Khutba on Value of Shahadatayn

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي جعل النطقَ بالشهادتين مفتاحَ الإسلام، والتصديقَ بهما الطريقَ الوحيدَ إلى الإيمان، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدّى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.               
       أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر. قال الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز بعد أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم: شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ وقال في آية أخرى، مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ

            Allah says in His Mighty Book, the translation of which is, “Allah bears witness that there is no god but Him as do the angels and the people of knowledge. There is no god but Him, the All-Mighty, All-Wise.” And He says elsewhere, “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.”
            They are but a few short words, easy to say and sweet upon the ear, but they are of greater worth to the human being than a lifetime of clever speech, than the entire life’s works of the most productive and skilled of authors. Those words, alluded to in the ayas above are,

لا إله إلا الله وأشهد أن محمدا رسول الله

            “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” This simple phrase distinguishes us from the kuffar – the first part of it distinguishing us from the atheists and idolaters and the second part distinguishing us from the Jews and the Christians. This simple phrase grants us access to the greatest community every established on the earth, the umma of the Messenger of Allah, and unites us in brotherhood with every other Muslim across the planet. This simple phrase opens the door to acceptance and unlocks the benefit and potential, the baraka and thawab, that lie in all good actions. It is the first pillar of the final accepted Deen of Allah around which the entire affair revolves, and without it no act of worship is possible and no human being can fulfil the purpose for which he was created. Allah says,
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

         the translation of which is, “I have not created men and jinn except to worship Me.”
         When the human being utters it with conviction and belief for the first time, his slate is wiped clean – all the wrong actions he did before that point are swept away as if they never happened, no matter how numerous and no matter how terrible or heinous. He starts afresh. Take Hind bint Utbah, the wife of Abu Sufyan – she mutilated Hamza, the uncle of the Prophet, after the battle of Uhud and ate his liver, but when she later went before the Prophet and uttered the shahada, thereby entering into Islam, he immediately forgave her and accepted her, making no mention of her past atrocities. In the eyes of Allah and in terms of her reckoning, they had never happened. And the same is true for everyone who takes the shahada without exception – and alhamdulillah, this mosque has been witness to many such people in the short time that it has been established and there will be another, inshallah, immediately following the prayer.
         The shahada is more than just words uttered on the tongue – it is a contract and a commitment, a contract with your Lord to obey Him and His Messenger in all He has commanded of you. And the bare minimum of that are the pillars of the deen – the prayer, zakat, fasting Ramadan and going on Hajj. By taking the shahada, you have sworn an oath and given your word, it is no small thing. You have undertaken to learn the basics of Islam. You have made that commitment, and we, the wider Muslim community, have made the commitment to help and support you in that. We must never think that our job is done by someone taking the shahadah – for in truth that is but the beginning. That person is now our brother and he has need of our company and guidance, for he has left behind all that he is used to and entered into an unfamiliar world. They must know we are there for them whenever they have need of us.
         The utterance of the shahadatayn before witnesses is all that is required to become Muslim, but in order to be mu’min, a believer, there must be affirmation in the heart. You must affirm what you say for by doing so you are affirming all of the Divine attributes of your Lord, for every last one of them is encompassed by la ilaha illa Allah: His existence which is pre-eternal and goes on for ever; His absolute independence; His being disconnected from everything in-time and in-space; His Oneness in His Essence, Attributes and Actions; And His having Life, Power, Knowledge, Will, Hearing, Sight and Speech. For as Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib attests in his diwan in the poem Aqa’id at-Tawhid – the Doctrines of Unification, the meaning of ilaah is:

معنى الإلهِ الغَنيُ عن سواهُ                      وله يفتقرُ مَا عداهُ

The meaning of the word ilah is He who has no need of anyone other than Himself,
                                                                  and to whom everyone other than Him is in need.
         The fact that this one phrase in so comprehensive in its scope is a tremendous mercy and blessing from Allah. For a person’s salvation from the Fire lies in him having a complete belief in Allah and His Messenger in that moment that He dies. In other words, it requires him to affirm all of the doctrines of belief in the moment that he leaves this world. But, as we know, people are often very weakened in those last moments and unable to call all those details to mind, so Allah gives us a short phrase that is easy to remember and even easier to say, and by means of which every one of those doctrines are affirmed – the shahada.
And that is why the Prophet said,
من كان آخرُ كلامِهِ لا إله إلا الله دَخَلَ الجنةَ

         “Anyone whose last words are la ilaha illallah enters the Garden,” indicating the ruling for those who find the capacity to speak. And,
من مات وهو يَعلمُ أن لا إله الا اللهُ دخل الجنةَ

         “Anyone who dies. knowing that there is no god but Allah enters the Garden,” indicating the ruling for those who cannot.
         The second part of the shahada is Muhammad rasulullah – Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And indeed the shahada, and thus a person’s deen, is incomplete without it. He is the one whom Allah sent to show us how to live our lives and worship Him. It is only through him that we have access to the Words of Allah and it is only through him that we can gain knowledge of our Lord, as is amply demonstrated in surat al-Ikhlas when Allah says:
قُلْ هُوَ اللهُ أَحَدٌ

         the translation of which is, “Say Allah is Absolute Oneness” He does not say Allahu ahad, but prefaces it with the word ‘qul’, ‘say’, addressed to the Messenger of Allah. Thus, this, the ultimate encapsulation of tawhid, can only be accessed through the medium of the Messenger of Allah, through what he tells us and shows us. He is the sole doorway to that knowledge, and it is only through following his teaching and his example that any of us can hope to please our Lord. Allah says, addressing His Messenger:

قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ

         the translation of which is, “Say, ‘If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you and forgive you for your wrong actions. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’”
         And it is this command to follow the Messenger of Allah that makes Islam a deen – a comprehensive way of living – and not a religion, for the Prophet led a full life, engaging in marriage, trade, governance and jihad as well as acts of worship. So, by affirming that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, we enter into a contract to follow his sunna in all aspects of our lives. May Allah give us the strength to do so.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم

الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.          أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته.                        

         As we mentioned in the first khutba, the primary importance of the shahadatayn lies in the fact that it is the key that unlocks the true value and potential that lies in all actions, making them acceptable to Allah. That is the significance of its first utterance with conviction. But its value does not stop there, the words themselves have a resonance and a weight in creation unlike any other. Abu Saeed al-Khudri narrated that the Messenger of Allah said,

قال موسى عليه السلام: ياربِّ عَلِّمنى ما أذكرُك به وأدعوك به، فقال ياموسى قل لا إله إلا الله، قال موسى: يا رب كلُ عبادِك يقولون هذا قال: قل لا إله إلا الله قال:لا إله إلا أنت إنما أريدُ شيئا تخُصُّنى به. قال: يا موسى لو أن السمواتِ السبعَ فِى كفة، ولا إله إلا اللهُ فى كفة، لمالت بهن (لا إله إلا الله)

         “Musa said, ‘My Lord, teach me something by which I can remember You and with which I can call on You.’ Allah replied, ‘Musa, say La ilaha illa Allah.’ So Musa said, ‘My Lord, but every single one of Your slaves says that!’ Allah again replied, ‘Say la ilaha illa Allah.’ So Musa said, ‘La ilaha illa anta – there is no god except for You. All that I want is for You to give me a dhikr that is for me alone!’ Allah replied, ‘Musa, if the seven heavens were to be placed in one side of a scales and la ilaha illa Allah in the other, La ilaha illa Allah would outweigh them.’” And the Prophet also said,

يؤتى برجلٍ إلى الميزانِ ويؤتَى بتسعةٍ وتسعين سِجِّلا كلُّ سِجِّلٍ منها مدُّ البَصَرِ فيها خطاياه وذنوبُه، فتوضَعُ في كفة الميزانِ ثم تَخرُجُ بطاقةٌ مقدارُ الأنملةِ فيها شهادةُ أن لا إله إلا اللهُ محمدٌ رسول اللهِ فتوضَعُ في الكفةِ الأخرى فتَرجَحُ بخطاياه وذنوبِه.

         “A man will be brought to the scales whereupon 99 scrolls containing his crimes and wrong actions will be brought forth, each one stretching out as far as the eye can see, and be placed upon one side of the scales. Then a small strip of paper the size of a fingertip will be brought out with la ilaha illa Allah written on it and will be placed on the other side of the scales. And that small strip of paper will outweigh all his crimes and bad actions.” And he said,

ما من عبدٍ يقولُ لا إله إلا اللهُ مائةَ مرةٍ إلا بعثَهُ اللهُ يومَ القيامةِ ووجهُه كالقمرِ ليلةَ البدرِ ولم يُرفَعْ لأحدٍ يومئذ عَمَلٌ أفضلُ من عملِه إلا مَن قال مثلَ قولِه أو زاد

         “Any slave of Allah who says la ilaha illa Allah 100 times will be raised up by Allah on the Day of Rising with his face lit up like the moon when it is as its fullest. And on that day, no action will be raised up so high, except for that of those who say the like of it or more.” And he said in a hadith qudsi, narrated by Ali ibn abi Talib,

يقولُ اللهُ تعالى لا إله إلا اللهُ حِصنِي فمَن دخله أمِن عذابي

         “Allah says, ‘La ilaha illa Allah is my fortress – whoever enters inside it will be safe from My punishment.” These are just some of the many hundreds of hadiths which enumerate the countless blessings of the shahada. And although one’s obligation is met by saying them once with the intention of fulfilling the first pillar of the din, many of its treasures are set aside for those who let their tongues run moist with it. And that is why the ‘ulama and the shuyukh advise us to say it as frequently as we can and use it to fill every moment of our days. Ibn ‘Ashir, the famous Maliki scholar from Fes, said,
وهي أفضلُ وجوهِ الذكر                  فاشغل بها العمرَ تفز بالذخر

         “It is the best form of dhikr
                   so occupy the moments of your life with it and you will obtain the treasure.”
         We ask Allah to grant us that treasure by making us people of la ilaha illallah muhammad rasulullah – people who embody it, live by it and repeat it constantly. We ask Him to keep us strong in the deen, and increase us in knowledge of Him and the sunna of His beloved Prophet. And we ask Him to continue to guide the people of this city to Islam and continue to fill this mosque with the sound of shahadas and takbirs reverberating through the rafters!

إِنَّ اللهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ، يَا أَيُهَا الذِينَ آمَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيماً. اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ  أَجْمَعِينَ. وَارْضَ اللَّهُمَّ عَنِ الْخُلَفَاءِ الرَّاشِدِينَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَعُثْمَانَ وَعَلِيٍّ، وعن خديجة وعائشة وسائر أزواج النبي، وَعَنْ سَائِرِ الصَّحَابَةِ أَجْمَعِينَ، خُصُوصاً اِلأَنْصَارَ مِنْهُمْ وَالمُهَاجِرِينَ، وَعَنِ التَّابِعِينَ وَتَابِعِي التَّابِعِينَ وَمَنْ تَبِعَهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ.
اللَّهُمَّ اهْدِ وُلَاةَ أُمُورِ المُسْلِمِينَ لِمَا يُرْضِيكَ وَلِاتِّبَاعِ سُنَّةِ نَبِيِّكَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَهُمْ عَلَى الصِّرَاطِ المُسْتَقِيمِ، وَأَصْلِحْهُمْ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى شَيْخِنَا، وَعَلَى أَمِيرِنَا، وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ أُمَرَاءِ وَزُعَمَاءِ المُسْلِمِينَ. 
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى المُسْلِمِينَ فِي هَذِهِ المَدِينَةِ، وَوَفِّقْهُمْ لِمَا تُحِبُّهُ وَتَرْضَاهُ يَا أَكْرَمَ الأَكْرَمِينَ.
اللَّهُمَّ أَعِزَّ الإِسْلَامَ وَالمُسِْلمِينَ (3) وَاخْذُلِ الْكُفْرَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ، وَانْصُرِ المُجَاهِدِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ. وَاجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وَكَلِمَةَ الْكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلَى.
رَبَّنَا ءَاتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقَِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ.
إِنَّ اللهَ يَامُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى، وَيَنْهَى عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ، يَعِظُكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَذَّكَّرُونَ، وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. وَقُومُواْ إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يَرْحَمُكُمُ اللهُ.

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي أمرنا أن نَفِيَ بالعقود، ونفعَلَ ما نقول، ونعاملَ الخلقَ بالصدقِ والأمانةِ سواءً كان صَديقاً أو خصماً لدود، نحمده تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، من يهد الله فهو المهتد ومن يضلل فلن تجد له وليا مرشدا، ونشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، له الملك و له الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير،  ونشهد أن سيدنا و مولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدّى الأمانة ونصح الأمة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحق، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيا عباد الله اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. يأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولا سديدا يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكم. ومن يطع

الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزا عظيما. اتقوا الله فيما أمر وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

قال الله تعالى في كتابه الكريم: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ

            Allah says in His Noble Book, the translation of which is, “You who believe, fulfil your contracts.” This command is the essence of how one should conduct all his transactions or mu‘amalat. Indeed, this command is the essence of the deen of Allah, since the deen is mu‘amala.
            When we think of the character of our noble Prophet, we think of his generosity – for he was the most generous of men; we think of his mercy and forgiveness – for he forgave even the harshest of his enemies; and we think of his clemency and forbearance – for he would overlook any slight or insult that was directed at him personally. But, above all, the Prophet  was amin – trustworthy, and indeed that was the nickname by which Quraysh addressed him in his youth – al-Amin. He was never once heard to tell a lie and never once broke his word, regardless of whether he gave his word to a Muslim or a non-Muslim, to a friend or to an enemy, regardless of whether the one with whom he dealt kept his own word or not. The Prophet said,

أدِّ الأمانةَ إلى مَن ائتَمَنَك ، ولاَ تَخُن مَن خانك

            “Return the things you hold on trust to those who entrusted them to you and do not cheat those who cheat you.” We are Muslims. We are commanded to emulate our noble Prophet and be better and more honest in our dealings than those with whom we do business, not worse and more crooked.
            One of the reasons the deen of Allah spread so quickly in the first generations was because the peoples whom the Muslims encountered knew that their word was their bond – they knew that once the Muslims had entered into a contract, they would fulfil it. And so they welcomed the Muslims with open arms and gladly and willingly entered into the jizya contract, knowing that their Muslim conquerors would uphold their side of the bargain and keep their lives, lands and wealth safe. It was not by the sword that the deen entered the hearts of the peoples whom the Muslims encountered, but by the honesty and straightforwardness of their dealings, and the importance they attached to fulfilling their contracts. Indeed, vast nations, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, nations that had never seen a mujahid, entered into Islam after seeing these qualities in the Muslim traders who sailed into their ports.
            Matters, however, have now turned on their heads. Muslims, the world over, are today famed for being unreliable, late and not doing things when they say they will. The culture of ma’alish dominates Egypt, the culture of bukra dominates Morocco – words which are used to casually toss aside contracts which have been made and delay their fulfilment. And, unfortunately, the same thing holds true of many Muslim businessmen and traders in this country. We are no longer the watchword for reliability, we are the watchword for unreliability and poor service. Muslims have become famed for being unprofessional. Now that is not to say that there are not many Muslims who are reliable and professional and keep to their word and their deadlines, for there are, but unfortunately they are increasingly becoming the exception that proves the rule.
            How can we, as Muslims, expect Allah to grant us victory and place us above the kuffar when we have come to embody the characteristics of those who are worse than them, the hypocrites? The Prophet said,

“أربعٌ من كنّ فيه كان منافقاً، ومن كانت فيه خصلةٌ منهن كانت فيه خصلةٌ من النفاقِ حتّى يدعَها: إذا حدّث كذب، وإذا وعدَ أخلف، وإذا جاصم فجر، وإذا عاهد غدر.”

            “There are four characteristics which distinguish the hypocrite. If a person has one of these characteristics, he has an element of hypocrisy in his being. When he speaks, he lies; when he makes a promise, he breaks it; when he enters into a dispute, he acts in an underhand manner; and when he forms a trust, he betrays it.”
            Allah has promised victory to His deen, but, as long as we disregard our contracts, we have no deen. The Prophet said,

لا إيمانَ لمن لا أمانةَ له ، ولا دِينَ لمن لا عَهدَ له

            “The one who has no amana (i.e. does not return what has been entrusted to him), has no iman. And the one who does not keep his promise has no Deen”. We want Allah’s help, but how can we expect it when we disregard His Commands. Allah says,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّى يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ

            the translation of which is, “Allah never changes a people’s state until they change what is in themselves.” If we do that, then the promise Allah made to Banu Isra’il will also hold true for us:
وَأَوْفُوا بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ
            the translation of which is, “Honour my contract and I will honour your contract.” Hence, the promised victory is conditional upon us fulfilling our contract. But what is this contract -what are these contracts of which we speak? In their commentaries on Allah’s command to us to fulfil our contracts at the beginning of surat al-Ma’ida, some of the fuqaha have divided contracts into three types: those with our Lord, those with ourselves and those with other people.
            Our contract with our Lord is worshipping Him and not associating anything with Him. Our contract with Him is to do what He has commanded and made obligatory, such as the praying the prayer in its times and fasting the month of Ramadan, and to leave what He has forbidden, such as hunting while in a state of ihram or eating pork. Allah says,

أَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يَا بَنِي آَدَمَ أَنْ لَا تَعْبُدُوا الشَّيْطَانَ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ وَأَنِ اعْبُدُونِي

            the translation of which is, “Did I not make a contract with you, O tribe of Adam, not to worship Shaytan, who truly is an outright enemy to you, and to worship Me?”
            Our contract with ourselves is maintaining our health and preserving our lives, by eating, drinking, resting and exercising, doing each of those activities at the times most appropriate for them.
            Our contracts with other people are the agreements we enter into with them and the dealings we have with them, such as marriage, trade and keeping appointments. These are what are referred to in the Fiqh books as mu‘amalat and this is the area of the deen where we, as Muslims, find ourselves lacking today, not ‘ibadaat. For never before have so many people travelled to Hajj or have the mosques been so full for the Jumu‘as and the tarawihs. That part of our contract, many of us fulfil. But then, we go back to our shops, our businesses, our homes, and totally disregard the remainder of the contract. If we want the deen to flourish again and to see people once again entering Islam in their droves, we must reunite its two halves – ‘ibadat and mu‘amalat. We must make what is broken whole and regain the upper ground. We must fulfil our contracts!

أقول قولي هذا و أستغفر الله لي و لكم و لسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرَّحيم

الحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه وعلى آله وصحبه، والتابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

أما بعد! فيأيها الذين ءامنوا اتقوا الله ما استطعتم واسمعوا وأطيعوا وأنفقوا خيرا لأنفسكم. يا عباد الله أوصيكم وإياي بتقوى الله وطاعته وأحذركم وإياي عن معصيته ومخالفته. قال الله تعالى في كتابه العزيز: “يَأَيُّهَا الذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لِمَ تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ، كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِندَ اللهِ أَن تَقُولُواْ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ.”

            Allah says in His Mighty Book, the translation of which is, “Why do you say what you do not do. It is very hateful to Allah that you should say what you do not do.”
            The very essence of all mu‘amalat is doing what you say you are going to do, and doing it when you said you were going to do it. Of course, there are many other rulings that relate to them – indeed those rulings fill tomes and have largely been lost and forgotten today by being neglected and neither applied nor practised. And that knowledge must be recovered for the deen to once again thrive. And that knowledge is being recovered and is already being re-implemented and we must all become part of that re-implementation.
            And that re-implementation begins with us fulfilling our contracts and appointments to the letter and to the minute, for when it comes to contracts the element of time cannot – I repeat, cannot – be overstated. Everything in the deen of Allah is appointed a time and that applies to our contracts with each other just as much as to our contracts with our Lord. An appointment is a contract, so take care not to break them.
            A word of advice for anyone carrying out a transaction or making a contract – make sure you you write it down. And make sure that there are witnesses present. Man is created forgetful and that is often the reason for missed deadlines or disputes about prices and amounts, but with a record that has been witnessed, such problems dissolve. Allah says,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا إِذَا تَدَايَنْتُمْ بِدَيْنٍ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُ 

            the translation of which is, “You who believe, when you take on a debt for a specified period, write it down”. Although this aya refers specifically to debts, its ruling applies to all types of transactions. And because of that, a whole branch of knowledge came to be, called watha’iq, the science of formulating and writing up contracts. And, indeed, this science continues to be taught and studied until the present day in the great institutions of learning such as the Qarawiyyin in Fes and the Azhar in Cairo.
            The essentials for making our transactions halal and correct in the sight of Allah are easy. If we put them into practice and have a firm intention, then the whole matter will fall into place.
            Firstly, you must never enter into a contract, or carry out a transaction, unless you fully intend to uphold your end of the bargain – you must never go into it with the intention of taking advantage of someone else, or ripping them off. That may make you a profit in this world, but you will be a big loser in the Next.
            Secondly, if you agree to do something by a certain time, or at a certain time, then do not take that deadline lightly or start procrastinating. Do what you said you would do when and fair you said you would do it. Honour time as it should be honoured. The kuffar, especially the businessmen amongst them, honour time and keep to it. But we are Muslims and we know the value and importance of time better than they do, so we must act accordingly.
            And thirdly, when you do something, make sure to do it well. We, as Muslims, must not be guilty of shoddy workmanship nor of doing things half-heartedly. The Prophet said,

إن الله يُحبُّ إذا عمِل أحدُكم عملاً أن يُتقِنَه

            “Allah loves that whenever you do something you do it well.”
If we do these simple things, if we fulfil our contracts and keep our words, then we will soon see the weakness and lethargy that has overcome the Muslim Umma evaporate and its strength return. We will soon see the mistrust with which people view us transformed into respect, we will soon see them hurrying to enter Islam in their droves. Because that is what our Lord has promised us – if we fulfil our contracts, He will fulfil His contract to us and grant us victory and success.
So we ask Allah to enable us to fulfil our contracts. We ask Him to make us people of our word and people who appreciate the importance of time. We ask Him to make us people who do what they say they will do. We ask Him to make us people who change themselves and give us the promised victory. We ask Him to re-establish the deen in its full glory in our time and make us among those who are at the vanguard of its re-establishment.

إنَّ اللهَ ومَلائِكَتَهُ يُصلُّونَ على النَّبِي يَا أَيُها الذينَ آمنوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وسَلِّمُوا تَسْليماً. اللهمَّ صَلِّ وسَلِّم وبارِك عَلَيْهِ وعلى آلِهِ وصَحْبِهِ  أجمعين.

وارض اللهم عن الخلفاء الراشدين أبي بكرٍ وعمرَ وعثمانَ وعلي ، وعن سائر الصحابة أجمعين، خصوصا الأنصارَ منهم والمهاجرين، وعن التابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.

اللهم اهد أولات أمور المسلمين لما يرضيك ولاتباع سنة نبيك صلى الله عليه وسلم  وثبت أقدامهم على الصراط المستقيم وأصلحهم يا رب العالمين.

اللهم بارك على شيخنا، و على أميرنا، وعلى جميع أمراءِ وزعماء المسلمين. 

اللهم بارك على المسلمين في هذه المدينة ووفقهم لما تحبه وترضاه يا أكرم الأكرمين.

اللهمّ أَعِزَّ الْلإسلامَ والمُسِلمينَ (3)  واَخْذُلِ الكُفْرَ والكافِرينَ، وانْصُرِ المُجاهِدينَ في سَبِيلِ اللهِ. واجْعَلْ كَلِمََتَكَ هِيَ العُلْيَا وكَلِمَةَ الكُفْرِ هِيَ السُّفْلى.

ربنا ءاتنا في الدنيا حسنة وفي الأخرة حسنة وقنا عذاب النار.

اللهم لا تضعْ في مقامِنا هذا ذنبا إلا غفرْتَه، ولا عيبا إلا سترْتَه، ولا مريضا إلا شفيتَهُ وعافيتَه، ولا مسجونا إلا طلَّقْتَ سراحَه، ولا مسافرا في برِّك وبحرِك إلا سلِمتَهُ وغنِمْتَه.

إن الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيتاء ذي القربى وينهى عَنِ الفحشاءِ والمُنكَرِ والبغي، يعظكم لعلكم تذكرون، ولَذِكْرُ اللهِ أكبر والله يَعْلَمُ ما تَصْنَعُون. وقُومُوا إِلَى صَلاتِكُمْ يرحمكم الله