Khutba on the Dangers of Laziness

الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي اقتضت حكمتُه أن يفضلَ بعض الأماكنِ والأزمان، وأن يأمر برعايته الإنسان، 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 وأدٌى 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.

Ibn al-Wardi says in his famous laamiyaa,

اطلـب الخيـر ولا تكسـل فما أبعد الخير عن أهل الكسل

One of the worst and most damaging diseases that can afflict the human being is laziness and indolence. It is not for nothing that sloth is ranked by the Christian world as one of the seven deadly sins. Laziness, in its essence, is deep ingratitude, for it is wasting the precious gifts that your Lord has given, whether they be your own skills and capacities, or the seconds, minutes and hours that make up your day. 
As for your skills and capacities, the more you fail to take proper advantage of them, the weaker they become and the more difficult it becomes for you to do even the simple tasks towards which they had made you suited. Just as your muscles atrophy from lack of movement, your skills atrophy from lack of use, and the strength of your himma dilutes until you scarcely have any will left to do those things that are most in your benefit. The Prophet said, in a famous dua of his, 

أعوذ بك من العجز والكسل

“ّI seek refuge with you from incapacity and laziness.” He paired these two qualities because as Ibn al-Qayyim, comments, they are closely-related. The more often you fail to do something, the more difficult that thing becomes until you start to find it almost impossible.
People often refrain from doing something because they find it taxing and tiring and so they seek the easier option. It is easier to collect the dole from the state than to work, or to do a boring and unfulfilling job than to struggle to go out on their own and do what brings them greatest fulfilment and satisfaction, or to acquire exam techniques than to actually study and learn, or to sleep in than wake up for Fajr. By taking the easier option, people think that their life will become easier and more relaxed, but the reality is the complete opposite. The Arabs have a saying,

مَن تعود الكسل ومال إلى الراحة فَقَدَ الراحة

“Whoever becomes accustomed to laziness and prefers to rest, forsakes all rest.” And they also say,

إن أردت ألا تتعب فاتعب حتى لا تتعب

“If you want not to suffer from tiredness, then tire yourself out so that you do not become tired.” Listlessness and tiredness more commonly follow indolence and wasting of time than actual work, no matter how taxing or frustrating. With each moment that passes unfulfilled, the greater your feelings of depression and futility. Life loses its meaning and the moments of your day become a monotonous procession, barely distinguishable one from the other. There is no hope because there is nothing to hope for. Because you have disrespected your talents by failing to make use of them, and disrespected time by failing to take advantage of it, it disrespects you and ceases to hold meaning for you. Sayidinaa Ali famously said,

الوقت كالسيف إن لم تقطعه قطعك

“Time is like a sword – if you do not cut with it, it will cut you.” If you do not take advantage of its moments and fill them with useful pursuits, it will cut you up and destroy you. You will never be relaxed and you will be stressed as it passes you by. You will fret as the moments rush by empty and unfulfilled, but you will feel powerless to do a thing. You will be an observer of your life, but not actually living it. And thus, you will feel dead inside. And that is what modern-day society wants of us – it does not want living vibrant human beings who do what is useful for themselves and society, and make best use of the skills and talents with which their Lord has provided them, but instead wants robots, worker drones who keeps the wheels of their machine running, people who sleep-walk through life, persuaded that that is their only possible course of action, people who have become inured to abuse and accept what ever titbits are thrown their way from their masters and endure without protest the continuous lowering of the standard of their life. And even those who reap the benefits of this modern-day approach to life and suck up all its wealth feel empty and lost, and that the moments that make up their lives are worthless and have no meaning. In the first month of this year alone, almost a dozen major bankers have committed suicide.
They may have worked hard, but it was work without benefit and without meaning, work that contravened their nature, not work that supported and fulfilled it. For this whole system, from top to bottom, is built by and geared towards the service of usury, the most unnatural of the unnatural, implying as it does infinite growth in a finite world. Working for it and with it brings harm, not benefit, and engaging in any act that is bereft of benefit is no different from doing nothing. Both are laziness – one the laziness of total lack of action and te other the laziness of following the status quo and not looking for an alternative way of acting that is correct in the eyes of Allah. And both are reprehensible in the eyes of Allah and a complete and utter waste of your time and your talents. We need to act, not be active. We need purpose, not to simply run around like headless chickens. We need to seek the halal and make our livings from the halal. We need to overcome our inertia and stop putting off till the morrow what we can accomplish today. We need to get up off our behinds and get up on our own two feet. It may seem difficult but in the long run it will be far the most satisfying and relaxing path. It will make us the heroes that this age requires to set it back on the straight and narrow, for that is how Sufyan ath-Thawri described such people when he said,

عليك بعمل الأبطال، الكسب من الحلال، والإنفاق على العيال

“Do deeds that make you heroes – earning your living from what is halal and spending out on your dependents.” And that kasb bil-halaal will only be accomplished with the restoration of lawful and equitable trade. We must act to do this now, for the longer we put it off, the harder it will become. And once you get in the habit of putting something off, it becomes self-perpetuating. You spend your whole life putting that thing off until suddenly your life is spent and there is no longer time or opportunity for you to do it, and your whole life has been wasted. What you can do tomorrow, you can always do today. Ibn Umar used to say,

إذا أمسيتَ فلا تنتظرُ الصباح، وإذا أصبحتَ فلا تنتظرُ المساء، وخذ من صحتِك لمرضِك ، ومن حياتِك لموتك

  “When it is evening, do not await the morning, and when it is morning, do not await the evening. Take from your health for when you will be ill, and take from your life for when you will be dead.” The best time to act is the here and now, because you never know what impediments might prevent you from acting in the future.
For many, this laziness, this inertia, in their day-to-day lives is hard to overcome, so the best place to start is with your ibadat. If you can be constant in your prayer and maintain its times, then you have taken a major step to ridding yourself of this debilitating disease. The Prophet said,

يعقد الشيطان على قافية أحدكم إذا هو نام ثلاث عقد، يضرب على كل عقدة: عليك ليل طويل فارقد، فإن استيقظ فذكر الله انحلت عُقَدُة، وإن توضأ انحلت عقدة، وإن صلى انحلت عقده، فأصبح نشيطًا طيب النفس، وإلا أصبح خبيث النفس كسلان

“Shaytan ties three knots around the neck of each of you as you sleep, and seals each knot with the words, ‘You have a long night ahead so sleep soundly.” If you wake up and remember Allah, one of the knots is untied, if you do wudu the second knot is untied, and if you do the prayer, the third knot is untied, and so you wake up full of energy and in high spirits. But if you do not do that, then you wake up lazy and in low spirits.” So we ask Allah to make us constant in our prayers, and especially in our Fajr, and thereby enable us to break the shackles of laziness and inaction.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله العظيم لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو التوّابُ 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. 

There is another cause of the laziness and inaction that prevails in much of the Muslim world and that is what might be termed the cult of the Mahdi. Given the recent conflict in Syria and the many natural disasters across the world, some Muslims in recent weeks have once again been making their predictions that the Mahdi is about to come. Now, it is not these predictions that is the is the problem, but rather the attitude that all too often accompanies them, and that is the doctrine of waiting. We are at that point near the end of time where we are too weak and powerless to act and all that remains is to await the coming of the Mahdi and prepare for his arrival. It is hopeless for us to try to make things right, for it is written that he will be the one to do it, not us. 
Firstly, the future is part of the Unseen and thus what is known only to Allah. We are not the first to think the end of days are upon us – it has happened at various points throughout the course of history and the world continued. And the scholars who predicted it in those days had even greater knowledge than the scholars making those predictions in the present day. You cannot base your deen on what might be, only on what is.
Secondly, it is not an obligation of our deen anyway to believe in the Mahdi, although the weight of evidence does indicate that there will be such a man. But he will not be a Prophet and will not bring anything new to our deen, for the deen in its entirety was brought to us by the Messenger of Allah. And there is no aspect of the deen that is dependent upon him or requires his presence before it can be fulfilled properly. There is no part of the deen that cannot be done now. There is no reason and no justification for waiting for him, and so those who say that we should are desperately astray, despite the weak hadith from the books of the Shia that they quote to back themselves up, such as,

أفضل العبادة انتظار الفرج

"The best form of ibada is waiting for relief/salvation." That is nonsense – the best way to go through life is in the belief that each moment you live could be your last. We continue to act and obey our Lord to the highest extent of our abilities until the very moment He takes us back to Him.
The Hour must not find us idle and waiting for some saviour to come and change our situation but rather it must find us doing everything we can to establish the deen of Allah. We are people of action not people of waiting. As Imam al-Junaid said, 
“Islam is a struggle without a truce.” In other words, the struggle will continue unabated until the yawm al-Qiyamah, until this world comes to an end. The Prophet said,

إن قامت الساعة وبيد أحدكم فسيلة فليغرسها 

“If the Hour comes and finds a sapling in your hand, you should continue to plant it.” If you see any signs of the imminence of the Hour, then do not speak of them and hang your hopes on the coming of a saviour to extricate you from your difficulties, but rather redouble your efforts, because your moments may be running out. There will never be a time when all is hopeless and lost, there will always be a group who struggle in the way of Allah. And if indeed the Mahdi does come, then it will be those who gather round his banner and flock to his side. We ask Allah to make us of those people, people whose struggle in the way of Allah never ceases and whose moments are filled in His service.

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.