Originally published April of 2020.
Bismallah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim. Greetings again, my beloved comrades and siblings. I am blessed once again to present another khutbah for your reflection today. Inshallah you and your loved ones continue to remain healthy in body and in spirit throughout this crisis. If you or your loved ones have fallen ill, inshallah you will be returned to health. May Allah find favor with those righteous ones among our beloved family and friends who have returned to him.
[I will begin today with a brief excerpt from the Qur’an, followed by a short hadith. You will find the source information for all materials in the written transcript of this khutbah.]
87:9 So remind if a reminder profited them.
87:10 Whoever dreads God will recollect,
87:11 but the disappointed will scorn it -
87: 12 even he who will roast in the great fire,
87:13 again, neither dying in it nor living.
87:14 He, surely prospered, he who purified himself,
87:15 and remembered the Name of his Lord and invoked blessings.
87:16 Nay! You hold this present life in greater favor,
87:17 yet the world to come is better, and one that endures.
Abu Huraira reported: the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him said, “I do not fear poverty for you, rather I fear you will compete for riches. I do not fear for your mistakes, rather I fear for what you do on purpose.” Source: Musnad Ahmad 8015 15/214.
We are blessed that Ramadan is now upon us. As we are reminded in the Qu’ran (2:185) Ramadan is the month in which “the Qur’an was caused to descend - a guidance for humanity - and clear portents of the guidance, and the Critereon between right and wrong”
How sadly appropriate that we see such a stark contrast between right and wrong as we begin Ramadan. During this phase of the covid-19 crisis, the intentions and values of both ourselves, and others become remarkably clear. Many times in the Qur’an we are asked to reflect upon the differentiation between those who value earthly possessions of this world above all else and those who value obedience and reunion with Allah above all else (9:24, 9:109, 14:3; 11:15-16).
Those who value wealth above all else and harm others in its pursuit are described as building their “structure” on the “brink of a crumbling, tottering bank of a river so that it tumbled with him into the fire of hell”. So many of our world leaders in this age of imperialism instruct their people to build their value structures on such perilous ground, all the while misleading them through false professions of religiosity.
We must invite those in our communities to instead consider the life- and freedom-affirming message of Allah. The messengers to the people of Noah shared this message, asking their heedless kinfolk “Is there any uncertainty about God? One Who is Originator of the heavens and the earth?... And in God, let the ones who believe put their trust. And why should we not put our trust in God while, surely, He guided us to our ways?... (excerpt from: 14:10-12).
Certainty in anything but Allah is an illusion. As believers we are invited to such certainty through concrete signs which are outlined in the Qur’an - signs of the immeasurable power of Allah that are observable throughout our lives (13:2). However, our modern imperialist world has shifted its priorities in such a way that man-made fictions, like “the market” and “the economy” are now what people have been taught to rely upon and value above all else. Much of the industrialized world flounders in an amnesiatic state of ignorance, a new jahiliyyah in which truth is actively suppressed and lies are upheld as foundations of modern society.
The illusionary aspects of materialism and its inevitable capitulation to the ultimate power of Allah is illustrated in the Qur’an:
13:4 And in the earth there are strips, that which neighbor one another and gardens of grapevines and plowed lands and date palm trees coming from the same root and not coming from the same root that are given to drink from one water. And We give advantage to some of them over some others in produce. Truly, in these things there are signs for a folk who are reasonable.
As much as humanity, and particularly rich oligarchs, equate control over the means of worldly production with absolute power, the two cannot be compared.. Allah ultimately controls what and who thrives, and what and whom withers, despite our false sense of control (13:26). Yet many persist in their willful delusions, and continue to try to spread lie to support this delusion. One of the most harmful of these lies is the commodification of human life - a form of materialism which elevates the value of products and excess consumption above the rights, and even lives, of Allah’s creations.
Is it any surprise then that many of the most corrupt public figures operating on the political and economic stage today are calling for a premature end to stay-at-home measures in order to save “the economy”? Such individuals have gone as far as to state that elders should in effort be sacrificed for the sake of “market recovery”.Some have even stated that “there are things which are more important than living”. Those who now devalue life are often the same figures who previously invoked the “right to life” in order to justify gender oppression. Of course, this is because imperialists have no use for human life (or animal life) beyond its labor or similar commodification. They worship material wealth, and serve the interest of expanding that wealth, rather than serve Allah.By contrast, the Qur’an forbids us to ever sacrifice life for material gain, even in the most dire of circumstances (17:31).
It is important, above all else, to remember that our provision can be found through the grace and mercy of Allah alone, and that our enjoyments of material excesses of this world are fleeting (13:26). That does not mean that we should not strive for our sustenance or betterment, but instead align such striving with the message and will of Allah.
Our creator wishes for us to preserve human life whenever possible (4:93, 5:32 17:33), and not throw it away as the false masters who spread corruption on this earth desire. Allah is the ultimate bestower of life and death, both here and in the hereafter (2:260, 6:60, 13:2, 53:42-47) and we do not have the right to elevate ourselves into that role (17:33, 7:187), particularly in the pursuit of worldly riches (4: 94, 8:36, 9:107-108, 2:261). The pitfall of materialistic greed and envy caused even believers in the early ummah to stumble, such as at the Battle of Uhud, where some disobeyed Allah’s commands for the sake of material gain, causing a grievous loss of life in the process.. As Allah is merciful, these believers were shown a path to reconciliation (3:152, 3:172) which we too should seek as we invariably stumble.
In such situations, if we find that we too have “mixed actions”, and have committed “impieties” alongside moral behavior, acknowledgement and repentance opens the door to the possibility of mercy (8:38-40, 9:102). Allah knows and values the intention of our hearts even if we have made a mistake, have been misled, or forced into error (2:235; 5:3, 24:33). Allah is the most forgiving and compassionate. We must remember that condemning ourselves should not be the focus, and is that such judgment is the role of Allah alone. Rather, we should seek Allah’s mercy and forgiveness.
It is all too easy to be misled in this world, particularly when we are suffering. As the Qur’an teaches us: “Satan threatens you with poverty and commands you to depravity, whereas Allah promises His forgiveness from Himself and His Grace.” (2:268).
Satan, and those false masters who serve his cause, often manipulate our suffering and fear to persuade us to obey them instead of Allah (3:175). We must always be mindful to reorient ourselves back to Allah through actions, intentions and values of righteousness. We should not follow the imperialist model of cheapening human life and wasting it for profit, but rather we should put our trust in Allah for our provision (18:28, 23:71-72). Let us seek our betterment “not in falsehood” or with fatal results for ourselves (9:49-50), but in honest and righteous ways in-line with Allah’s message (4:29).
We will now conclude with a hadith, and finally again the Qur’an:
Narrated Haritha bin Wahb al-Khuzai: I heard the Prophet (saw) saying: ‘May I tell you of the people of Paradise? Every weak and poor obscure person whom the people look down upon but if he takes an oath to do something, his oath is fulfilled by Allah. And may I inform you of the people of the Hell-fire? They are all those violent, arrogant and stubborn people’ (Bukhari, B58, C 74, H 1794 as cited by Therapy from the Qur’an and Ahadith by Dr. Feryad A. Hussain, 2011).
30:39 And what you gave in usury in order that it swell the wealth of humanity swells not with God. And what you gave in purifying alms, wanting the Countenance of God, then, those, they are the ones who will receive manifold.
30:40 God is He Who created you. Again, He provided for you, and again, He will cause you to die. Again, He will give you life. Is there among your ascribed associates with Him who accomplish anything of that? Glory be to Him! Exalted is He above partners they ascribe!
30:41 Corruption was manifested on the dry land and the sea because of what the hands of humanity earn. He causes them to experience some of what they did, so that perhaps they will return repentant.
30:42 Say: Journey through the earth; then look how had been the Ultimate End of those who were before. Most of them had been ones who are polytheists.
30:43 So set your face to the truth-loving way of life before that Day approaches from God and there is no turning back. They will be split up on that Day.
30:44 Whoever was ungrateful, his ingratitude is on him. Whoever did as one in accord with morality will be arranging provision for themselves.
30:45 And He gives recompense to those who believe and did as the ones in accord with morality from His grace.
Note: All Qur’an references from The Sublime Quran English Translation, Revised Edition. Translated by Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar
