on you; for you were enemies and He joined your hearts in love so that by His grace you became brothers; and you were on the brink of the pit of fire and He saved you from it. This is how Allah makes his signs clear to you: that you may be guided.”
[sura Al Imran 3:103]
The key is to hold fast, all together, despite our differences, despite our race or language or social status. Allah wants us to look deeper than the superficial things that divide us He wants us to recognise our common humanity, to recognise that we are all part of His wonderful Plan. When we do this, when we all hold fast to Allah’s rope, we will deserve a safe landing place in His garden.
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. (Sura 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, and 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