Jannah Khutbah
You find that in this dunya, this world, that mankind has no direction, that mankind is misguided. Then Allah out of His Eternal, Uncomparable mercy gave mankind Prophet after Prophet, Messenger after Messenger, to live life the best way possible. And you find that people followed these Prophets, these Messengers seeking the most fruitful life in this world and the next. On their journey, like everyone else’s journey they became complacent in their following and became deceived by this life. So it was the Sunnah of Allah to remind mankind of the repellent to such things. The repellent to such heedlessness, to such complacency, to such deception.
The repellent that developed such great examples for mankind that one would give up all the pleasures of life just to meet them. From the likes of Abu Bakr, Umar, Aisha, Abu Hurayrah and many others.
‘Their reward with their Lord is ‘Adn (Eden) Paradise (Gardens of Eternity), underneath which rivers flow, they will abide therein forever, Allah Well-Pleased with them, and they with Him. That is for him who fears his Lord.’ (Surah Bayyinah:8)
The repellent of seeking Jannah, seeking Paradise and seeking to see Allah’s Face.
My dear brothers and sisters, Jannah is the fruit of a seed planted in this dunya; it is the retirement package that you save up in all your years of work.
O Worshippers of Allah! O Followers of the Prophet (sallahu alayhi wa salam)! O People of the Best Nation! Allah, Subhanhu wa Ta’ala gives glad tiding of paradise and He has promised Gardens of Eternity. Allah has promised such delights that no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has imagined.
And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do. (Surah Sajdah:17)
“And if you ask about its ground and its soil, then it is of musk and saffron.
Its roof is the Throne of the Most Merciful. Its rocks are pearls and jewels. Its buildings are made of bricks of gold and silver. Its trees have trunks made of gold and silver. The fruits are softer than butter and sweeter than honey. Its leaves, then they are softer than the softest cloth.
Its rivers are rivers of milk who’s taste does not change, and rivers of wine that is delicious to those who drink it, and rivers of honey that is pure, and rivers of water that is fresh.
The food is fruits from whatever they will choose, and the meat of whatever birds they desire. Life would be so easy that if you see a bird you want to eat flying, then it would fall and be BBQ’d for you. The inhabitants will have horses made from emeralds and pearls that fly and go around with you.
The drinking cups are crystal-clear, made of gold and silver.
And if you ask about its vastness, then the lowest of its people would have within his kingdom and walls and palaces and gardens the distance that would be travelled in a thousand years.
Its tents is like a concealed pearl that is sixty miles long. Every believer will have four doors for his house; the first one for angels to visit him, the second for the Hoor Al-‘Ayn, the third door will be a closed door between him and the hellfire to remind him of the blessing he is in and the last door is between him and darus salam which he will go through to meet Allah.
Their towers are rooms above rooms in buildings that have rivers running underneath them.
And if you ask about the clothing of its inhabitants, then they are of silk and gold.
The faces of its inhabitants and their beauty, then they are like the image of the Moon.
And they will be hearing the singing of their wives from among the Hoor al-’Ayn, and better than that are the voices of the Angels and the Prophets, and better than that is the Speech of the Lord of the Worlds.
They will have young boys as servants who resemble scattered pearls.
And if you ask about their brides and wives, then they are young and full-breasted and have the liquid of youth flowing through their limbs; the Sun runs along the beauty of her face, light shines from between her teeth if she smiles; he sees his face in the roundness of her cheek as if he is looking into a polished mirror, and he sees the brightness from behind her muscles and bones;
If she were to be unleashed upon the World, she would fill what is between the Heavens and the Earth with a beautiful wind, and the mouths of the creation would glorifiy, praise, and exclaim greatness, and everything between the East and the West would be adorned for her, and every eye would be shut from everything but her, and the light of the Sun would be outshone just as the light of the Sun outshines the stars, and everyone on the face of the Earth would believe in Allah.
And the covering on her head is better than the World and all that is in it, just like her covering in this world. And she does not increase with age except in beauty; free from an umbilical cord, childbirth and menses, and pure of mucous, saliva, urine and other filthy things; her youth never fades, her clothing is never worn out, no garment can be created that matches her beauty, and no one who is with her can ever become bored; her attention is restricted to her husband, so she desires none but him, just as his attention is restricted to her so she is the sole object of his desire, and he is with her in utmost safety and security, as none has touched her before of either humans or Jinn. (excerpt from Haadi al-Arwaah ilaa Bilaad il-Afraah by Ibn al-Qayyim, pg. 193) http://www.kalamullah.com/paradise.html
And the most beautiful woman for a man is the wife he had in this life. For she will be the Queen of the Hoor Al-‘Ayn, and they will her maidens, for she is more deserving of more beauty than them.
Second Khutbah
In Jannah, you will meet people you’ve always wanted to meet or those you miss….family members, great scholars, revivers, angels,…Prophets…..Messengers. But Ibn ul Qayyim mentions from a compilation of Ahadith, about the greatest of meetings, the happiest moment one would ever experience.
‘On the day that the caller will call: ‘O People of Paradise! Your Lord – Blessed and Exalted – requests you to visit Him, so come to visit Him!’ So they will say: ‘We hear and obey!’
Until, when they finally reach the wide valley where they will all meet – and none of them will turn down the request of the caller.
The Lord – Blessed and Exalted – will order His Chair to be brought there. Then, pulpits of light will emerge, as well as pulpits of pearls, gemstone, gold, and silver. The lowest of them in rank will sit on sheets of musk, and will not see what those who are on the chairs above them are given.
When they are comfortable where they are sitting and are secure in their places, and the caller calls: ‘O People of Paradise! You have an appointment with Allaah in which He wishes to reward you!’ So they will say: ‘And what is that reward? Has He not already made our faces bright, made our scales heavy, entered us into Paradise, and pushed us away from the Fire?’
And when they are like that, all of a sudden a light shines that encompasses all of Paradise. So, they raise their heads, and, behold: the Compeller – Exalted is He, and Holy are His Names – has come to them from above them and majestified them and said: ‘O People of Paradise! Peace be upon you!’
So, this greeting will not be responded to with anything better than:
‘O Allaah! You are Peace, and from You is Peace! Blessed are You, O possessor of Majesty and Honor!’
So the Lord – Blessed and Exalted – will laugh to them and say: ‘O People of Paradise! Where are those who used to obey Me without having ever seen Me? This is the Day of Increase!’
So, they will all give the same response: ‘We are pleased, so be pleased with us!’ So, He will say: ‘O People of Paradise! If I were not pleased with you, I would not have made you inhabitants of My Paradise! So, ask of Me!’ So, they will all give the same response: ‘Show us your Face so that we may look at it!’ So, the Lord – Mighty and Majestic – will remove his covering and will majestify them and will cover them with His Light, which, if Allaah – the Exalted – had not Willed not to burn them, would have burned them.
And there will not remain a single person in this gathering except that his Lord – the Exalted – will speak to him and say:
Do you remember the day that you did this and that?’ and He will remind him of some of his bad deeds in the Worldy life, so he will say:
‘O Lord! Will you not forgive me?’ So, He will say: ‘Of course! You have not reached this position of yours (in Paradise) except by my forgiveness.’’
Know that whoever loves the meeting with Allah, Allah too, loves the meeting with him, and whoever hates the meeting with Allah, Allah too, hates the meeting with him. But know that you have to fulfil the causes to earn Allah’s Love or Anger. And the way to Allah’s Love is through worshipping Him Alone, through obedience. Everytime a person is sincere in their supplication, Allah loves him more. The qualities of those who deserve the glad tidings of Jannah are those who try to please Allah according to the Sunnah. Those who do not break family ties, ties with their brothers and sisters. Those who do not split up the Ummah but rather keep them as one.
Ask yourself every moment of your life …if you were to die in that state, would you be pleased? Would Allah be pleased with you? Would you be pleased to meet Allah in such a state?
How sad it is that when someone passes away, we cry, humble ourselves, turn to Allah for a little while, making promises never to turn back to our disgusting, pitiful, old ways. But when the heart is dead, and the mind is away from Allah, there is not a single tear in sight, not a single turn to Allah.
You find the story of a pious man who wanted to teach his owner a lesson. The master told him one day to plant wheat. The slave took the opportunity and went and collected seeds of barley and planted them instead. As the season drew near, the master was enraged to see that after all this work and time; the slave had planted the wrong seed. In his thrashing rage, he scolded the slave saying, “Why did you do this?”
The righteous slave said, “I had hoped that the barley seeds would come out as wheat.”
The master said, “How can you plant barley seeds and expect it to come out as wheat?”
The slave stopped and said quietly, “How can you disobey Allah and expect for His bounteous mercy? How can you openly challenge his deen and hope for Jannah.”
When we contemplate on our behaviour, do we really think we are worthy of Jannah? Can many of us even call ourselves human? Or are we like those animals that follow nothing but their desires? Many of us talk about change, debate about change, about how we need to do this for the Ummah and that for the Ummah, yet we can’t even change ourselves. Many people know the ins and outs of various sciences, yet they’re devoid of essential knowledge needed for everyday life. Who are you going to help if you can’t even help yourself?
What is one of the main preventions to such a thing? Allah mentions in Surah Kahf. He mentions about a dog. A dog that guarded and accompanied the pious youth, when they took refuge in a cave.
‘…while their dog stretched his forelegs at the entrance.’ Surah Kahf (18:18)
We find that this animal is mentioned in the most Noblest of Books, that it is mentioned by the Most Beautiful of Speech of (Al-‘A’la) the Most High, (Al-Aleem) The All-Knowing, (Al-Hakeem) The All-Wise, (As-Sami)The All-Hearing, (Al-Baseer) The All-Seeing, Allah. This dog is honoured, his story preserved and mentioned from the time of the Prophet (sallahu alayhi wa salam) until the Day of Resurrection, because of the companions he kept. This is the dignity given to a dog because of his companions….Many of us don’t even accompany the same gender let alone the right company.
O upholders of this Ummah! I advise you to fast much as the days are short and the best fasting after Ramadaan is the month of Muharram which we are in. Good deeds bring greater reward in this month. It is also best to fast on the Day of Ashura next week, which is also in the week of the shortest days of the year.
I advise you to pray the night prayer as the best prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer and many of us are awake for it at about 1 o’clock. This is the time when Allah descends to the lowest heaven in the last 3rd of the night. What harm would praying even 2 rakah do?
It has been reported by the righteous predecessors that ‘When Allah chooses good for a person He opens the door to action for him, and closes the door to argumentation; and when Allah chooses evil for a person he opens the door for argumentation and closes the door to action’.
Last Minute Khutbah 