Spending our wealth to support our mosques

Khutbah on Spending Our Wealth to Support the Masjid    

By Khalil Moya

Alhumdulillah, Alhumdulillahi Rabbil Alaamin. Inshallah, the topic for today’s Khutbah will be about the Importance of spending our wealth Fissabilillah, for the Pleasure of Allah.

And Allah has encouraged us to spend our wealth Fisabilillah, over and over in the Qur’an.

**Qaalalahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Baqara, 2:254

أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ أَنفِقُواْ مِمَّا رَزَقْنَـكُم  مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ يَوْمٌ لاَّ بَيْعٌ فِيهِ   وَلاَ خُلَّةٌ وَلاَ شَفَـعَةٌ

2:254. O you who believe! Spend of that with which We have provided for you, before a Day comes when there will be no bargaining,       nor friendship,       nor intercession.

Ibn Kathir (rha) has said in his Tafsir of this ayat that “Allah commands His servants to spend for His sake, in the path of righteousness, from what He has granted them, so that they acquire and keep the reward of this righteous deed with their Lord and King.  Let them rush to perform this deed in this life, before the day comes when there will be no bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession.  The only things that will benefit us will be the good deeds that we sent forward.

This Ayah indicates that on that Day, no one will be able to bargain on behalf of himself or ransom himself with any amount, even if it was the earth’s fill of gold; nor will his friendship or relation to anyone benefit him.”  Our good deeds will help us, what we send forward.

**  Qaalalahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Al Imran, 3:133

وَسَارِعُواْ إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَـوَتُ وَالاٌّرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

133. And march forth in the way (which leads to) forgiveness from your Lord, and for Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the Muttaqin (the pious).)

الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِى السَّرَّآءِ وَالضَّرَّآءِ

(134. Those who spend (in Allah’s cause) in prosperity and in adversity,

**  Qaalallahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Imran, 3:92;

لَن تَنَالُواْ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنفِقُواْ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ    وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِن شَىْءٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ

By no means shall you attain Al-Birr, unless you spend of that which you love; and whatever of good you spend, Allah knows it well.)

**Imams Bukhari and Muslim, have both recorded in their sahihs, An Abi Hurairata (ra) qaal:  ‘Jaa’a rajilun ilaan-Nabiy (pbuh), fa qaal:  Yaa Rasuulullah (pbuh)!  Ay-yus-sadaqati a’Thamu ajran?’  RS,V1, p.108, #90.

‘ Abu Hurairah (ra) said:  A man came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said, “O Messenger of Allah, which charity is the most rewardable (the greatest reward)?”

‘Qaala:  “An tasad-daqa wa anta Saheehun, shaheehun, takhshaal faqra, wa ta’mulul ghinaa”

He (pbuh) said, “That charity that you give when you’re healthy, and stingy, and you fear poverty, hoping to become rich (charity in such a state of health and mind is the best).”

Brothers and sisters, the best time to spend our wealth, for the Pleasure of Allah, is now!  While it’s still ours, while it means the most to us, while we still want to hold onto it.  We shouldn’t put off spending our wealth for the Pleasure of Allah, because tomorrow we may not have it!  Tomorrow we may not be here to spend it!  How many people die everyday, and they leave all kinds of wealth behind, that is not going to help them?

**Imam Bukhari has related, An Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (ra) qaal:  Qaala Rasuulullah (pbuh):  “Ay-yukum   maalu   waarithihi   ah-hubu   ilaihi   min   malihi?”

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked, “Which of you loves the wealth of his heir more than his own wealth?”

Qaaluu:  Yaa Rasuulallahi, maa   minna   ahadun   ilaa   maaluhu   ahubbu   ilayhi.

The Companions (ru) said:  “O Messenger of Allah! There is none of us but loves his own wealth more.”

Qaala:  “Fa inna maalahu  maa   qaddama,   wa   maalu   waarithihi   maa   akh-khara.”

He (pbuh) said:  ‘His wealth is that which he has sent forward, and the wealth of his heirs is that  which he leaves behind.’ RS V1, p.484, #545.

Brothers and sisters, the only wealth that’s going to benefit us is the wealth that we spend in the way of Allah, seeking to earn His pleasure.  The money that we spend for the sake of Allah will be ours forever.  It will be waiting for us on Yawmul Qiyaama, and Allah will make it grow for us in reward.

**Qaalalahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Baqara, 2:245:

مَّن ذَا الَّذِى يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَاعِفَهُ لَهُ أَضْعَافًا كَثِيرَةًوَاللَّهُ يَقْبِضُ وَيَبْسُطُ   وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

Who is he that will lend to Allah a good loan        So that He may multiply it to him many times.         And it is Allah that decreases or increases (your provisions), and unto Him you shall return.)

Brothers and sisters is Islam, Allah is the One Who has given us everything that we have.  Allah is the one who gave us life, He’s given us our health, our wealth, our families, our sustenance, our homes.  Allah is the One who blessed us to be Muslim and after giving us everything that we have, He then asks, ‘Now, who is he that will lend to Allah a good loan.’  Not because He needs it, because Allah is Al Ghanii (He is the Most Rich, He is Free from all needs).  Allah asks us who will lend Him a good loan so that He can multiply if for him.  Allah is trying to help us out.

And instead of responding to this generous offer from Allah, many of us hold onto our wealth, or give it our very sparingly.

We worry that we may need this wealth tomorrow.  Brothers and sisters, if we don’t spend from our wealth today, we will definitely need it tomorrow.  And the fact of the matter is that if we don’t spend it today, we won’t have it tomorrow.  And when I say tomorrow, I’m talking about in the akhira.  The only wealth that will be ours will be that wealth which we actually spend, fisabilillah.

**  Imam Muslim has related;

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏

“‏ أَحَبُّ الْبِلاَدِ إِلَى اللَّهِ مَسَاجِدُهَا وَأَبْغَضُ الْبِلاَدِ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَسْوَاقُهَا ‏”

Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:  The parts of land dearest to Allah are its mosques, and the parts most hateful to Allah are markets.

**  Imam Muslim has related from Uthman ibn Affan (ra) qal: “Inni sami’tun-Nabii (pbuh) ya quul:

“‏ مَنْ بَنَى مَسْجِدًا لِلَّهِ بَنَى اللَّهُ لَهُ فِي الْجَنَّةِ مِثْلَهُ ‏”‏

“I heard the Prophet (pbuh) saying, “Whosoever built a masjid, Allah will build for him a similar place in Jannah, in Paradise.”

Brothers and sisters, I encourage you, as well as myself, to take advantage of our wealth while it’s still ours, spend it today fisabilillah!  Spend from our wealth, no matter how little it may be, spend something for the sake of Allah, and do it with ikhlas (sincerity), do it with the hopes that Allah will accept it from us, do it with the hopes that Allah will multiply it for us.  Do it with the hopes that it will be waiting for us on Yawmul Qiyaama.

Our wealth is a test from Allah, and we’re going to be asked about it.

Brothers and sisters, our wealth is a test from Allah for us, and just like everything else that He gives us in this dunya, it only going to benefit us if we use it for good, if we use it Fisabilillah, for the Pleasure of Allah.  And Allah warns us again and again throughout the Qur’an that we should use our wealth wisely, seeking the Akhirah, seeking the pleasure of Allah.

**Qalallahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Munafiqun (The Hypocrites), 63:10-11

وَأَنفِقُواْ مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَـكُمْ مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ  فَيَقُولُ    رَبِّ لَوْلا أَخَّرْتَنِى إِلَى أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ          فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ الصَّـلِحِينَ –

“And spend of that with which We have provided you, before death comes to one of you,     and he says: “My Lord! If only You would give me respite for a little while,         then I would give Sadaqah from my wealth, and be among the righteous.

وَلَن يُؤَخِّرَ اللَّهُ نَفْساً إِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهَآ           وَاللَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

“And Allah grants respite to no one when his appointed time comes.       And Allah is All-Aware of what you do.”

Brothers and sisters, Allah, because He is Ar-Rahiim (The Most Merciful), He has warned us about the dangers of postponing (putting off, delaying) spending our wealth, Fisabillilah, for the pleasure of Allah.

He has warned us about the dangers of getting caught up in the life of this world and of spending our wealth seeking the life of this world, instead of spending our wealth seeking the hereafter.  When we see Death in front of us, it’s going to be too late, to try to do good deeds.

Today, Allah has blessed us with life and He has blessed us to come to the masjid for the remembrance of Allah, so let’s benefit from this reminder.  Allah is the one Who blessed us with whatever wealth we have in our possessions today, and today is the best time to spend this wealth, Fisabilillah, for the Pleasure of Allah.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِي وَلَكُم

Alhumdulillahi Rabbil Alamiin, was salaatu was salaamu ala Muhammad, wa ala alihi, was as-habihi, wa man tabiahum bi ihsan ila yawmidiin, amabad.

Brothers and sisters, I encourage you, as well as myself, to spend from our wealth today, Fisabilillah, for the pleasure of Allah, so that it will be a source of ajra (reward) for us, in this life, and more importantly, in the next.

Now is the best time for us to give, to spend our wealth, seeking the pleasure of Allah.

Today we have the opportunity to support this masjid for the sake of Allah, to use our wealth for the pleasure of Allah, and this is a huge blessing.

So who from amongst us doesn’t want a place in Jannah?  Who from amongst us thinks that he’s already spent enough wealth fisabilillah,  I don’t need to spend anymore, my place in Jannah is already secured for me?  Who from amongst us thinks that they’ve done enough good deeds, and so they can afford to pass up on this one?

Brothers and sisters, this is our chance, today is our test.  We may not be here tomorrow, we may not get another chance in our lifetime to establish a masjid for the sake of Allah.  And Allah has promised us that if we support the Din of Allah, Allah will support us.

**   Qaalallahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Muhammad (47:7),

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ إِن تَنصُرُواْ اللَّهَ يَنصُرْكُمْ     وَيُثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَكُمْ

“O you who believe!  If you help (in the cause of) Allah, He will help you, and make your foothold firm.”

And this is Allah who has promised us this.  So who will respond?  Are we going to trust in Allah, or are we going to leave this for somebody else to do?  Are we going to try to get this reward from Allah, or are we going to leave this reward for somebody else to claim?

**  Abdullah ibn Mas’ud (ra) said; “In the life of this world, everyone is a guest (Dhaiyafa) and his wealth is a loan (QarDha).  The guest will part and the loan will be returned.”

**  Qaalallahu Ta A’la, fi Suratul Hadid, 57:7;

ءَامِنُواْ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَأَنفِقُواْ مِمَّا جَعَلَكُم مُّسْتَخْلَفِينَ فِيهِ

فَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مِنكُمْ وَأَنفَقُواْ    لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ

(7. Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and spend of that whereof He has made you trustees.

And such of you as believe and spend,    theirs will be a great reward.)

**  Ibn Kathir: Allah the Exalted and Blessed orders having perfect faith in Him and in His Messenger, and that one should persist on this path adhering firmly to it.  Allah encourages spending from what He has made mankind trustees of, the wealth that you – mankind – have, that He has lent you.  This wealth was in the hands of those before you and was later transferred to you.  Therefore, O mankind, spend as Allah commanded you from the wealth that He entrusted to you for His obedience.  Otherwise, He will hold you accountable and punish you for your ignoring what He ordained on you in this regard.

(of that whereof He has made you trustees.), indicates that you – mankind — will surrender this wealth to someone else.  In this case, those who will inherit from you might obey Allah with their wealth, and thus acquire more happiness than you on account of what Allah has granted them.

**  Qaalallahu Ta A’la, fi suratul 34:39

وَمَآ أَنفَقْتُمْ مِّن شَىْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُ    وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ

(And whatsoever you spend of anything, He will replace it. And He is the best of providers.)

Brothers and sisters, I encourage you as well as myself, to invest our wealth in our akhira.  Spend from our wealth for the sake of Allah.  Spend from our wealth today, support the Din of Allah today with our wealth, so that on Yawmul Qiyammah, it will be there to support us.

Brothers and sisters, the life of this world is very short.  We’re only going to be here for a short time and then our tests will be over.  And each and every one of us should ask ourselves, what kinds of deeds are we sending forward for tomorrow?  We should ask ourselves, is the wealth that Allah blessed us with in this world, going to be of any benefit for us on Yawmul Qiyamah?

**Imam Bukhari has recorded from Anas bin Malik (ra) that the Messenger of Allah said,

«يَتْبَعُ الْمَيِّتَ ثَلَاثَةٌ، فَيَرْجِعُ اثْنَانِ    وَيَبْقَى مَعَهُ وَاحِدٌ:    يَتْبَعُهُ أَهْلُهُ وَمَالُهُ وَعَمَلُهُ، فَيَرْجِعُ أَهْلُهُ وَمَالُهُ،       وَيَبْقَى عَمَلُه»

(Three things follow the deceased person, and two of them return while one remains behind with him. The things which follow him are his family, his wealth and his deeds. His family and his wealth return      while his deeds remain.)

Brothers and sisters, what kinds of deeds are we sending forward.  What kinds of deeds will be with us, in our graves.  Our wealth is whatever we spend, for the Sake of Allah.  Everything else is going to go away, and become someone else’s wealth.

Brothers and sisters, we need to help ourselves today, while we still can.  We need to spend from our wealth today, Fisabilillah (for the Pleasure of Allah), while it’s still our wealth.  Give whatever you can, no matter how little you think it may be.   Everybody’s donations together can add up to a lot.  And don’t wait to see what other people are going to give, or if they’re going to give, because we’re going to be rewarded for what we give, not for what someone else gives.

Brothers and sisters, the Akhirah is not that far away from us, and pretty soon we’re going to be there.

Pretty soon we’re going to be in our graves.  And when we’re in our graves, each and everyone of us will have time to think about all of the wealth that we could have spent for the sake of Allah, but we didn’t.  Today we’re still here, today we still have the chance to give something for the sake of Allah.

Good Deeds End!

**  An-Nasa’i has related; It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah said:

“‏ إِذَا مَاتَ الإِنْسَانُ انْقَطَعَ عَمَلُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ ثَلاَثَةٍ مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ جَارِيَةٍ وَعِلْمٍ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ وَوَلَدٍ صَالِحٍ يَدْعُو لَهُ ‏”‏‏.”When a man dies all his good deeds come to an end except three: Ongoing charity (Sadaqah Jariyah), beneficial knowledge and a righteous son who prays for him.”

I ask Allah to help us to benefit from what we’ve heard here today.

I ask Allah to soften our hearts and help us to spend our wealth Fisabilillah, for the Pleasure of Allah.

And I ask Allah to turn to us with forgiveness and mercy on the day that we meet Him and to exchange our abodes in the Hellfire, for abodes in Jannah.

رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّآ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الاٌّخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ

رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا   وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً   إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ

Allahuma’ Eghfir Lil’ Muslimeena wal Muslimat, Wal Moumineena wal Mouminaat, Al-Ahya’ee minhum wal amwat, Innaka samee’un mujibul dawat

Inna Llaha wal malaikatahu yassalluna ala nabi, Ya ayuhaladhina amanu, sallu alaihi wa sallimu taslima. 

Allahumma salli ala Muhammad, wa ala alli Muhammad, kama sallaita ala Ibrahima, wa ala ali Ibrahima

Allhuma barak ala  Muhammad, wa ala ali Muhammad, kama barakta ala Ibrahima, wa ala ali Ibrahima, fil alamina innaka hamidun majid