وقفة محاسبة

 

Summary

1)     People fluctuate in life between prosperity and adversity.

2)     Man will be held accountable for big and small.

3)     The happy ones in life are those who seek the Hereafter and work for it.

4)     The miserable ones are those who spent their vacation indulging in Haraam.

5)     One who openly does Haraam.

6)     And advise to students and teachers in the beginning of the school year.

 

Brothers in Islaam! Fear Allaah as He should be feared for it is through piety that ranks are raised and the stumbling reduced.

 

Fellow Muslims! Allaah created the creatures, ordained for them their fates and decreed for them their appointed time. As the day and night pass, He brings new creatures to life and causes others to die. Life continues with its patterns and lessons and among people are obedient and believing ones and the disobedient and disbelieving ones and many somewhere in the middle sometimes taking on the attributes of this group and sometimes of that one.

 

Time passes day by day. Each breath you take is one subtracted from your total. Much of our time is consumed in the necessities of life. What we must focus on is the OTHER time. The free and discretionary time about which we CHOOSE what we will do with it.

قيل للربيع: كيف أصبحت؟ قال: أصبحنا ضعفاء مذنبين، نأكل أرزاقنا، وننتظر آجالنا.

Ar-Rabee’ Ibn Khaytham was asked, ‘How do you start your day?’ He answered, ‘We start our day weak and sinful. We eat our sustenance and expect our appointed time.’

 

Brothers in faith! The vicissitudes of time should be a stance of lesson and self-examination for man. Let man take a sincere stance on his person and his life. All people will stand before their Lord and account for what they did in this life. Allaah says,

فَلَنَسْـئَلَنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ أُرْسِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَنَسْـئَلَنَّ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ [الأعراف:6]

“Then surely, We shall question those (people) to whom it (the Book) was sent and verily We shall question the Messengers.” (Al-A’raaf: 7).

 

The truthful people will be questioned,

لِّيَسْأَلَ ٱلصَّـٰدِقِينَ عَن صِدْقِهِمْ [الأحزاب:8]

‘that He may ask the truthful about their truth.’ (Al-Ahzaab: 8) Those who lived favourable lives will be held responsible.

 ثُمَّ لَتُسْـئَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ [التكاثر:8]

“Then on that day, you shall be asked about the delight (you indulged in, in this world).” (Al-Kawthar: 8).

 

Days and nights pass bringing near the far. In their quick movements is a lesson for the understanding person that his life is fast expiring and his death is quickly approaching. ‘Umar said,

(حاسب نفسك في الرخاء، قبل حساب يوم الشدة، فإن من حاسب نفسه في الرخاء، عاد أمره إلى الرضا والغبطة، ومن ألهته حياته وشغلته أهواؤه عاد أمره إلى الندامة والخسارة)

“Call yourself to account when you are in bliss before the reckoning of that severe day; for whoever calls himself to account when he is in bliss will win the pleasure of Allaah and happiness and whoever allows his life and desires to make him forgetful and occupy all his attention will regret and lose.”

 

Fellow Muslims! Pages of the events of the vacation are now closed by the fate. The Prophet said,

((كل الناس يغدو، فبائع نفسه: فمعتقها أو موبقها))

“People wake up in the morning; among them are those who are selling their lives thereby liberating them from the fire and there are those who are destroying their lives.”

Think about your time - your spare time - the time not already occupied with the necessities of life. Some people spent it in search of various kinds of knowledge because of their awareness that knowledge leads to happiness. If they come TOGETHER to do this, both the benefit and the blessing are multiplied by a factor that only Allah knows. They therefore exerted their efforts  in search of it and endure all difficulties in its cause and earn as a result increased excellent virtues. They are overshadowed by the light of obedience and worship and prefer the everlasting over the mortal. These are the pious, the leaders of people on the Last Day.

يَرْفَعِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ مِنكُمْ وَٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلْعِلْمَ دَرَجَـٰتٍ [المجادلة:11] 

“Allaah will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge.” (Al-Mujaadilah: 11).

 

Oh Allah!  Raise us to this rank and make us worthy of this status. There is nothing better you can acquire between your rising in the morning and your retiring at night on any day than some additional knowledge of Islam, no matter how small.

 

Those who seek for the good and Paradise are the ones who call to the Way of Allaah with sure knowledge, wisdom and good admonitions, those who adhere to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, enjoin all that is good, forbid all that is evil, exhorting their children, preserving Allaah’s trust on them and endeavour to reform them, in order that they may be of good help to them in this life and treasure for them after their death. Those who do these have taken to the path of glory and actually bring to themselves good and safety in matters of their religion.

وَمَنْ أَرَادَ ٱلاْخِرَةَ وَسَعَىٰ لَهَا سَعْيَهَا وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَـئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُم مَّشْكُورًا [الإسراء:19] 

“And whoever desires the hereafter and strives for it with the necessary effort done for it while he is a believer, then such are the ones whose striving shall be appreciated, thanked and rewarded (by Allaah).” (Al-Israa’: 19).

 

This is not something one can do in their heart or some abstraction. Rather, it has extremely practical application which requires thought, understanding, self-discipline and most of all action. We cannot just WISH for our families and children to be upon the right path and then commit two simultaneous acts of treachery and neglect against them:  1) leave them to wander in the wasteland of desire and kufr with which we are surrounded and 2) fall grievously short in our WAJIB of establishing an environment, a shelter and an EXAMPLE of living Islam which was the purpose of establishing this land, this masjid and this community.

 

BOTH of these pose a threat to the very Islam of our selves and our children. In this way, we commit a serious wrong to our women and children by not doing our utmost to give them (and ourselves) what we need to survive. In the end, our Islam is eroded away until we begin to take sins lightly or resign ourselves to them failing to recognize our own shortcomings and deficient effort which has contributed to this state of affairs. This is a horrible burden to face before Allah. If we believe Allah's words, we should be in extreme terror of such an accounting. Such fear would bear immediate fruit in our everyday actions. Actions in accordance with this are an infallible proof of the existence of this fear in our hearts just as the lack of such action is conclusive proof of the lack of fear of Allah's words in our hearts. We will be held accountable for any shortcomings in our actions which have contributed to the corruption of any under our responsibility.  Allah said:

لِيَحْمِلُواْ أَوْزَارَهُمْ كَامِلَةً يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ أَلاَ سَآء مَا يَزِرُونَ [النحل:25]

“They will bear their own burdens in full on the Day of Resurrection and also the burdens of those whom they misled without knowledge. Evil indeed is that which they shall bear.” (An-Nahl: 25).

 

Why aren't there 40 or 50 families living here?  Why have we no school, no library and nothing to offer our offspring?  Can we throw up our hands and blame this on the qadr of Allah? Can we blame the Muslims? If you are comfortable with that, then go back to your comfort.  But, it is not so! The fruitful and correct approach is to hold ourselves to account first. And that is where we will find the answer.

 

Brothers in faith! It is unwise to treat the blessing of money, health and children that Allaah endowed us with by being ungrateful to Him and denying these blessings.  This kufran (denial) of Allah's blessings is not just with the mouth.  It is with word or action and it is with the lack of a word or an action. It is therefore requested of fathers to reform their children and families for compromise, ambiguities and pandering to desires are the basis of man’s corruption in this life and the life to come. We have a huge blessing of a MUSLIM "neighborhood", but where is our gratitude for this great blessing? Where is our joy that those living around us all say laa ilaaha illaa Allah like we do? Where is our ashidaa'u 'alaa al-kufaari, ruhamaa'u bainahum? Where is our determination and urgency to work together in Allah's cause and make this community a source of great benefit to ourselves and to Muslim as a whole?  Couldn't it be that?  Shouldn't it be that?  Is there anyone or anything we can shift the blame for that to other than ourselves? I think you all know the answer to that.

 

Some of us and some of our children have come to accept sins such as listening to the most obscene and kafir music, accepting for non-mahaaram males and females to be alone together, accepting the trappings of racism and nationalism and many other things. These things are even spoken of among Muslims in this country as if nothing is wrong with them or even with pride.

((كل أمتي معافى إلا المجاهرين)) [متفق عليه]

“All of my nation are free of blame except those who talk about their sins openly and proudly.”

 

Fellow Muslims! There is no sin ever committed in a blessing except that it removed it and never has sin been allowed to overpower a heart except that it destroyed it. Sin destroys the present bliss and prevents the coming one. Endeavour then to examine yourself and beware of desires, satanic insinuations, poisonous pride and an evil ending for every word, act and glance of yours is being recorded. Reprove yourself on your negligence and thank Allah for prolonging your life giving you another chance to act and another chance to change. Hasten to sincere repentance for Allaah is happy when His slave repents. Do not postpone your repentance for whoever does that will not do any good deed. Among Luqmaan’s admonitions to his son is:

يا بني لا تؤخر التوبة، فإن الموت يأتي بغتة، فالسعيد من أخذ من نفسه لنفسه، ومهد لها قبل يوم رمسه

‘O my son, do not delay repentance for death comes suddenly. Then the prosperous one is he who struggles for his own soul and prepares for his death before it comes.’

Wahb bin Muabbih said,

من جعل شهوته تحت قدميه فزع الشيطان من ظله

‘Whoever puts his desires under his feet, Satan will be scared of his shadow.’

 

Therefore make good use of your time, conquer your whims, swallow your pride, call yourself to account, abhor the evil, get prepared for the misfortunes of death and mend your ways for your departure from this world is near and getting nearer. Think of your grave and its coldness. Think of hearing the footsteps of your loved ones for the last time. Ponder whether you feel ready to go there right now with what you have done and not done, said and not said. Whoever reforms the remaining part of his life will have his past misdeeds forgiven but whoever continues to sin in what is left of his life will be held responsible for his former and later sins.

 

Remember

يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مُّحْضَرًا وَمَا عَمِلَتْ مِن سُوء تَوَدُّ لَوْ أَنَّ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَهُ أَمَدَا بَعِيدًا وَيُحَذّرُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ نَفْسَهُ وَٱللَّهُ رَءوفُ بِٱلْعِبَادِ [آل عمران:30]

“the Day when every person will be confronted with all the good he has done and all the evil he has done, he will wish that there were a great distance between him and his evil. And Allaah warns you against Himself (His Punishment) and Allaah is full of kindness to the slaves.” (Aal-‘Imraan: 30).

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Brothers in Islaam: We are in a new stage in our endeavor here in Dunlap insha Allah.  A stage where by Allah's permission we may be joined by others to share this vision and bring it to fruition. A stage of not just seeking knowledge - the means of which are becoming many and easy - but of understanding it, implementing it and manifesting it to all who have eyes to see.

 

Knowledge as a matter of fact is of different aspects and types; and the best of all areas of knowledge is the one through which one can have peace of mind and that is the knowledge derived from the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Prophet using the first generations as your guide in whatever issue confusion has been introduced by later generations. No knowledge is better than the one that leads to guidance and protects from error and destruction. When the minds and conduct are protected and covered with religion and the belief is firmly rooted, deeds will become reformed.

 

Further, knowledge cannot be attained except by trial and whoever fails to endure the trials associated with the search for knowledge or to manifest in him/herself the required humility with which to seek this knowledge will have to drink from the cup of ignorance all his life.

 

Sincere intention is equally important. The teacher and the student should both be sincere in seeking for knowledge and disseminating it while all should adopt the manners of the righteous predecessors who spread knowledge because of their love for it and for the purpose of putting it into practice. Allaah says,

وَلَـٰكِن كُونُواْ رَبَّـٰنِيّينَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تُعَلّمُونَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ وَبِمَا كُنتُمْ تَدْرُسُونَ [آل عمران:79]

“Be you Rabbbaniyuun (learned men of religion who practice what they know and also preach to others) because you are teaching the Book and you are studying it.” (Aal-‘Imraan: 79).

 

The teacher should also be trustworthy and just in while evaluating his students. Parents should follow up their childrens' educational progress and ensure that they practice what they have learned keep good company at all times. It is also incumbent upon them to observe the congregational prayer with Muslims and to hold fast to the body of the Muslims at all times. Those who are looking for what the jamaa can do for them are plentiful and easy to come by. They are a parasitic entity which drain and weaken the jamaa. Those who are preoccupied with what THEY can give, what they can contribute and what they can enhance and participate in, those are the foundation of the jamaa and those who can hope for thawaab for their efforts to establish and spread this deen. The first group, consumes any reward for their deeds right here in this life.

 

Children’s upbringing on Eemaan, piety and good deeds is a great trust on parents that they will be held responsible for. Therefore, carry out this obligation as due and beware of negligence for you shall be asked to account for all your deeds and rewarded accordingly.