Khutba on Travel

الحَمْدُ للهِ، الحَمْدُ للهِ الذي جعل في السفر فوائد عديدة، من حفظ صحته وتقربه إلى ربه وتطهره من أخلاق رديئة. نَحْمَدُهُ تعالى ونستعينه، ونشكره تعالى ونستغفره ونستغيثه، نعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا، مَنْ يَهْدِ اللهُ فلا مضل له، ومَنْ يُضلِلْ فَلاَ هَادِيَ لَهُ، ونَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ  وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيكَ لَهُ، له الملك وله الحمد، يحيي ويميت، بيده الخير، وهو على كل شيء قدير، ونشْهَدُ أَنَّ سَيِّدَنَا ومولانا مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُه وَرَسُولُهُ، وحبيبه وصفيه، بلغ الرسالة وأدّى الأمانة ونصح الأمّة، النبي الأمي الذي أرسله الله بالهدى والدين الحقّ، بشيرا ونذيرا بين يدي الساعة، صلى الله عليه وسلم وعَلَى آلِهِ وأَصْحابِهِ ومَنْ تَبِعَهم بإِحْسانٍ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّيْنِ.  أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَيَا عِبَادَ اللهِ اتقوا الله حق تقاته ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون، يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا، يُصْلِحْ لَكُم أَعْمَالَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَمَنْ يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا، يا أيها المسلمون اتقوا الله فيما أوصى وأمر، وانتهوا عما نها عنه وزجر.

Last week’s talk about hijra brings to a very important topic and that is travel. The human being was not created to remain still, to remain static, and there is little more detrimental to his well-being. We are like water, the longer it stays in one place, the more murky and bitter it becomes, but the longer and faster it flows, the sweeter and clearer it becomes. The Arabs have a saying,

البركاتُ مع الحركات

“Blessings only come through movement.” It is not for nothing that depression is often linked to unemployment or to employment jobs that can be performed equally as well by automatons, for such circumstances seem to effectively put one’s life on hold. And the risks are not just to mental health, but also to physical and spiritual. In a study published a couple of years ago, researchers stated that sitting for long periods of time increased the risk of diabetes, heart disease and death. We are, by nature, creatures of movement, our whole lives from birth until death are journeys, and the paths that we take determine the destination that we reach. It is not for nothing that this deen is referred to in various places as the sirat al-mustaqim/ the straight path, and the tariq al-huda/ the road of guidance. 
From all of this, you should learn and understand that the journey itself, how you get there and what you do on the way, is as, if not more, important than the destination itself. In fact, it determines the destination and makes one worthy of reaching it. It enables one to enter the gates at the end of the road. This life, as well as being a test, is a preparation, a crucible burning away all the waste and impurity and leaving behind only pure gold.
It is part of our Lord’s sunna, and part of His wisdom, that much of what is worthwhile in this life takes time, and requires us to work at it. Things don’t happen overnight, no matter how much we wish they might. It took 22 years for the full Quran to be revealed and for Islam to be made complete, something Allah could have accomplished in a single instant. But if He had done so, the lessons of that period would not have been learnt, the character needed to protect and uphold it in the face of the opposition to it following the death of the Prophet, and indeed during the course of his life, would not have been forged. Struggle is its own blessing. And the same was true for most of the major rulings of the deen, they were revealed over time and in such a ways as to make it easier for the Muslims to accept and implement them. And we would do well to remember that in our own lives. We must never lose hope when things appear to not be happening as quickly as we wish, when our duas take time to be answered, for the work that we do, the miles that we travel, the hours, and indeed the days, months and years, that we spend towards the realisation of that goal are an essential part of the answering of that dua. If you want to establish something that lasts, you need to put in the hard yards. What comes quickly often goes equally quickly, or destroys the equilibrium of our lives. We do not know how to deal with the new circumstances and they overwhelm us. Look at lottery winners or those who become famous overnight – their lives often become a complete mess and disaster. So, instead of bemoaning lack of results, leave the results to the One who brings them about and get on with the work. And do not let the trials and difficulties get you down but recognise them for the precursor that they are. They are the sign that ease, that great success, is on the horizon. Allah says,

إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا

the translation of which is, “With difficulty comes ease. With difficulty comes ease. And the greater the difficulty, the greater the ease that will follow. This is tried and tested. Great artists are often forged by personal tragedy, great athletes by hours of painful and tedious training. And it applies even more with the deen, for there is nothing more worthwhile in this life. Allah says,

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آَمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ

the translation of which is, “Does mankind truly think that he will be left to say, We believe’, and not be tested?” Can you excel, can you do the work that your Lord requires of you if you have not been shaped and tempered along the way? These difficulties, these tests, these long periods of time that pass with seemingly no progress, are the filter that ensures that only the truly capable and the truly sincere remain, the true jama’a, brothers and sisters whose hearts have been welded together by the long, arduous journey they have taken in each other’s company where they had to rely on one another and trust in one another to survive. Look at the example of the first community – they suffered for years at the hands of Quraysh, ridicule, persecution and boycott, even torture and murder, but then Allah sent the Ansar to give them a way out and a way forward: hijra. And, in a few short years, that small persecuted group had control of the entire Arabian peninsula and had defeated the two major empires of the day, the Persians and the Byzantines. Ease had truly followed on from difficulty, and it will too for us, but at a time of Allah’s choosing, not ours, at a time when success will be guaranteed, not merely hoped for. That time is coming, no doubt. Allah says, 

لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ

the translation of which is, “Do not despair of the Mercy of Allah.”

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.

A khutba about travel would not be complete without making some mention of travel in the most literal sense of the word, that is going from A to B. And, indeed, it fits into the wider theme most aptly, for each individual journey is a microcosm of life, just as life is a macrocosm of a journey. The Messenger of Allah, said,

السفرُ قطعةٌ من العذاب،

“Travel is a form of punishment.” It is one of the most taxing things anyone can do, for it takes the human being out of his comfort zone, out of the realm of the familiar into the realm of the unfamiliar and unknown, and exposes him to risk and danger far greater than that ordinarily experienced by him on a day-to-day basis. It shapes, tempers and reveals. It is not for nothing that the Arabic word for travel is safar, a word whose root meaning is ‘to unveil’. Travel reveals a person’s true reality to himself, he learns who he is and what he is capable of, and reveals it to his companions, so that they can come to see and know who it is they are dealing with and what his true strengths and weaknesses are, knowledge that is important in the establishment and running of any successful society, and implementation of justice. When a man came to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab in order to vouch for a witness’s integrity, ‘Umar asked him,

هل صحِبتَه في السفرِ الذي يُستَدلُّ به على مكارمِ أخلاقِه

“Have you accompanied him on a journey by means of which you have come to know that he is of good character.” When the man replied that he had not, Umar said to him, “Then it seems to me that you do not know him at all.” Travel does not just reveal, it creates and endows. The Arabs say, 

ما اكتُسبت العلومُ والآدابُ والأخلاقُ إلا بالسفر

“Knowledge, adab and the good qualities of character cannot be obtained except through travel.” 
It reminds and removes distraction, and that is why Allah instructs us throughout the Quran to go about the earth and reflect. Allah says,

أَوَلَمْ يَسيرُواْ فِي ٱلأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ

the translation of which is, “Have they not travelled in the earth and seen the final fate of those before them?”
It brings one closer to Allah, for certain things that He loves, such as jihad in His way, and certain things that He commands, such as Hajj, could not be carried out without travel. This, of course, only applies when the intention behind travelling is for Allah. No benefit was ever accrued with a false intention – you get what you aim for as the Prophet said in the hadith about niyya. In a famous hadith of the Prophet, an angel stopped a traveller on the road and asked him where he was going. He replied, “To visit a fellow Muslim,” and when asked why, he replied it was because he loved him for the sake of Allah. So the angel said to him,

فإني رسولُ اللهِ إليك بأنَّ اللهَ قَد أحبَّكَ كما أحببت فيه

“I am a messenger from Allah and I have come to tell you that Allah loves you as you love your fellow Muslim for His sake.” 
It increases one in knowledge of both Creator and created. The signs of Allah, especially the reality of provision, are often more visible on the road than in the home, and the people of knowledge are often in far off lands and places. In a statement often attributed to the Prophet, it says, 

اطلب العلم ولو بالصين

“Seek knowledge even in China.” Some of the great ulama of the past would often embark on month-long journeys, putting their life and health in grave danger, in order to hear a single hadith or acquire a single ruling.
It creates wealth, and distributes it, thus keeping society healthy, for money is the lifeblood of any society, and the more it circulates, the more vigourous and robust the community. It is not merely a coincidence that nine of the ten Companions promised the garden were wealthy traders or that the Prophet spent many of his early years, on trading journeys or going out to guard the flocks. The fitra ways of earning a living, whether through hunting, gathering or forming trading caravans always involved travel and not merely sitting in the same place. And if we want to bring wealth and health back to our communities, that is what we must do.
With the correct intention, earning one’s livelihood can be as much an act of worship as any other act of obedience, and fulfils one of the essential purposes of the deen which is to bring benefit to the slaves of Allah. So get up and travel in the way of Allah. Seek out His blessings wherever they are, and restore health to yourself and your community. 
And never forget the larger journey – your passage through life. Plan your life with the meticulousness that you would any other trip. The Prophet said,

كن في الدنيا كأنك غريبٌ أو عابرُ سبيل

“Be in this world as if you are a stranger or a passing traveller.” Choose you path carefully, making sure it is the same straight one travelled by the Prophet and our predecessors, and put the appropriate items and provisions in your pack, the chief one of which is taqwa. Allah says, 

فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى

the translation of which is, “the best provision is taqwa of Allah.” Thus will we survive the journey and reach the desired destination. We ask Allah to place us amongst the ranks of the muttaqin, those whom He guides safely along His sirat al-mustaqim, the path of those whom He has blessed, not those with whom He is angry nor those who are  misguided. And give success to all of our efforts and all of our journeys throughout the course of our lives.

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.