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- Friday Sermons
First Khutba:
Dear brother, pilgrims are in Arafat and Al-Hajj is Arafat As the messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, Abd Al-Rahman bin Ya’mur reported that some people came to the messenger of Allah (PBUH) and asked him about Al-hajj, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:
(Al-Hajj is Arafah and those who have stood at ‘Arafah before dawn will have performed (the rituals of the Hajj).
Arafah is the day biggest meeting of the servant and his Lord, the connection between the heaven and earth, the day of the reconciliation with Almighty Allah , the day of drawing near to Him , the day of fulfilling the promise of doing what Allah ordained and avoiding what He prohibitedDear brother, Almighty Allah said;
{And (remember) when We made the House (the Ka'bah at Mecca) a place of resort for mankind and a place of safety.}
This means that Allah says to His messenger: O Mohammad, remember the house which Allah established as His House. Allah established a House for Himself and ordered us to visit it, why? Almighty Allah is everywhere, the place is some of His creatures, why did He establish a house on earth for Him? And ordained us to visit? Almighty said;{And (remember) when We made the House (the Ka'bah at Mecca) a place of resort for mankind and a place of safety.}
Why does Allah call it a house? Why do you-dear brother-have a house? What do you do in your house? You come back home from work and you are tired physically and psychologically , in your house you rest and you repose , Almighty Allah called it repose and called the wife repose Almighty said;{ And among His Signs is this, that He created for you wives from among yourselves, that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed signs for a people who reflect.}
At home, you rest from your fatigue partially but the fatigue of life, the burdens of sorrows and anxiety, the feelings of desolation of being away from Allah, the pressure of the cost of living, the pain of polytheism and the pains caused by the weakness of faith, the pains caused by lack of knowledge, or by disobedience to Allah and not complying with His Method, what house should we go in order to rest from all these worries and pains? We should head to the holy house. Allah called it a house because the human reposes and rests there, ask one of the honest pilgrims performing pilgrimage honestly, the honest pilgrim in the holy house feels that all his problems and burdens are removed. Allah either takes those issues away or He fulfills them. When Allah ordained us to head to the holy house He asked us to go to Him to get away our burdens, to get rid of the desolation of sins, that is for the one who needs repentance and needs a new covenant with Allah, but when the believer who knows his Lord and obeys Him in his country, heads to the holy house he will raise and ascend from one status to another, from position to another. Allah called the Ka’bah His House, Allah says;{That they should purify My House (the Ka'bah at Makkah) for those who are circumambulating it, or staying (I'tikaf), or bowing or prostrating themselves (there, in prayer).}
And so all problems will be solved and the desolation will be vanished, the desolation will be replaced by cardinality and warmth feelings, the problems and worries will be replaced with success and facilitation granted by AllahDear believing brother, Allah says;
{And (remember) when We made the House (the Ka'bah at Mecca)}
This means that by the Will of Allah and by His Creation and by His Decree He made this place a house for all pilgrims to rest in it. Is there a relief greater than the relief of reconcilement with Allah, is there a relief greater than the relief of resting in your house and is there a relief greater than the relief of having a convent with Allah to obey Him and help His servants.Dear brother, that is the meaning of the holy house, the holy house is like our home in which we have all relief, safety, peace, restfulness, repose, tranquility and calmness
{ And (remember) when We made the House (the Ka'bah at Mecca) a place of resort for mankind and a place of safety. }
“A place of resort for mankind"
means a place to come back to. You either come back to the holy house repenting , you come back to it righteous and making a covenant, or you hope to come back again because of the intensive happiness that you feel there and you say: O Allah, don’t make this trip (to the sacred house) my last trip, why does he say these words? Because he feels proximity to Allah, he feels the tranquility that Allah gives to His believing worshipers, he feels that Allah is content and pleased with him.And so, dear brother, a place of resort means a meeting place or a refuge. It is when you come back to Allah or when you hope to come back to the holy house because of the great happiness that you feel there.
In a Qudis hadith, Allah says:
(("If I have bestowed good health on My servant and provided him with ample sustenance and if after five years he does not come to Me, he would be amiss ".))
{And (remember) when We made the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah) a place of resort for mankind and a place of safety.}
What is the meaning of the word (safety)? In fact, safety is different from security. Safety is when you are safe and nothing bad happens to you, but security is when you feel secure and you don’t even expect something bad to happen. There is a great difference between the two{And how should I fear those whom you associate in worship with Allah (though they can neither benefit nor harm), while you fear not that you have joined in worship with Allah things for which He has not sent down to you any authority. (So) which of the two parties has more right to be in security? If you but know." It is those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah and worship none but Him Alone) and confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong i.e. by worshipping sh3er besides Allah), for them (only) there is security and they are the guided.}’
When man has a close relationship with a strong and important person in his country, why does he feel secure? That feeling is deceptive soothing feeling, based on polytheism, but these are the rules of the self. If it feels that a strong and important man loves it, cares about it and protects it, it feels secure and safe, there is no greater security than the feeling that the Creator of the heavens and earth is pleased and content with you, there is no greater feelings than the feeling that the One who has control of everything loves you and cares about you, there is no greater feelings than the feeling of the companions of the prophet when Allah said;{Indeed, Allah was pleased with the believers when they gave their Bai'a (pledge) to you (O Muhammad) under the tree, He knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down As-Sakinah (calmness and tranquillity) upon them, and He rewarded them with a near victory,}
If there is a strong person who loves you, cares about you, defends you and he spares no efforts to save you from any problem, he is a human being who dies and who is weak in nature, yet he gives you false sense of security and safety, what does Allah the Creator of the heavens and earth grant you, Almighty Allah who has control over everything, He is the creator of everything, and He is Able to do all things.{Whatever of mercy ( good), Allah may grant to mankind, none can withhold it, and whatever He may withhold, none can grant it thereafter. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.}
In the heart of the faithful righteous believer;{(So) which of the two parties has more right to be in security? If you but know." It is those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah and worship none but Him Alone) and confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong i.e. by worshipping sh3er besides Allah), for them (only) there is security and they are the guided.}’
“And confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong)”; the word zulm here comes as indefinite, this means that it maybe any kind of wrong doing or injustice, if you did wrong an ant you will lose the sense of security, if you wrong a wife , a son or an employee , if you wrong any person you will lose the sense of security. Allah said ;{(So) which of the two parties has more right to be in security? If you but know." It is those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah and worship none but Him Alone) and confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong i.e. by worshipping sh3er besides Allah), for them (only) there is security and they are the guided.}’
If you come to the sacred house repenting, making covenant to obey Allah, there is no greater feeling than feeling secure in the holy house. This feeling expands to your country as long as you keep the covenant you made when you kissed the black stone. It is a pledge between the pilgrim and his Lord. If the tranquility that Allah puts in the heart of the was distributed among a frightened nation their hearts would be full of security.{(So) which of the two parties has more right to be in security? If you but know." It is those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah and worship none but Him Alone) and confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong i.e. by worshipping sh3er besides Allah), for them (only) there is security and they are the guided.}’
{And (remember) when We made the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah) a place of resort for mankind and a place of safety.}
Some scholars said; this is legislation and legislation means that Allah ordained us to make it secure and safe, it is an order. If the holiness of the sacred house was violated this doesn’t mean that there is something wrong in this ayah. When you see a red sign on the road says; Don’t go through it. That is an order but when you see cement cubes on the road that is prevention, and there is a big difference between the two cases. Making the holy house been secure is an order from Allah, so some people might disobey it:{And (remember) when We made the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah) a place of resort for mankind and a place of safety.}
They make it safe, this means that this holy house should be safe and secure and that is your responsibility{And (remember) when We made the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah) a place of resort for mankind and a place of safety. And take you (people) the Maqam (place) of Ibrahim (Abraham) [or the stone on which Ibrahim (Abraham) stood while he was building the Ka'bah] as a place of prayer (for some of your prayers, e.g. two Rak'at after the Tawaf of the Ka'bah at Makkah), and We commanded Ibrahim (Abraham) and Isma'il (Ishmael) that they should purify My House (the Ka'bah at Makkah) for those who are circumambulating it, or staying (I'tikaf), or bowing or prostrating themselves (there, in prayer).}
We will discuss the story of Prophet Ibrahim, the father of all prophets, in details tomorrow in the Khutba of Eid inshallah:The prophet PBUH said:
“There are no days in which the righteous deed is more pleasing to Allah the Almighty than these days, meaning the first ten days of Dhil-Hijja”. They said: “O messenger of Allah, not even the jihad for the sake of Allah?” He said: “not even the jihad for the sake of Allah, except for a man who went out with himself and his money and never came back with anything.”
{There is not a day on which Satan is more defeated, more trivial and more miserable than the day of Arafat , with the exception of the day of Badr ,because on this day the devils sees for himself Allah ‘s generosity to HIS servants, HIS goodwill towards them and HIS abundant emancipation and forgiveness.}
This day –as narrated in some hadiths – is one of the greatest days of the whole year, Allah made the five prayers to purify your soul from what may come between them, He made the Friday prayer as an expiation of sins committed from Friday to Friday, He made the month of fasting to expiate the sins of the year, and he made the day of Arafah as the biggest meeting between the servant and his Lord, why is it the biggest meeting? Because the pilgrims leave their homelands, families and friends, their position and the source of their living, they abandon life when they wear the white dress and they declare by that the fact that Allah is dearer to them than their families and everything in life and just as the price of this worship involves high costs, the fruit of this worship involves great reward.Dear brother, Arafah is a meeting in which we make the covenant with Allah and the reconcilement with Him, we turn to Him in repentance, as if He is saying; come to Me My servants, come to Me so that I would relieve you and release you from your desolation and from sins as big as mountains and the believer says; (O my Lord, Here have I come to You my Lord, Here I am. There is no partner with You. Here I am. Truly, the praise and the provisions are Yours, and so is the dominion and sovereignty. There is no partner with You).
Dear brother, we ask Allah to grant us in the next years an accepted hajj, appreciated and rewarded striving and forgivable sins. He is Able to do all things,He has power over what He wishes, and He is Generous in granting what we pray for.
All praise be to Allah
Second Khutba:
Praise be to Allah, the Sustainer of the worlds. And I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, the Protector of the righteous, and I bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger who is endowed with a Great character. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon Him and his folks and companions.
Dear brother, Abu Umama narrated that the prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said;
(Whoever stands up (in worship) in the nights preceding the two Eids expecting rewards from his Lord, his heart will not die when the other hearts will die.)
Dear brother, what is important is the life of the heart. There are people who have perfect health, youth, and success in life. They enjoy life to the maximum, but their hearts are dead. Our master Ali advised his son, saying;((Knowledge is better than money, since you have to protect money, while knowledge protects you. And money is depleted with spending, while knowledge grows when you spend it. People who hoard money have died while they are still alive, while the scholars stay alive through the ages. Their souls may have passed away, but their effects remain present in the hearts of people.))
We count on the life of the heart because the heart is the wealth of the Eternal life in the Hereafter. In the worldly life you share people food, drink, dwelling, trade, health and industry but the heart whose owner keeps living through invocation of Allah and remembrance of Him is the heart that will make his owner happy after dearth. That is why our master Ali said: Check your heart continuously , look into it. If Allah was invocated, does your heart fear, does your skin shiver ? If Allah was invocated does your heart become tender to the remembrance of Allah? Do you feel yourself in the mosque like a fish in the water or like a bird in a cage? Do you stand up vigorously or lazily to prayers? Do you love to reauthor the Quran? Do you fear when you commit a sin, if you fear when you commit a sin and feel happy when you invocate Allah, that is a sign that your heart is alive, but if you commit a great sin then you say; what have I done ? Allah is All Merciful All Forgiving, and if you reauthor the Quran without finding relief in it or you stand up lazily to pray or you feel yourself in the mosque like a bird in a cage, that is a dangerous sign indicating the death of the heart or the weakness of faith. Thus there are many hadiths in which the prophet ordered us to renew our faith. The renewal of faith is by the renewal of repentance, the renewal of the faith is through the invocation and remembrance of Allah, and the renew of the faith is through rectitude and righteous deeds.
Dear brother, it is recommended in the morning of al – Eid to wake up early, to take a bath, wear your best clothes, perfume Fajr (early morning) prayer, and go to the prayer of the Eid of walking and magnifying Allah by saying Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest) aloud in the prayer of Eid Al-Adha and secretly in the prayer of Eid Al-Fitr. The words of Takbeer are: Allaku Akbar, Allahu Akbar, la ilaha illa Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wallilahi Al-hamd (Allah is the Greatest , Allah is the Greatest , none has the right to be worshiped but Allah , Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest , praise be to Allah )
It is recommended to give alms depending on your income, to show happiness and cheerfulness to everyone you meet, you should say takbeer during all the days of Eid from the day of Arafah to the prayer of the mid-afternoon of the fourth day of the Eid. Takbeer should be done after performing the five daily prayers, whether individually or in congregation, for men and women, the traveler and the resident.
It is recommended to visit the cemetery in the Al-Eid. It was reported that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that when it was her night for the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) to stay with her, he used to go out late at night to (the cemetery of) al-Baqee’ and say,
“Peace be upon you, dwellings of the believing people. We will meet you tomorrow or sh3er will. InsahAllah we will follow you soon. O Allah, forgive the people of Baqee’ al-Gharqad.”
And he used to reauthor Surat Ya-Sin. A righteous man used to say; O Allah, Lord of these ragged bodies and decayed bones that left this life believing in You, send mercy and peace from You on them!Dear brother, we still have a small point; it is sacrifice.
Abu Hurayrah narrated that the prophet (PBUH) said;
“Whoever can afford to offer a sacrifice but does not do so, let him not approach our place for prayer.”
Some scholars said the sacrifice is mandatory, and sh3er said it is a confirmed Sunna. So to sacrifice a white sheep in Eid Al- Adha as the prophet did is something between the obligation and the confirmed SunnaThe purpose of the sacrifice is to give the poor, and the relatives so it is obligatory on each free resident rich Muslim. The time of sacrifice is after the Eid prayer to the sunset of third days of Tashreeq, it is not permissible to slaughter the sacrifice before the prayer because the prophet (PBUH) said;
((Whoever slaughtered his sacrifice before he prays, let him slaughter another one instead of it.))
And to slaughter sacrifice is better than giving it price in money. If you give a poor person, he may pay his debts or discharge some obligation leaving his family is hungry and longing for some meat to eat. However, if you offer this poor person some meat this meat will reach his family and children