The blessings of hardship
The blessings of hardship
Arshad Gamiet
Royal Holloway University of London 5th February 2016
To listen to the audio version of this khutbah, please click here: AG blessings of hardship
The text version of this khutbah appears below:
“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, peace and blessings on him, 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, – Be aware of Allah, with correct awareness, an awe-inspired awareness, 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,
Last Friday we looked at the Amman Message. We learned that whatever tradition of Islam we might find ourselves in, either by birth or by conviction we have no right to judge the faith, the iman of another believer. That is a private matter between Allah and His servant. Just as no-one can judge the state of our hearts, our nearness to Allah, so we shouldn’t even try to judge what is in their hearts. Sunni or Shia, Salafi or Sufi, it doesn’t matter: anyone who says: “La ilaha il-lal-Laah, Muhammad ar-Rasool-Allah” with absolute sincerity, that person is a Muslim. Period. No one but Allah has the right to judge otherwise.
Today I want to turn to a different subject: The blessings of hardship. Wait a minute… the blessings of hardship? Yes, that’s what I said: the blessings of hardship. You may well ask: how can there be any blessings in hardship? There are indeed many blessings in hardship. It teaches us humility. It teaches us patience and perseverance. It teaches us reliance on Allah and on no-one else. And many other things…. The great poet Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi wrote that “Suffering is a gift. In it is a hidden mercy.” Let’s consider what he meant. “Suffering is a gift. In it is a hidden mercy.”
Have you noticed how heavy rains bring rivers sweeping along with powerful currents that carry the foam, the scum and the debris along with it? When the storm subsides, the foam and the scum disappear; the rivers and lakes calm down and the water becomes crystal clear, pure and clean. Another example: do miners simply dig up the earth and find pure stainless steel and gold bars buried in the rocks? No, of course not! The iron ore and gold-bearing rocks have to be blasted with dynamite, and smelted in blast furnaces. Intense heat separates, the dross, the slag and scum, and allows the pure metal to be extracted. Beauty emerges from ugliness by fierce heat. It’s not just an easy process.
Allah uses the same examples in the Holy Quran. In Sura Al Ra’d [Thunder] 13:17, we read:
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Dear sisters and brothers, what does this beautiful and instructive verse teach us about our situation today?
Right now the Muslim world is going through a period of trial and tribulation, of sorting out the truth from the falsehood. There is a Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” For Muslims, these are indeed, very interesting times. But this is no reason for distress. Allah has not abandoned us. Allah will never let His Ummah down. Allah is always fully in control of His Creation.
“Biyadikal khair,” says the Holy Quran.
“In His hand is all good.” (Sura Al-‘Imran 3:26)
Let’s be Islamic: don’t panic. History is in good hands. It always has been, always will be in Good Hands. Allah promises us that He will protect His religion, even though our enemies want to destroy it. In Sura Tawba 9:32 we read:
“They seek to put out Allah’s light by blowing on it with their mouths; but Allah will perfect His light, even though the disbelievers may detest it.”
Don’t allow yourself to be angered or distressed or provoked every time Donald Trump opens his mouth or every time another silly cartoon appears in France or Denmark. Islam will always grow stronger. That is Allah’s promise, and Allah never breaks His promise. Follow Allah’s advice in the Holy Quran, and “Repel an evil action with something better, and those who hate you will become your bosom friends.” (Sura Al-Fusilat 41:34) In another verse, we are advised: “The servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth humbly, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], they respond with [words of] peace.” (Sura Al-Furqan, The Criterion 25:63)
Don’t respond to insults by trying to massage your own bruised ego. Anger, rage and revenge are not the way of the Prophetic Sunnah. Take the example of the illustrious Companions, the Sahabah. Remember when Sayyidna Ali was in a battle. He lifted his sword to kill his enemy, and the man spat in Ali’s face. But what did Sayyidna Ali do? Did he fly into a rage, throwing temper tantrums before killing the man? No, he did nothing like that. Sayyidna Ali gently lowered his sword, and let the man live. He said, “I was about to kill you for Allah’s sake, but when you spat in my face, I wasn’t sure that my intention was still the same. I will not kill you out of personal anger or revenge. That is wrong.” The man was so relieved, and so impressed with the discipline and Allah-consciousness of Sayyidna Ali, that he exclaimed, “La ilaha ilallaah, Muhammadur Rasoolul-Laah.” Just as Allah had promised in the verse I have read earlier, the enemy of Islam became a Sayyidna Ali’s close friend.
My dear sisters and brothers, this is the calibre of that first generation of Muslims. History will never see the like of them again. Their character was forged in the white heat of the Makkan crucible, the furnace of hardship. It was a dangerous time to be a Muslim. You’d suffer persecution, torture, starvation, death and exile. This was how Allah shaped the bedrock, the foundations of the worldwide Ummah that we know today. We shouldn’t complain or feel sorry for ourselves. We live in far better conditions today. Allah is forging us and shaping us to serve future generations. We must look up to our glorious predecessors, the Sahabah, the Companions of Rasool-Allah, sws. They are our role models, our inspiration.
When Prophet Muhammad finally returned to Makka after years of exile, in Medina, he did so with great humility. He forgave his enemies, although they expected much worse. As he approached the Kaaba, he raised his walking stick, and toppled the idols saying:
“Wa qul jaa al Haqq, wa zahaqal baatil. Innal baatila kaana zahoo qaa[n]”
“And say: Truth has come, and falsehood has perished. Falsehood is [always] bound to perish.”
So, there you have it, my dear brothers and sisters. The rest is history. What we learn from this is quite simple. That first generation of Muslims endured the most painful hardship for a good reason. Allah was setting them up to be the role models for Muslims throughout the ages. Their trials and tribulations were a vital part of this process. There was a hidden mercy in all their suffering. We must open our eyes, and our hearts, and we must look for the hidden mercy in the challenges that Allah has placed before us today.
“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, 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,
If suffering is really a gift, as Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi says, and in suffering there is a hidden mercy, then we must be truly grateful for that mercy. We should be thankful to Allah in our suffering, because Allah is testing us. How else can we show Allah that we have learnt the virtue of patient perseverance (sabr)? We must be thankful to Allah at all times, during ease and hardship, during wealth and poverty, during youth and old age. Our real reward is not in this life. We should anticipate our full rewards in the life to come. Don’t be distracted by the fleeting pleasures of our life on earth.
“Bal tu’ thiroonal hayaat ad dunya, wal aakhirati khairun wa ab’qaa.”
“Behold, you prefer the life of this world, when the life to come is better, and lasts forever.” (Sura Al-A’la, 87:16-17)
Prophet Muhammad sws commended the believers, by saying: “How fortunate is the believer. He endures hardship and it is good for him. It teaches him patient perseverance, sabr. Then he enjoys relief from hardship, and it teaches him gratitude, shukr.”
Dear sisters and brothers: let us always be in a state of sabr and shukr, patient perseverance and deep thankfulness to Allah. Let our good times and our hard times be equal opportunities for worship, for ibaadah.
All that Allah wants of us is to love Him, worship Him and adore Him. Let us try to the best of our ability, to walk in the footsteps of the Prophets and their illustrious companions. Let us become the beacon lights to guide those who are in spiritual darkness around us. May Allah accept this duah. Ameen.
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), Fadth kuroonee adth kurkum, wash kuroolee walaa tak furoon [2:152]. wala thikrul-Laahi akbar, Wal-Laahu ya’lamu maa tasna’oon.” [29:45].
“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.” “and remember Me: I will remember you. Be grateful to Me, and do not reject faith.” “and without doubt, Remembrance of Allah is the Greatest Thing in life, and Allah knows the deeds that you do.”
Ameen. Aqeemus salaah