Khutba on Time
الحمد لله، الحمد لله الذي اقتضت حكمتُه أن يفضِّلَ 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.
Allah has given us a wonderful precious gift and yet many of us treat it with disdain and do not realise its value or importance. He reminds us again and again of that gift and yet we pay little heed. He tells us again and again how it may be best employed and yet we waste and squander it. That gift is time – the moments, the hours, the days, the years which make up our lives. It is something that all too many of us take for granted and so fail to realise its value or recognise how important it is to make good use of it and not let it go to waste.
The valuable nature of time is clear from the Qur’an, for it is one of those things by which Allah Himself swears. Allah says:
“والعصر إن الإنسان لفي خسر”
the translation of which is, “By the late afternoon, truly man is in loss.”
“والليل إذا يغشى والنهار إذا تجلى”
the translation of which is, “By the night when it conceals and the day when it reveals.”
“والفجر وليال عشر”
the translation of which is, “By the dawn and ten nights.”
When Allah makes an oath by something, He does so to draw the attention of the listener to that thing’s importance, and to get him to reflect on it. Allah does not swear by a thing lightly, so the very fact that time in its various aspects is the subject of Allah’s oaths highlights its significance to ourselves in how we conduct our daily lives.
The Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and his Companions also confirms the importance of time for a human being.
عن معاذ بن جبل رضي الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " لن تزول قدما عبد يوم القيامة حتى يسأل عن أربع: عن عمره فيما أفناه وعن شبابه فيما أبلاه وعن ماله من أين اكتسبه وفيما أنفقه وعن علمه ماذا عمل به ؟ "
Mu‘adh ibn Jabal narrated that the Messenger of Allah said, “A slave of Allah will remain standing on the Day of Rising until he is asked about four things: his lifetime and how he spent it; his youth and how he used it up; his wealth and how he acquired and spent it; and his knowledge and how he made use of it.”
عن ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما كان يقول : “إذا أمسيتَ فلا تنتظرُ الصباح ، وإذا أصبحتَ فلا تنتظرُ المساء ، وخذ من صحتِك لمرضِك ، ومن حياتِك لموتك”
Ibn Umar is narrated as having said, “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.’” In other words, ‘take advantage of the time you are living now and don’t put things off to the future.
Some of the men of knowledge went even further to illustrate the tremendous importance of time, saying that . Al-Hasan al-Basri, the great tabi’i and man of Allah, said,
يا ابنَ آدم، إنما أنتَ أيَّامٌ مجموعةٌ، كلَّمَا ذَهَبَ يومٌ ذهب بعضُكَ
“Son of Adam, you are nothing but a collection of days – every time a day passes, a bit of you goes with it.” And those days and moments from which we are composed are not infinite. There are only a limited number of them available to us and so we cannot afford to let a single one pass us by empty and unfulfilled. Every moment that passes is gone and can never be brought back. Another saying of al-Hasan al-Basri shows this even more clearly:
ما من يوم ينشقُّ فجرُه، إلا وينادِي: يا ابنَ آدم، أنا خلقٌ جديد، وعلى عملِك شهيد، فتزوَّدْ مني، فإني إذا مضيتُ لا أعودُ حتى يومِ القيامة.
“There is no day that dawns except that it calls out: ‘O son of Adam! I am a new creation and a witness to your deeds. So take provision from me now because when I have gone, I will not come back again until the Day of Rising.’” And who knows how many more such days you will have in the future. For there is not one of us who can say with certainty that he will be here tomorrow, let alone next year. No human being knows when and where he will die – that knowledge is Allah’s and Allah’s alone. Allah says:
وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ
the translation of which is, “And no self knows what it will earn tomorrow and no self knows in what land it will die. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.”
The Romans had a saying: ‘Carpe Diem’ ‘seize the day’. We say ‘seize the moment!’ – do not let even a single second pass you by without your taking full advantage of it. Think back to when you sat your exams at school or university. Think of that sense of urgency and immediacy you felt throughout every moment of your sitting there, think of your attempt to fill every minute constructively and to not waste even a single moment. Our life here in this dunya is itself nothing more than an exam – Allah tests us and we either pass or we fail – and then our results are revealed to us in our books on the Last Day. But this exam is not just for some job or piece of paper, no, it is for our ‘fate eternal’, it is for our Afterlife in the permanent domain. And there are no resits – once you have finished that exam, that is it. There are no second chances. So if we show such urgency over something whose outcome is of so little consequence, then how much urgency should we show in the time we spend for the greatest outcome that man may hope for?
عن معاذ ابن جبل رضي الله عنه قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "ماتحسر اهل الجنة على شيء كما تحسروا على ساعة لم يذكرو الله فيها”
Muadh ibn Jabal narrated that the Prophet said, “ There is nothing that the people of the garden will regret more than the time they wasted not saying dhikruAllah.”
The best way of filling our time, ‘the correct answers for the exam’, are many but they all revolve around one element: dhikruAllah – remembering Allah in all things and working towards the Akhirah. This does not mean not working, not eating and not sleeping, but does mean doing them all for the sake of Allah, doing them in His name and to gain His pleasure. It does mean ensuring all those things are correct and in accordance with the Quran and sunnah. It does mean making use of every moment of our time and not ‘killing time’ or wasting it doing nothing. If you find yourself with free time, then realise it for the blessing that it is and make full use of it.
وعن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم: "نِعمتان مغبونٌ فيهما كثيرٌ من الناسِ: الصِّحَّةُ وَالْفَرَاغ"
It is narrated by Ibn Abbas that the Prophet said, “There are two of Allah’s blessings that many people take for granted: health and free time.”
Umar ibn al-Khattab said,
“حَاسِبْ نَفْسَكَ قَبْلَ أَن تُحَاسَبَ”
“Take yourself to account before you are taken to account.” It is important to take time at the end of each day to assess for yourself how well you are making use of your time and then use that information to help you manage and organise your time more efficiently for the next day. Allah Himself stresses this when He says:
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ، وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ، إِنَّ اللهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ، وَلاَ تَكُونُوا كَالذِينَ نَسُوا اللهَ فَأَنساهُمُ أَنفُسَهُم، أُوْلئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ
the translation of which is, “ You who believe! Have taqwa of Allah and let each self look to what it has sent forward for tomorrow. Have taqwa of Allah. Allah is aware of what you do. Do not be like those who forget Allah so He made them forget themselves.”
And indeed Allah helps us to organise our day and always be aware of the time as it passes by giving each of the acts of worship set times at which they must be done.
So do not delay. Do it now – do not put it off until tomorrow. Do not allow any more moments to be wasted. Time passes quickly and when it is gone it is gone – it is not for nothing that we say ‘time flies’. Do not allow yourself to become one of those people described by Allah, who upon their death beds say:
رَبِّ لَوْلاَ أَخَّرْتَنِي إِلَى أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِنَ الصَّالِحِين
the translation of which is, “My Lord, if only you would give me a little more time so that I can give sadaqah and be one of the right-acting.” Their du‘as are too late. Allah says:
وَلَنْ يُؤَخِّرُ الله نَفْساً اذَا جَاءَ اجَلُهَا، واللهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
the translation of which is, “Allah will not give anyone more time, once their time has come. Allah is aware of what you do.”
Rather become one of those who, when they come to their deathbeds, have no fear and no regrets, having recognised the value of their time and made use of it. Become one of those about whom Allah says:
لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ.
the translation of which is, “They will feel no fear and know no sorrow.”
May Allah teach us the true value of time and may He give us all the strength and knowledge to make best use of it.
أقول قولي هذا و أستغفر الله العظيم لي و لكم و لسائر المسلمين من كل ذنب فاستغفروه إنه هو التوّابُ الرَّحيمالحمد لله الحمد لله رب العالمين، وأشهد أن لا إله أن لا إله إلا الله وليُّ الصالحين، والعاقبة للمتقين، ولا عدوانَ إلا على الظالمين، والصلاةُ والسلام الأتِمَّانِ الأَكملَانِ على أشرفِ الأنبياءِ وإمامِ المرسلين، وعلى آله وصحابتِهِ أجمعين، والتابعين 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.
The pull of the dunya is strong and distractions abound. Everywhere we look we are distracted and pulled away from the task for which we were created, to know and worship our Lord. In such a world of distractions it is difficult to maintain this awareness of time and its value. Events happen and we forget. Mankind is forgetful and weak. Allah says:
وَخُلِقَ الْإِنْسَانُ ضَعِيفًا
the translation of which is, “Man was created weak.“ And that is why He, in His infinite Mercy, has seen fit to remind us on a constant basis of the importance of time in relation to the Deen. Allah has structured the Deen, and in particular, the ‘ibadaat, the acts of worship, in such a say that we must remain aware of time and cannot forget it. Each act of worship is assigned its own specific time – the five prayers throughout the day and night, the Jumu‘a once a week, the zakat on wealth after the passing of a full year and Ramadan and Hajj at their designated points during the year. And more than that, Allah grants us times throughout the day, week, month and year when the reward for acts of worship is greater than normal and du‘as are more likely to be answered.
Some of these times are kept hidden, such as that of the saa‘at al-istijaaba – the time when all du‘as are answered – on the day of Jumu‘a and the laylat al-qadr – the night of power – in Ramadan. And the wisdom in those times being kept hidden is that it causes us to fill all of our times with dhikr and du‘a in order to guarantee that they coincide with those particular times.
Others of these times are made known to us, such as the last third of the night, the laylat al-bara‘a and the four Sacred Months. And the wisdom in those times being made known to us is that it gives us a timely reminder and causes us to refocus our efforts and renew our intention.
Today is the third of Rajab. And Rajab is one of the four months that Allah has declared sacred and the start of a section of the year that is very special indeed, for Rajab is followed by Sha‘ban, the month most beloved by the Prophet for supererogatory fasting, and then by Ramadan. Imam as-Suyuti transmitted that the Prophet said,
“رجبُ شهرُ الله وشعبانُ شهري ورمضانُ شهر أمّتي”
‘Rajab is the month of Allah, Sha‘ban is my month and Ramadan is the month of my Ummah.’ Rajab has also been referred to by some ulama as the month of istighfaar, seeking forgiveness. There are a large number of hadiths that highlight the excellence and reward for fasting in this month and filling it with other acts of worship. For example, at-Tabarani narrates that the Prophet said,
“رجب شهر عظيم يضاعِفُ اللهُ فيه الحسناتِ، فمن صام يوما من رجبَ فكأنما صام سنةً…الحديث”
“Rajab is an immense month in which Allah multiplies the reward for good actions. If anyone fasts one day of Rajab, it will be as if he has fasted a year…” and the hadith goes on to ennumerate the rewards of fasting certain numbers of days during the month. Now, there is considerable disagreement among the scholars regarding the veracity of this hadith and those like it, but the fact remains that many of the sahaba and the men of Allah acted by them. And there is no disagreement that Rajab is an important month in the year. Firstly, within it falls the night upon which the Messenger of Allah was taken on his journey to Jerusalem and then through the seven heavens to the Lote tree of Furthest Limit and beyond – the night of Isra and Mi’raj. Secondly, when the Prophet explained why he fasted so much in Sha‘ban, he said ‘This is a month to which people do not pay attention, between Rajab and Ramadan’, mentioning Rajab in the same breath as Ramadan and acknowledging that it was accepted as being important. And thirdly, there is the fact that it is, as I mentioned earlier, one of the four sacred months which Allah refers to in the Qur’an when He says:
إِنَّ عِدَّةَ الشُّهُورِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ اثْنَا عَشَرَ شَهْرًا فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ مِنْهَا أَرْبَعَةٌ حُرُمٌ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ فَلَا تَظْلِمُوا فِيهِنَّ أَنْفُسَكُمْ
the translation of which is, “There have been twelve months with Allah in the Book of Allah, from the day He first created the heavens and earth. Four of them are haram (sacred). That is the true deen. So do not wrong one another during them” These months have a special status with Allah and so the reward for good deeds and punishment for bad deeds are magnified during them, as is attested to by Ibn Abbas in his tafsir on Allah’s Words, “So do not wrong one another during them.” And fasting is recommended for all of them, as is attested to by any book of fiqh you care to look at.
So, during this month, you should redouble your efforts to perform ‘ibadat, with specific emphasis on fasting, seeking forgiveness and standing the night in prayer, and take extra care to not fall into any wrong action. And by taking full advantage of the opportunities and times during these months, Allah will make it easier for you to derive benefit from your time throughout the rest of the year. Every reward is magnified in this month of Rajab so take full advantage while it lasts! O Allah, we ask You to protect us from our laziness, listlessness and incapacity. We ask You to make us people who live in the now, people who do not let even one moment go to waste, people who take advantage of the times when they present themselves. O Allah, make this a month of increase and forgiveness for all of us and keep us from what is haram and displeases You.
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 المرشدين الحنفاء ساداتنا وأئمتنا أبي بكر وعمر وعثمان وعلي ، وعن سائر الصحابة أجمعين، خصوصاالأنصار منهم والمهاجرين، وعن التابعين وتابعي التابعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين.
اللهم اهد أولات أمور المسلمين لما يرضيك ولاتباع سنة نبيك وثبت أقدامهم على الصراط المستقيم وأصلحهم يا رب العالمين.
اللهم بارك على شيخنا و على أميرنا رميز وعلى جميع أمراء 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. ربنا ءاتنا من لدنك رحمة و هيئ لنا من أمرنا رشدا. ربنا هب لنا من أزواجنا وذريتنا قرة أعين واجعلنا للمتقين إماما.
ربنا اغفر لنا ذنوبنا وإِسرافنا في أمرِنا وثبت أقدامنا وانصرنا على القوم الكافرِينَ.
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