Khutba on Having a Good Opinion
الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي جعل بحسن الظن به النصرَ والرحمة، وجعل بحسن الظن بخلقه الألفة والمحبة، 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 وأدى 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 عز وجل في كتابه العزيز: قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
Allah says in His mighty Book, the translation of which is, “Say: ‘My slaves, you who have transgressed against yourselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Truly Allah forgives all wrong actions. He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’”
Last week, we talked about the importance of being content with whatever our Lord has written and decreed for us, but that does not mean that we abandon our hopes and aspirations or stop trying to bring about a change when times are hard and everything seems to be against us. That does not mean we blithely accept the status quo, it simply means that we work harder and turn more fully to our Lord. We do not complain, we do not lose hope, we do not look at life with a defeatist attitude and think that our present determines our future, instead we put our trust in the One to whom the entire affair belongs and who has power over all things. The One who has promised us that He is with us and watching over us every step of the way, in our darkest moments and our brightest, never leaving us to our own devices. His Will can never be overcome and His force and power can never be withstood. laa ghaliba illa-l-lah – there is no conqueror except for Him. And He is with us, the believers, and our well-being is His concern – we are under His ri’aya, every one of us, and our enemies are His enemies. Do not despair of the mercy of Allah, for that despair is nothing but bad opinion of your Lord and bad opinion it is that perpetuates the mess and distress in your lives. Allah says,
الظَّانِّينَ بِاللَّهِ ظَنَّ السَّوْءِ عَلَيْهِمْ دَائِرَةُ السَّوْءِ
the translation of which is, “those who think badly about Allah, they will suffer an evil turn of fate.” Stop thinking that your cause is hopeless and that your enemies have all the power. Stop feeling sorry for yourselves and thinking thinking of yourselves as persecuted minorities, fearful of being blamed and scapegoated for every terrorist act. Stop looking to anyone and everyone other than Him for relief, and instead look to Him and have a good opinion of Him. That is the only way out. One of the Salaf said,
استعمل في كل بلية تطرقك حسن الظن بالله في كشفها فإن ذلك أقرب بك إلى الفرج
“Whenever you are beset by any trial or tribulation, use your good opinion of Allah to lift it, for that is the nearest (and swiftest) way to relief.” He will replace that fear with security and He will make us the masters of the land not the victims. That is His promise to us and Allah’s promise is always true. Allah says,
وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْنًا
the translation of which is, “Allah has promised those of you who have iman and do right actions that He will make them successors in the land as He made those before them successors and will firmly establish for them their deen with which He is pleased and give them, in place of their fear, security.” The Companions went from victims of persecution in Mecca to fifteen years later having defeated and conquered the two great empires of the day, the Persians and Byzantines, the armies of whom were far larger and far better equipped. But they trusted in their Lord and had the best possible opinion of Him, and never lost that confidence even when their cause seemed at its most hopeless and victory looked far off and unlikely. They trusted implicitly that the outcome of their affair would be good, for had the Prophet not told them that their Lord had said,
أنا عند ظن عبدي بي إن ظن خيرا فله وإن ظن شرا فله
“I am according to My slave’s opinion of Me. If he thinks good then he will have it, and if he thinks bad then he will have it.“ And He rewarded that good opinion with His support. He strengthened their arms, filled their hearts with bravery and resolve and augmented their armies with ranks of angels. And He weakened their enemies and filled their hearts with fear and doubt.
This maintaining of good opinion is the secret to existence and the key to success, both in one’s personal life and the life of the umma as a whole, for there is always a way out, there is always a way forward. There is no such thing as a hopeless situation. That is the lesson we learn from Musa, who found himself and his people trapped between the sea and the massive army of Pharoah intent upon their destruction. The Banu Israel despaired, fearing the worst, saying,
إِنَّا لَمُدْرَكُونَ
the translation of which is, ‘We shall surely be overrun.’ But Musa’s high opinion of his Lord never wavered. He said,
كَلَّا إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ
the translation of which is, “Never, my Lord is with me and He will guide me.” And lo, with one strike of his staff the way opened up and the seawaters parted and his people were saved and his enemies drowned. That is the lesson we learn from own Prophet when his enemies had tracked him to the cave of Thawr and it seemed impossible that they would not see or capture him, given that they were standing mere metres away. Abu Bakr, his companion in the cave, said,
قلت للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وأنا في الغار: لو أن أحدهم نظر تحت قدميه لأبصرنا، فقال: {ما ظنك يا أبا بكر باثنين الله ثالثهما}
“I said to the Prophet while we were in the cave, ‘If one of them were to but look downwards under his feet, we would be seen!’ He replied, ‘What is your opinion, Abu Bakr, of two when Allah is their third.’” He had absolute trust in his Lord that He would keep them safe, and indeed that is the essence and reality of good opinion, to have certainty that He will keep His promise to you and the Muslims, that He will answer your duas, that He will accept your good actions and your tawba for wrong actions, that He only subjects you to what is best for you in that moment and that He has the best possible outcome in store for you.
That is how the awliya and the salihin view their Lord, and that is the trust they have of Him, and they have that trust because they are whole – their hearts and bodies are in sync. There is no internal conflict and battle, the outward is not at odds with the inward, they live a peaceful and harmonious coexistence. For, in truth, it is impossible to have good opinion of Allah without actively fulfilling His Commands and avoiding His Prohibitions. As the Prophet said,
حسن الظن من حسن العبادة
“Good opinion comes from good worship.” There cannot be one without the other, for contradiction breeds doubt not certainty. No man actively engaged in wrong action and disobedience can seriously claim to have a high opinion of his Lord – he is lying to himself and his hopes are false. In reality, his opinion of his Lord is low, and he ends up looking to others for relief, but from them relief will never truly come and their situation will get worse and not better. Allah says,
وَلَئِنْ نَصَرُوهُمْ لَيُوَلُّنَّ الْأَدْبَارَ ثُمَّ لَا يُنْصَرُونَ
the translation of which is, “And if they did help them they would turn their backs, and then they would not be helped.”
Forget about your own perceived inadequacies, forget about your own powerlessness and the apparent helplessness of the situation in which you find yourself, and simply do what Allah commands you to do and leave what Allah commands you to leave. If you do that you will grow closer to Him and your trust in Him and good opinion of Him will grow. And with each step, He will take ten steps towards you. And those commands of Allah that seemed impossible to implement will come to seem possible and even easy, and we will be able to establish the deen in full. That is His promise and guarantee.
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. قال الله تعالى في كتابه الكريم: مَا تَرَى فِي خَلقِ الرَحمَانِ مِن تَفَاوُت
Allah says in His Noble Book, the translation of which is, "You will not see any imperfections in the All-Merciful’s creation." An essential part of having a good opinion of Allah is to have a good opinion of His creation, and in particular, those parts of His creation upon whom He has conferred the greatest honour, the believers, the Muslims. The Muslim must always see and always look for the best in his brothers. He must assume the best, not the worst, in any given situation, no matter how bad the thing he sees or hears him do may appear on the surface. Umar ibn al-Khattab said,
لا تظنَنَّ بكلمةٍ خرجتْ من مسلمٍ شرا وأنت تجدُ لها في الخير محملا
“Do not have a bad opinion of any word that comes out of a Muslim’s mouth if you can find some way to interpret it in a way that is good.”
And even when his action is clearly wrong, still you must look for excuses for him. Ibn Sirin said,
إذا بلغَكَ عن أخيك شيءٌ فالتمِسْ له عُذرا، فإن لم تجدْ فقل: لعلَّ له عُذرا لا أعرِفُه
“If you hear something about your brother, make some sort of excuse for him. If you are unable to find an excuse, then say to yourself, “Perhaps he has an excuse that I do not know about.” For none of us knows what is in the heart of another human being or what led him to do what he did. Nor is knowledge of what is right or wrong all-comprehensive. On the contrary, for the majority of us, our knowledge is extremely limited, and the deen is broad not narrow. Just because we have never seen something done nor heard of it does not necessarily make it wrong. So, beware of disapproving of others simply because they do something differently to you, and always assume that what they are doing is right and correct unless you have definitive evidence to the contrary. And even if you do have definitive evidence that what someone is doing is wrong, you must only form a bad opinion of the action and not the man since, for all you know, that one wrong action you witnessed may be far outweighed in the eyes of Allah by his many other good actions, and he may have a high station with his Lord. Indeed, the best way for a Muslim to go through life is to think that every other Muslim he meets is better than himself. It is narrated that Muawiya al-Aswad said,
إخوانِي كلُّهم خيرٌ مني، قيل وكيف ذلك؟ قال: كلُّهم يرى لي الفضلَ عليه ومَن فَضَّلَني على نفسه فهو خير مني
“Every single one of my brothers is better than me.” “How is that?” he was asked. “They all see me as being better than them,” he replied, “And anyone who thinks me better than him is himself better than me.”
Beware of bad opinion. There are few things more destructive. It divides a community and erodes trust and good will, replacing them with suspicion and open enmity. It rips apart the social fabric of any society, even the very best of them. One has but to look at what happened in al-Madina al-Munawarra, after the hyprocites spread the lies about sayyidatina Aisha. In but a short time, the brotherhood the Aws and Khazraj felt for another through Islam was eroded and their pre-Islamic enmity had resurfaced. And they all but came to blows, whereupon Allah sent down the ayas in surat Nur exonerating her and taking the Muslims to task for their bad opinion, saying,
لَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ خَيْرًا وَقَالُوا هَذَا إِفْكٌ مُبِينٌ
the translation of which is, “Why, when you heard it, did you not, as believing men and women, have a good opinion of yourselves and say, ‘This is clearly a lie’.”
This must always be our first reaction when we see or hear something bad about our fellow Muslims. We must maintain our good opinion of them and always seek excuses for them, and protect them when they are being slandered. And if we have nothing good to say, then we must remain silent. Therein lies our own protection.
We ask Allah to give us a good opinion of one another and a good opinion of Him. We ask Him to unify our hearts and support us with His help. We ask Him to forgive us, overlook our wrong actions and guide us along the Sirat al-Mustaqim. And we ask Him to give the promised victory to His deen.
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 أم المومنين عائشة التي أمرنا الله في سورة النور أن ندافع عنها، 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، 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.