Back to Affirm Your Beliefs

First Khutbah:

All perfect praise is due to Allaah; I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger; may Allaah exalt his mention, as well as his family and all his companions.

Allaah The Almighty Has ways with which He runs His creation, humans, the heavens and the earth. These ways are according to fixed rules, one of the most important rule, is that He punishes those who disobey Him and who act in a way that lead to His anger, as He says:

فلما آسفونا انتقمنا منهم

which means: “And when they angered Us, We took retribution from them” [Az-Zukhruf: 55].

The punishment of Allaah is fast … He is the All Powerful … The Almighty The Greatest ... The One with the ultimate strength ... no one can overtake Him or out-power Him ... the heavens and the earth are subdued to His command. Allaah says:

وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيُعْجِزَهُ مِن شَيئ فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوٰتِ وَلاَ فِى ٱلأرْضِ

which means: “But Allaah is not to be caused failure [i.e. prevented] by anything in the heavens or on the earth” [Faatir: 44].

When people shun His legislations, abandon His commands, disobey Him, disbelieve in Him, become ungrateful to His bounties and when their lives become overwhelmed with amusement, these are causes that make people worthy of the punishment of Allaah. Allaah says:

إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا كَمَاء أَنزَلْنَاهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَاء فَٱخْتَلَطَ بِهِ نَبَاتُ ٱلأرْضِ مِمَّا يَأْكُلُ ٱلنَّاسُ وَٱلأَنْعَـٰمُ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَخَذَتِ ٱلأَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا وَٱزَّيَّنَتْ وَظَنَّ أَهْلُهَا أَنَّهُمْ قَادِرُونَ عَلَيْهَا أَتَاهَا أَمْرُنَا لَيْلاً أَوْ نَهَارًا فَجَعَلْنَاهَا حَصِيدًا كَأَن لَّمْ تَغْنَ بِٱلاْمْسِ كَذٰلِكَ نُفَصّلُ ٱلآيَـٰتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

which means: “The example of [this] worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb — [those] from which men and livestock eat — until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or by day, and We make it as a harvest (Its vegetation having been utterly destroyed), as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do We explain in detail the signs for a people who give thought.” [Yoonus: 24].

What made the entire inhabitants of the earth to once drown and for water to reach the mountain peaks? Who sent the destructive wind onto the people of ‘Aad that killed them all and destroyed all their homes and vegetation and animals? Who sent the shout on the people of Thamood and killed every single one of them? Who raised the village whose inhabitants practiced sodomy to the extent that the angels heard the barking of their dogs, and then flipped them upside down, and then showered them with stones? Who caused Pharaoh and his followers to drown? Who caused the earth to swallow Qaaroon and his wealth and properties? What caused all these types of punishments and destruction to take place?

The answer is that it is committing different types of sins, disobedience, disbelief in Allaah, rebellion against His legislations and transgressing His limits. Allaah might delay a people when they transgress, but He will never leave them unattended and unpunished.

This is the very reason why Allaah afflicted the children of Israel twice in their history, and sent on them those who tortured them, killed the men and kept their children and women, as mentioned in the Qur’aan.

Calamities and various forms of punishments continue to strike the disbelieving and disobedient people as Allaah says:

ولا يَزال الذين كَفَروا تُصيبهم بما صَنعوا قارعةٌ أو تَحل قريباً من دارهم حَتى يَأتي وَعد الله

which means: “And those who disbelieve do not cease to be struck, for what they have done, by calamity — or it will descend near their home — until there comes the promise of Allaah. Indeed, Allaah does not fail in [His] promise.” [Ar-Ra’d: 31].

The problem is that they continue to disbelieve even after being struck with punishments. They attribute the punishment to the “anger of nature” as some of them falsely claim. This is another form of disbelief, when they attribute what can be done only by Allaah to nature, as if nature can do anything on its own, and as if nature gets angry. They do not want to say that The Lord is angry with them.

Allaah says:

ٱللَّهُ خَـٰلِقُ كُـلّ شَيئٍ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلّ شَيئٍ وَكِيلٌ * لَّهُ مَقَالِيدُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوٰتِ وَٱلأرْضِ وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِـئَايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ

which means: “Allaah is the Creator of all things and He is, over all things, Disposer of affairs. To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth. And they who disbelieve in the verses of Allaah - it is those who are the losers.” [Az-Zumar: 62-63].

Allaah also says:

ولله مُلك السَمَوات والأَرض والله عَلى كُل شَيءٍ قَدِير

which means: “And to Allaah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and Allaah is over all things competent.” [Aal ‘Imraan: 189].

Allaah does not wrong any one, and whenever a punishment befalls a people, then it is a fair recompense to what their own hands have gained. Allaah says:

مَن عَمِلَ صَالِحاً فَلِنَفسِه وَمَن أَسَاءَ فَعَلَيها وَمَا رَبك بَظَلام للعَبِيد

which means: “Whoever does righteousness — it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it. And your Lord is not ever unjust to [His] servants.” [Fussilat: 46].

The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, said: “When fornication, adultery and dealing with Ribaa (i.e. usury and interest) spread amongst a people, then they become deserving of the punishment of Allaah”.

Slaves of Allaah! Allaah Has commanded us to look at how He punished those who transgressed and take lessons and admonition from their consequences. Nowadays, we watch the scenes on TV of these tragic events. The first thing one must ask himself is, why did this happen and how did these people incur this punishment? 

Allaah says:

وإِذا أَرَدنَا أَن نُهلِكَ قَريَةً أَمَرنَا مُترَفِيها فَفَسَقُوا فِيها فَحَق عَلَيها القَولُ فَدَمرناها تَدمِيراً

which means: “And when We intend to destroy a city, We command its affluent (To obey Allaah) but they defiantly disobey therein; so the word [i.e. deserved decree] comes into effect upon it, and We destroy it with [complete] destruction.” [Al-Israa’: 16].

When the people of ‘Aad claimed that there was no one more powerful than them, Allaah destroyed them entirely. Nowadays we here some people claiming the same by saying: “We are the most powerful nation in the world”, but Allaah says:

قُل هُوَ القَادِرُ عَلَى أَن يَبعَثَ عَليكُم عَذاباً مِن فَوقِكُم أَو مِن تَحتِ أَرجُلِكُم

which means: “Say, “He is The [One] Able to send upon you affliction from above you or from beneath your feet” [Al-An’aam: 65].

Allaah also says:

أَفأَمِن أَهلُ القُرى أَن يَأتِيَهُم بأسنا بياتاً وهم نائمون * أو أمن أهل القرى أَن يَأتِيَهُم بأسُنا ضُحىً وهم يلعبون * أفأمنوا مكر الله فلا يأمن مكر الله إلا القوم الخاسرون

which means: “Then, did the people of the cities feel secure from Our punishment coming to them at night while they were asleep? Or did the people of the cities feel secure from Our punishment coming to them in the morning while they were at play (i.e. occupied with amusement and worthless activities)? Then, did they feel secure from the plan of Allaah? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allaah except the losers.” [Al-A’raaf: 97-99].

Katrina; a wind with a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour drowns massive areas of the earth. A destructive hurricane that destroyed and tore up Louisiana’s super dome. Hundreds of thousands were misplaced and left with no shelter as a result of this powerful wind. Floods and wind that hindered the mission of the rescue teams and left them helpless and fruitless.

Dead bodies everywhere … water flooded the roads and blocked them … trees broken and scattered all over the place … power shut down … telecommunication network stopped. An eye witness said: “It was unbelievable, thousands of people rushing out and sand bags were being thrown by helicopters to form a dam to stop the flood, but to no avail, because the flood washed them away”.

Indeed all efforts will be to no avail, because this is the power of Allaah, against which no efforts or power can stand, and nothing can stop His decrees.

One million houses were left with no power as a result of Katrina … some bodies were thrown as far as the sea shore … trees falling and killing people everywhere … bridges drowned … it will take months before people can attempt to return to their homes, if their homes still exist … thousands of casualties … eighty percent of the city is under water … ninety percent of the buildings that were facing the sea shore disappeared … refineries stopped working and others destroyed … prices of gas became sky high.

All this takes place and they stand helpless in the face of the decrees of Allaah. Their becoming deprived from producing oil comes naturally since they have been looting the wealth of many countries for many years.

Slaves of Allaah! This is the power of Allaah … this is the avenge of Allaah The Almighty, The All-Powerful … His command is simply: “Be” and it is.

They can’t even stop the thieves who are robbing the deserted houses and looting the shops. Their actual manners have surfaced … their principles and their real values have come to light.

They were unable to measure the strength of the hurricane because it had reached more than the maximum level in their scales.

The wind is only one of the soldiers of Allaah which He uses against Whom He pleases. Allaah says about the people of ‘Aad:

فَأَرسَلنا عَلَيهِم رِيحاً صَرصَراً فِي أيامٍ نَحِسَاتٍ لِنُذِيقَهُم عَذابَ الخِزيِ فِي الحياةِ الدُنيا ولَعَذابُ الآخِرةِ أَخزَى وَهُم لا يُنصَرُون

which means: “So We sent upon them a screaming wind during days of misfortune to make them taste the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life; but the punishment of the Hereafter is more disgracing, and they will not be helped.” [Fussilat: 16].

Their satellite cameras recorded the approach of the hurricane, but could they have done anything to prevent it from striking? Absolutely not, because when the decree of Allaah comes, nothing and no one can stop it.

The strong opens the door for donations and aid from those who are poorer and weaker than him … they lost the sense of security in the midst of this great disaster that befell them.

Some people considered this their special Tsunami that hit them, and decided never to live in that state again.

This is the natural result of angering Allaah, Allaah says:

فَلما آسَفُونا انتَقَمنا مِنهُم فَأَغرَقنَاهُم أَجمَعِين * فَجَعلَناهُم سَلَفاً وَمَثَلاً للآخِرِين

which means: “And when they angered Us, We took retribution from them and drowned them all. And We made them a precedent and an example for the later people.” [Az-Zukhruf: 55-56].

Slaves of Allaah! Allaah delays the tyrant and the oppressor, but when He punishes him, he does so severely. When fornication prevails, and worse than this, when disbelief prevails and oppression, then people become deserving of the punishment of Allaah. When Allaah Wills to punish a people while they have amongst them others who are not deserving of the punishment, then the punishment will overwhelm everyone, but each will be resurrected according to his own intention. Therefore, when someone questions about the fate of the Muslims who were amongst those who died as a result of this hurricane, then they will be resurrected according to their intentions.

Slaves of Allaah! This is a lesson to us Muslims. We must take heed and return to Allaah and repent from our sins. We must never be deceived by the power of the disbelievers, as Allaah is more Powerful than them. A believer weighs matters with the scale of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah, whilst the heedless will repeat what the disbelievers claim and that this resulted from nature.

Second Khutbah:

All perfect praise is due to Allaah; I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger; may Allaah exalt his mention, as well as his family and all his companions.

Slaves of Allaah! Since the punishment of Allaah results form the spread of sins and disbelief, then we must avoid what would make us deserving of the punishment of Allaah.

Finally, O Muslims! We do not want the punishment that befell others to befall us as well, therefore, we must shun gatherings that involve music, backbiting or watching movies on TV, going to theaters or the spread of sins. These matters harden the heart and prevent the person from mentioning Allaah and leads to one indulging in immorality.

From islamav.com