Khutbah Delivered by Sh. Ibrahim Ezghair on the "Come! Let us Reflect for an Hour" April 23 2010.

Listen to the Khutbah:

If They Only Contemplate! (to download right click and save target as)

Khutbah Text
(Note: the Audio elaborates more on the subject than the text)

If They Only Contemplate!

By Ibrahim Ezghair

‘Ataa’ said, “ ‘Ubayd bin ‘Umayr and I visited Aisha (rA). She said to Ubayd, “It’s about time that you visited us.” He said, “O my Mother! I say as the one once said, “visit infrequently, so you will be missed more.”

She said, “Leave me out of this talk of yours.”

Ibn ‘Umayr said: “Tell us about the most wonderful thing you have seen the Messenger of Allah (saw) do.”

She was silent for a while then she said:

“It was in one of those nights when he said to me: “O Aisha! Let me pray to my Lord tonight!”

She said: “By Allah! I love to be intimate with you. But I also love to make you happy.”

He rose and purified himself then started to pray.  He wept throughout his prayer until his chest became wet. Then he cried more until his beard was soaking wet. Then wept even more and the floor became wet. Bilal (rA) came and reminded him of the fajr prayer. When he saw that the Prophet (saw) was crying, he asked, “Why are you crying, o Messenger of Allah, while Allah has forgiven all of your past and future sins. He said: “Should I not be a grateful servant? Tonight an ayah has been revealed to me. Woe to him who reads it and not reflect upon its meaning.

190. Behold! In the creation

Of the heavens and the earth,

And the alternation

Of Night and Day,—

There are indeed Signs

For men of understanding,—

191. Men who celebrate

The praises of Allah,

Standing, sitting,

And lying down on their sides,

And contemplate

The (wonders of) creation

In the heavens and the earth,

(With the thought):

"Our Lord! not in vain

Have You created (all) this!

Glory to You! Give us

Salvation from the Penalty

Of the Fire.

Reflecting upon this hadith, one may see the subtlety of the beautiful relationship between the Prophet (saw) and his wife Aisha. She was asked a question by some youngsters who as you can read had their own culture to which Aisha (rA) did not subscribe hence her answer: “leave me out this talk of yours.” She was silent when she heard the mention of the Prophet (saw), perhaps because it was a bittersweet moment. She missed the Prophet (saw).

My khutbah today is not about that, nor is it about Qiyamul layl or weeping in the prayer. It is about a form of worship that has long been forgotten by many. It is about al tafakkur: contemplation and reflection upon that which will bring you closer to Allah (swt).

We live in boxes literally and metaphorically. We have deprived ourselves the opportunity to use a faculty that we have which enables us to ponder and broaden our understanding of our surrounding. In physics, they say, “you cannot control a motion if you are a part of it.” You have to come out of it, watch it and then try to control it. You cannot quite know the box that you live in and its effect on you until you have come out of it and seen it for what it really is.

We work in a box that is called the corporation, the job, garage, the office, etc. We go home yet to another box that limits our perception. We sit and watch a box, or work on a box. We stick our heads in a box to live a virtual life of what they call cyber (everything: you name it…). The outdoor is no longer a part of our agenda. We do our farming on Farmville for those who know what it is. We do our exercise with the wii. We cook our food in a box. We sleep on a box. And soon we’ll find ourselves being transformed into deformed boxes.

It is really a dangerous way of living that we are exposing our children to as well. Video games, tv’s, babysitters who know nothing about them.

In the midst of our busy life juggling boxes and living between boxes, we find ourselves completely unaware of a form of worship that Allah and His Messenger (saw) exhorted us to do every day and many times a day.

The Quran mentions the word Fikr and its derivatives over 17 times. There are other words that give the same meaning: Tammul and tadabbur.

The meaning of Tafakkur is to think about the meanings of things within your heart so as to understand your role and what is required of you.

Ibn ul Qayyim said:

The origin of good and evil is in the contemplation that you have inside your heart. And the best of such contemplation is that which leads you to know what benefits you in your hereafter and the ways to obtain it, and what harms in your hereafter and the ways to avoid it.

My goal from this khutbah is somehow to awaken you from your sleep and to temporarily take you out of your box and into a journey of reflection. I know that some of you will go back to the box but I hope that inshaAllah I may be able to help you to find the way to come out of it whenever you choose to.

Regardless of what your job is, there is something in it that should remind you of the greatness of your Creator. If you cannot find that in your job, perhaps on your way to it or back from it you can see the things that remind you of Allah.

A while back a sister sent me an article on how she thought she lost her favorite Guava tree to the cold winter that we had experienced. She kept looking out her window only to see a naked tree. It was dry and dead. One day she looked out and saw the beginning of green leaves stemming out of the dry branches. She said subhanaAllah. That very thing reminded her of how Allah brings out the dead from the ground. It reminded her of something much greater than a desire to eat some delicious guava fruit.

Another brother talked to me about the smoke that came out of the volcanic lava in Iceland and how it covered the whole Europe just like a veil. He said, to him it reminded him of what France, Denmark, and other countries (you can also add Egypt) that wanted to draft laws to ban the veil for Muslim women. (in the case of Egypt it is the niqab in the schools and universities)

There are so many reminders of the real big picture of things that have been put our way if we only contemplate. I’ve heard of doctors who thought they were gods to be able to do so much in saving lives and doing what others may consider as miracles. Alhamdulillah our Muslim doctors know exactly who the Healer is. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. In the field of medicine there are so many reminders to all of us of the Greatness of Allah (t’ala).

I was talking to a doctor about my niece who has a congenital heart defect. He assured me about her condition and told me that it was treatable. Then we started talking about his field in child cardiology and how it constantly reminds him of the greatness of Allah (swt). How this small organ (as small as a grape) can beat over 140 beats a minute and provide blood to the whole body and all you see is a happy child running and laughing. Think of what would happen if that heart stopped. But why would it? Allah has guaranteed that it would beat until the last beat that he prescribed for it. How it works, and how it reacts to our feelings all of that are reminders of Allah’s greatness.

Think of the water you drink, and the rain that falls and thereby the earth flourishes and becomes alive. Think of the mountains that keep the earth stable, think of the stars, think of all of Allah’s favors upon you.

Allaash says:

10. It is He Who sends down

Rain from the sky:

From it you drink,

And out of it (grows)

The vegetation on which

You feed your cattle.

11. With it He produces

For you corn, olives,

Date-palms, grapes,

And every kind of fruit:

Verily in this is a Sign

For those who give thought.

12. He has made subject to you

The Night and the Day;

The Sun and the Moon;

And the Stars are in subjection

By His Command: verily

In this are Signs

For men who are wise.

13. And the things on this earth

Which He has multiplied

In varying colours

(and qualities):

Verily in this is a Sign

For men who remember.

14. It is He Who has made

The sea subject, that you

May eat thereof flesh

That is fresh and tender,

And that you may extract

Therefrom ornaments to wear;

And you see the ships

Therein that plough the waves,

That you may seek (thus)

Of the bounty of God

And that you may be grateful.

15. And He has set up

On the earth mountains

Standing firm, lest it should

Shake with you; and rivers

And roads; that you

May guide yourselves;

16. And marks and sign-posts;

And by the stars

(Men) guide themselves.

17. Is then He Who creates

Like one that creates not?

Will you not receive admonition?

18. If you would count up

The favours of God,

Never would you be able

To number them: for God

Is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Brothers and Sisters:

Reflecting upon Allaah’s Greatness and favors upon us is what keeps us in constant remembrance of Allah. It keeps us away from sinning and disobeying Allaah. Al Hasan al Basry wrote to Umar bin Abdel Aziz: “Know that al Taffakur guides one to righteousness and to act upon it. Regret about the sinning guides one to stay away from it. Whatever has passed you regardless of how magnanimous it is cannot compare to that which has not yet been reached. To withstand the difficulty that is soon to end and then a long life of rest is better than a short life of rest that ends with a long life of hardship.”

I would like to leave you with an advice that can help you be consistent in reflecting upon Allaah’s favors on you.

1.      Do not let your busy life distract you from seeing the big picture and your destiny.

2.      Find something every day in your life that can make you think, even if it were a road kill, a tree, an illness, a pain, a homeless on the street, the news of those who have lost their wealth to the stock market, etc.

3.      Try to find a way to relate your work to the Greatness of Allah, IT’s can think of how amazing the human brain is when they see how amazing what they do in their work. Don’t just see a paycheck.

4.      Read the Quran and ponder upon it.                                                                             Try to be intimate with one ayah every day that can make you think beyond the box that you are living in.

5.      Take some time out of your routine at least once a week and sit alone and think. Go out and learn your surroundings beyond your boxes. Go for a walk in the park and see the ants, the insects, and the other things that Allah created. Don’t think of such creatures as nuisances but as a sign of Allah’s Greatness.

6.      Allaah says:

53. Soon will We show them

Our Signs in the (furthest)

Regions (of the earth), and

In their own selves, until

It becomes manifest to them

That this is the Truth.

Is it not enough that

Your Lord is on everything a Witness?