Khutba on Hope, the Essential Quality of the Mu’min

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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.

It is all too easy to look around the world today, and see the staggering levels of inequality, the manifest injustice that sees governments oppress certain segments of society while letting others get away with daylight robbery, that sees prices rising and wages dropping, that sees debt becoming the rule rather than the exception, that sees criminals and monsters being elected as leaders of their countries and corruption rearing its ugly head at all levels of administration, legislature and business across the world, even in countries that have previously been viewed as clean such as the UK, as recent stories regarding the taking of bribes have shown.
It is all too easy to see a world where Islam is vilified and Muslims oppressed or treated as terrorists, where America has carte blanche to assassinate any person and invade any country they wish, and Israel gets away with genocide and murder, a world where the only apparent examples of Muslim rule are based on a corrupted and hateful ideology that is bereft of any uplifting qualities and tarnishes the name of Islam and does it a great disservice, and where our ulama sit in their halls of learning and argue over the minutiae of theoretical points of law, while watching the communities around them become more and more ignorant of their great legacy and heritage.
  It is all too easy to see a world filled with darkness and all that is negative, with ever-increasing misery and hardship, with one obstacle after another with no end in sight, with doors that do not open but rather slam shut in our faces, and give up hope, be overcome with despair, bow to the seeming inevitability of the situation. We are where we are because that is where we deserve to be. This is the age we live in – has it not been prophesied? Did not the Prophet say that towards the end of time, wrong action would be rife and true believers few and far between? Are we not living in that time? It is written so so must it be. This is our lot in life and so we must just accept it – is this not what we have brought down upon ourselves? Does not our Lord say, 

ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النَّاسِ

the translation of which is, “Corruption has appeared in both land and sea because of what people’s own hands have wrought.” Yes, but that does not mean that we blithely accept it and leave it unchecked. That does not mean that we give up and accept the status quo, that we adopt the belief that all we can do is make do with a bad lot. No, hope is the essential characteristic of the mu’min and despair and fatalism have no place in his heart. For they are signs of a heart that has no trust in Allah, and no trust in His promise that He will bring about a positive outcome. Allah says,

إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْئَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَ

the translation of which is, “No one despairs of solace from Allah except for people who are kafirun.” His solace, His help will come, but not if you despair of it, not if you feel no hope, for despair is self-fulfilling, it enervate and saps your will and capacity to act. No situation is ever as bad as it seems, there is always a silver lining, always a way out, always a way to grow and find increase, but all that is blocked from those who give up hope and give in to despair, who see only the bad and are blind to potential good. That is why the Messenger of Allah ranked despair as one of the worst wrong actions alongside shirk. Ibn Abbas narrated that a man came to the Messenger and asked him what were the major wrong actions/ the kaba’ir. The Prophet replied, 

الشِّرْكُ بِاللهِ، وَالْإِيَاسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللهِ، وَالْقُنُوطُ مِنْ رَحْمَةِ الله

“Associating others with Allah, losing hope in the solace of Allah, and despairing of the mercy of Allah.” He mentions despair twice, emphasising how destructive and terrible it is to the human being. It is only from Allah that any solace or alleviation of your difficulties will come – there is no other source. So the one who lacks hope in Allah has no way out, and his situation will just get worse. And the one who complains about his situation and declares that we are lost, he is the most lost of all of them. The Messenger of Allah said,

إذا قال الرجل هلك الناس، فهو أهلَكهم

“If a man says, ‘The people are ruined and destroyed, he is the most ruined of all of them.” But the one who has high expectations of Allah, there is no limit to what He can achieve, since there is no limit to what his Lord can give him. Allah says,

وَلِلَّهِ خَزَائِنُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ 

the translation of which is, “The treasure-houses of the heavens and earth belong to Allah.” And He says, 

وَلِلهِ عَاقِبَةُ الْأُمُورِ

the translation of which is, “The outcome of all affairs belong to Allah.” And He grants those treasures and reserves the best of those outcomes for those who put their trust in Him and hope for the best. Allah says in a hadith qudsi,

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.” Thinking good of Allah means having high aspiration, believing that His plan for you is one which culminates in success in this world and the Next. There is a wonderful example of this in the Seera of our noble Messenger. There was one point when the enemies of Islam decided to attack the Prophet in Medina, and so they gathered an army of at least 10 thousand men and laid siege to the city. In response, the Muslims, who numbered less than a third their enemies, dug a trench to protect the city from the invaders and keep the enemy at bay. This siege continued for almost a month and the Muslims were running so low on food that they were close to starvation. The Prophet himself had to tie a rock to his stomach to lessen the feeling of its emptiness, and yet never did he despair or think that the situation was getting away from him. Rather, he took hold of the pickaxe when the Muslims were struggling to smash a particular boulder that was hindering the building of the trench and struck it, saying, 

الله أكبر أوتيت مفاتيح فارس، أوتيت مفاتح الروم

“Allah is great. I have been given the keys to Persia and the keys to the Byzantine empire.” The hypocrites saw this and laughed among themselves and said to one another, “Hah! None of us are able to even go out to go to the toilet, and yet this man is telling us we will conquer the kingdoms of Chosroes and Caesar.” Their aspirations were limited to emptying their bowels and look where they ended up, whereas the aspirations of our Messenger went far beyond the situation at hand and right to the heart of the matter which was the promise of Allah. And that meant not just victory in that battle, but victory over all the surrounding lands and empires. And that promise did indeed come to pass. When it comes to the deen of Allah and the success of His people, the Muslim with intellect never thinks small, He thinks big. The Prophet said,

إذا سألتم الله فاسألوه الفردوس

“When you ask Allah for something, ask Him for Firdaws.” In other words, always seek the best and highest possible outcome. And Ibn al-Qayyim said,

النفوس الشريفة لا ترضى من الأشياء إلا بأعلاها وأفضلها وأحمدها عاقبة، والنفوس الدنيئة تحوم حول الدناءات، وتقع عليها كما يقع الذباب على الأقذار

“Noble selves are only content with the highest of things and the best of them, those whose outcome is most praiseworthy, while base and low selves swarm around what is low and unworthy and settle on them like flies on rubbish and filth.” If your expectations and your aspirations are low, then so too will be your life and everything in it and that applies to this world and the Next. Umar said,

لا تصغُرنَّ همَّتُكم؛ فإني لم أرَ أقعدَ عن المكرُمات من صغر الهِمَم

“Do not have low aspirations, for those whom I see failing to get the good things are those whose aspirations are low.” And that applies in even the worst situations, when everything has gone against you. Look at when the Prophet went to Ta’if. They all rejected him, even the children, and pelted him with stones until he was cut up and bloodied and forced to take refuge in an orchard. Not one person believed in him or showed any inclination to do so, all they exhibited was outright hostility. And yet what were his final words before he left. He said,

لعل الله يخرج من أصلابهم من يوحده

“Perhaps Allah will bring forth from their loins a people who declare His Oneness.” The frosty reception the people of Ta’if had given him had not diminished his hopes that the people of that place would come to rank among the believers. And indeed they did. Hope should never be diminished by difficulty, rather it is what you should turn to to overcome it. It is the refuge of the helpless, it is the weapon of the downtrodden, and it is what every one of us should equip ourselves with.

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.

We have mentioned that there is no situation that you can face, no matter how bleak, that is truly hopeless. We are never trapped, there is always a way out even if we cannot at first see it. Always and without exception. There have been numerous occasions in history when the Muslims have been faced with extinction, and the deen with annihilation, and yet every time it emerged stronger and more vibrant. The battle of Uhud and the Mongol invasions are but two striking examples, two overwhelming defeats that proved in the long run to be great victories. And that will happen again, no matter how invincible our enemies appear. Their power will only continue to be lent to them for as long as Allah wills. He can take it away from them whenever He wills, and He will do so in His time, when enough of us have turned back to Him and put our hope and trust in Him and Him alone once again. He is merely leading them on. Allah says,

وَيَمُدُّهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ

the translation of which is, “He is drawing them on, as they wander blindly in their excessive insolence.” And He says,

وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآَيَاتِنَا سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُمْ مِنْ حَيْثُ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ وَأُمْلِي لَهُمْ إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ

the translation of which is, “As for those who reject our Signs, we will lead them on, bit by bit, from where they do not know, and give them more time. My strategy is sure.” They think they are enjoying success, but they are being led towards their destruction. Their worldly might is illusory and is only given to them because it suits Allah’s purpose. Allah often strengthens the deen through its enemies.
And there is even a way forward when the bleakness you encounter is not your situation but within yourself. No matter how far you stray from the path, no matter how many wrong actions you commit or how many commands of Allah you disregard, there is always hope. Allah says,

قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لاَ تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللهِ إِنَّ اللهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيم

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.’” And He says in a hadith qudsi,

يا ابن آدم إنك ما دعوتني ورجوتني غفرت لك ما كان منك ولا أبالي ، يا ابن آدم لو بلغت ذنوبك عنان السماء ثم استغفرتني غفرت لك ، يا ابن آدم لو أتيتني بقراب الأرض خطايا ثم لقيتني لا تشرك بي شيئـًا لأتيتك بقرابها مغفرة

“O son of Adam, as long as you call on Me and put your hope in Me, I will forgive you – whatever you have done does not concern Me. O son of Adam, even if your wrong actions were to have piled up as high as the clouds, if you were to ask for my forgiveness I would forgive you. O son of Adam, if you were to come to Me with a container the size of the earth full of wrong actions, and then meet with Me without associating any others with Me, I would come to you with a container the same size full of forgiveness.” Have high hopes of Allah and ask him for His forgiveness in the belief and anticipation that He will grant it to you. Do that and not only will your slate be wiped clean and your wrong actions removed from your balance, but suddenly the way forward will be clear and your life once again full of possibilities. For as we have said, the inward and the outward are symbiotically linked, and any clearing of the inward inevitably equates to a clearing of the outward. The Prophet said,

من لزم الاستغفار جعل الله له من كل هم فرجًا، ومن كل ضيق مخرجًا ورزقه من حيث لا يحتسب

“If you are constant in seeking forgiveness of Allah, He will give you relief from every worry, a way out of every predicament and provision from where you least expect it.” Never use your own perceived inadequacy as an excuse, never consider your wrong actions as irredeemable. Do not have a low opinion of your Lord or His capacity for mercy and forgiveness. Let go of feelings of guilt, stop wallowing in feelings of shame and self-pity. Allah has forgiven and welcomed back into the fold many people far worse than you, people whose wrong actions are so bad, you would struggle to even imagine them, people like Wahshi who killed the beloved uncle of the Prophet, Hamza, or Hind who ate his liver.
Stop thinking that you are not worthy, or that others are more worthy. Instead, have a high opinion of yourself and a high opinion of your Lord, and make Him your destination and Him your intention. And you will be amazed at what will be accomplished by your hands. We ask Allah to grant us a high opinion of Him and ourselves. We ask Him to equip us with hope and keep despair far from our hearts. We ask that He forgive us all our wrong actions, and give us relief from all our worries and ease from all our difficulties. We ask for great openings, inwardly and outwardly, and for a clear and imminent victory. And we ask for the best of seals.

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.