Friday Khutba / Sermon 7 June 2013 -- Avoid Extravagance ## Avoid Extravagance First sermon All praise is due to Allah, the most Bountiful, the Giver of Gifts, for His countless bounties and generous blessings. We also extol Him as is befitting to His glorious sovereignty and status. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship, except for Allah alone without any partners or peers. He “Who created and proportioned and Who destined and guided and [then] brings out the pasture.” (Al Ala: 2-4). I also witness that Muhammad pbuh is His servant and Messenger, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his family, his Companions, and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment. I urge you and myself to be mindful of Allah the Almighty and obey Him, just as He says, “O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true.” (Attawba: 119). Dear Believers, The Muslim should be distinguished by his balanced attitude towards all aspects of his life. Thus neither should he be extravagant, nor he be negligent. Rather, he should be fair and balanced. If he goes beyond such limits, then he behaves in excess, contravening what Allah the Exalted says, “and be not excessive. Indeed, He does not like those who commit excess.” (Al Anaam: 141). One clear example of extravagance is the misuse of riches that Allah has availed to us on earth and in skies. He the Almighty says, “and cause not corruption upon the earth after its reformation. That is better for you, if you should be believers.” (Al Araf: 85). The holy Quran, for example, has associated worshipping Allah with populating the earth and gives clear instructions to avoid acts of abuse. Allah the Almighty, reporting his Messenger Shuayb, says, “O my people, worship Allah and expect the Last Day and do not commit abuse on the earth, spreading corruption.” (Al Ankaboot: 36). Here people were reminded not to misuse the earth and the acquisitions achieved. Dear Believers, It is considered waste any act that goes beyond one’s limits in clothing, mount, food and drink, as Allah the Exalted says, “O children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.” (Al Araf: 31). The extravagant is seen paying to buy things he has no need of and expand in the amount of food more than he can do with. Thus he hurts himself and disregards our Prophet pbuh’s instructions. On this account, he pbuh said, “The human does not fill any container that is worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat what will support his back. If this is not possible, then a third for food, a third for drink, and a third for his breath.” After all, overeating results in filling the land with the food surplus and leftovers, which transform into harmful waste affecting the environment and people’s health and safety. Please remember that Allah the most High has forbidden us to engage in any form of excessive spending aimed at showing off and imitating others. He said, “And do not obey the order of the transgressors, who cause corruption in the land and do not amend.” (Ash-Shuara: 151-152). An example of excess is the extravagant wedding banquets and luxuries offered in a fashion that surpasses the needs. This produces a bulk of surplus food that is trashed afterwards, an act for which the Almighty Allah will hold accountable those who are responsible. He says, “then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure.” (Attakatur: 8). Dear Servants of Allah, One of the great blessings Allah the Exalted has bestowed upon us is water, being a means for sustaining life, as He says, “and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?” (Al Anbiya: 30). It is a blessing gift that humans must preserve, and always beware of squandering it even for permissible ends. It was narrated that Allah’s Messenger pbuh used only one Mudd of water for ablution and one Saa to five Mudd of water for his bath. In another Hadith, it was reported that the Messenger of Allah passed by Saad when he was performing ablution, and he pbuh said, “What is this extravagance?” Saad said, “Can there be any extravagance in ablution?” He pbuh said, “Yes, even if you are on the bank of a flowing river." So let us ponder, dear servants of Allah, on how the Prophet pbuh was keen to ask Saad to avoid wasting water even if it were abundant. Then what should be the case when scarcity of water is the norm? Please also respect what Allah the Exalted has created on this wonderful universe and guide your sons and daughters to avoid extravagance. The latter is an agent of destruction, causing the environment to degrade and its resources to deplete, hence impairing its balance. As a solution, we need to embrace the virtues of the righteous people like moderation, balance and fairness. Having this in mind, we seek Allah’s favour to make us amongst those who, when they spend, do so not excessively or sparingly. May Allah also help us obey Him, His Prophet Muhammad pbuh, and those He has ordained upon us to obey pursuant to His instructions: "O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you."(Annisaa: 59). May Allah direct us all to the blessings of the Glorious Quran and benefit us all in whatever is in it of the Ayas and the Wise Dhikr. I say this and ask Allah the Great, the Most Honoured for forgiveness for me, you and all the Muslims for every sin, so invoke Him for forgiveness, for He is the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. Second sermon Praise be to Allah. I bear witness that there is no deity but Him, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger, may the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his pure family, his companions and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment. In what follows, please obey Allah as it should be by observing Him in private and in public, and be aware that there are some people who may be engaged excessively in misdeeds and vices. Fortunately, there is room for them to show remorse and repent to Allah Whose mercy is all encompassing. About this, Allah says, “say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful." (Azzumar: 53). This is an invitation to anyone who has transgressed against himself by sinning to waste no time in invoking Allah the most Compassionate and seeking His forgiveness. In this regard, He the Almighty says, “and return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped.” (Azzumar: 54). Dear Servants of Allah, Bear in mind that you are asked to offer prayer and greetings upon our most noble Prophet pbuh for Allah says, "Indeed, Allah and His angels sends blessing upon the Prophet. O you who have believed, ask [Allah to confer] blessing upon him and ask [Allah to grant him] peace." (Al Ahzab: 56). blessing on me will receive ten blessings from Allah." May the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon our Master Muhammad pbuh, his family and all his Companions. May Allah be pleased with the Rightly Guided Caliphs and all those who will follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment. O Allah, may we ask You to help us with what gets us closer to Paradise and furthers us from hell. O Allah we seek Your grace to admit us, our parents, whoever has done a favour to us and all Muslims to Your Paradise. O Allah guide us to perform good work and give up misdeeds. O Allah, make Iman (faith) beloved to us and beautify it in our hearts, and make us hate disbelief, immorality and disobedience. O Allah, I seek from You guidance, virtue, purification of the soul and being self-sufficient. O Allah, let us see the Truth as Truth and grant that we follow it. And let us see Falsehood as Falsehood and grant that we avoid it. May Allah also mend our intentions, grant that our spouses and our offspring be a joy to our eyes and make success be an ally to us. O Allah, we seek Your favour to raise our status, increase our good deeds, remove from us our misdeeds and cause us to die with the righteous. O Allah, we implore You at this instant not to let a sin unforgiven, a distress unrelieved, an illness unhealed or a handicapped without relief, a dead without mercy or a debt unsettled. Our Lord, give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire. May Allah grant our leader HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Deputy, HH Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, success and provide strength and assistance to his brothers, Their Highness The Rulers of the Emirates, and his trustworthy Crown Prince HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. O Allah, forgive all of the Muslims, men and women, living and dead, and make blessings follow us and them. May Allah have mercy on Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Maktoum and all their brothers, the Late UAE Sheikhs. O Lord, forgive and show mercy, You are the Ever Merciful and there is no strength or power save with Allah, the High, the Great. We pray to Allah, the Most Gracious, to continue blessing the UAE and all Muslim countries with safety and security. O servants of Allah, remember Allah and He will remember you. Be grateful for His benevolence He will increase His blessings to you. Allah, the Most High, says, "And establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do." (Al Ankaboot: 45). Translation Mostapha El Mouloudi
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:26:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015