Hastiness in Islam: What to Avoid & What to Rush Towards - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

This recording was produced by Green Lane Mustard. For more information on the activities and services the mosque provides please visit www.greenlanemustard.org Allah is the only one who has no partner. I am afraid that Muhammad is his servant and messenger. May Allah pray upon him and his family, the pure and pure. And whoever is on their way to the Day of Judgment. O you who have believed, fear Allah, the right of his death. And do not die except when you surrender. O you who have believed, fear Allah and say a word in a serious manner. He will do your deeds and forgive your sins. And whoever is to be given by Allah and his messenger, he has already achieved great success. The Hadith of Allah has been established. And the guidance of Muhammad, peace be upon him, is good. And the evil of the things that happened and every incident that started. And every misguidance and every misguidance in the fire. Indeed, all praise and thanks belongs to Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, Jalla wa Ala. And I bear witness that Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, is his final messenger. From the very beginning when the Quraysh began listening to the revelation sent to our beloved Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family, There was an immediate position that they would reject anything that came from the Rasul, peace be upon him and his family. They told the people to cover their ears, not to engage in sitting with the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his family. In fact, on many occasions they would mock the Prophet, peace be upon him and his family. Even making supplications against their own selves. And Allah, Tubarak wa Ta'ala tells us about all of their responses and Allah, Jalla wa Ala responds in kind. Some of the supplications that if it is the truth that has come to you, oh Muhammad, then send down upon us stones or that the punishment of Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, come to us. They used to mock, of course. We can produce this Quran, let it come down in one go. Why did Allah choose a man when he could have chosen an angel? All of this came from the mouths of the disbelieving Quraysh. Challenging Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, where is this haqq, where is this punishment that is supposed to be coming to us? But Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, as I mentioned, responds to them telling us about their traits. Khulqa l-insanu min ajal. The man was created in haste. They rush. They are haste into matters. Sauri kum aayati fala tasta'ajiloon. That I will show you my signs. So do not be haste. In another verse, Allah, Tubarak wa Ta'ala tells us, wakana l-insanu ajoola. That forever man is haste. But this hastiness, which is a khisla, which is a trait, is found in some and not found in others. Rushing into things. It is a trait which at times is blame worthy. You need to protect yourself from. And at other times, we are told to be quick at other things. So in what situations do we need to be careful? Not to rush and not to be hasty. And in what situations should we actually, yes, we need to rush into that. Do not delay. Do not procrastinate. Don't do those things. First of all, the blame worthy hastiness in which the Prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, said, al ajalatu min ash-shaitan. This hastiness from the shaitan, which may be deep rooted into a person that they may not realize. That the mercy of Allah, they come to the masjid and they pray with the Jama'a. They pray at the speed and at the pace of the Imam. So at every stage of the salah, they are given the opportunity to read the Quran while standing, to make the tasbih, the ta'zim of Allah, and to make du'as. Their prayer is not rushed when they attend the masjid and they pray with the Jama'a. That's one of the blessings. Of the many blessings coming to pray in Jama'a is that you will not rush your prayer. At least that is the intended objective that when you come, you don't pray quickly. But the person when they are praying alone, they will rush their prayer. They will be very hasty in their prayer. A man, he walks into the masjid of the messenger, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and he prays, the Hayyatul Masjid. And he comes next to the Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, and here the messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, Irja fa salli fa innaka lam ta salli. Go back and pray because indeed you haven't prayed. So the Sahabi, radiallahu anha, goes back for a second time and does the same thing. And again on a second occasion, the Prophet, Alaihi Wasallam, tells him to go back and pray because he hasn't prayed. And it happens on a third occasion. And then after this companion, radiallahu anha, he says, But by the one who sent you with the truth, I'm not able to do any better than that what I have offered. So please teach me a messenger of Allah. And here the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, teaches us this hadith, a great, amazing hadith, for us to take so many benefits from. So the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, starts from the very beginning. If you stand for prayer, you begin by saying, Allahu Akbar, Ta Kbir. Then read by which or that which is easier for you to recite, from the Quran. From the Marka. And then you go into Ruku'a. And this is the Shahid, it's the point of mentioning this hadith. From the Marka, that you go into this Ruku'a position bowing and you remain in that position until you are calm in that position. And then when you stand up, from Marfa, until you are straight up, from Masjid, then go into a Sujood position, until you are calm in that position. This word, until you are calm is a common denominator, it's a common theme in this hadith. In which many of the Ulama, Rahmim Allah Ta'ala, have said that this particular companion lacked some calmness between the movements, which may be perceived as maybe rushing between the movements, not remaining calm enough. And maybe this is something that has fell into our ibadat, in our Salah, that when we pray, we pray quickly. That when we recite, we recite Surat Al-Fatiha. And then maybe we recite, Well-A'asaf. How ironic is that the person is reciting that by time, man is at a loss. And they are rushing. Absolutely, a man may be in loss because they are not taking their time and doing what is necessary to please Allah, to barakah Ta'ala. This is one of the issues that we need to make ilajah, to cure, is to make sure that when we pray, we don't pick in sujood, we move calmly in our Salah and our hearts are present. Not that you are just thinking about the external. We ask Allah to allow us to pray as the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, prayed. Another issue that may be that we are very hasty and it is a blame worthy hasty. And I don't mean to keep mentioning this, but it seems to come up quite often that there is acquiring knowledge that we become quite hasty and quick in this modern time that we are living in, which I think is impacting many of us that at the click of a button, a device that something is delivered tonight or it's delivered tomorrow, the services that you require and that you want will pay for a service that it comes right now. And if there's a delay, you complain. If it doesn't happen right now, it causes you to be stressed. There are quick fixes to many, many things, but there are other things which there is no quick fix. There is no, if you like, I've gone away for one year, I've gone away for two years, and I've come back and I'm ready to teach the ummah. This is a deception of shaitan. That seeking knowledge which is something we all should be engaged in at different levels. Improving our recitation in the book of Allah, knowledge about the sunnah of Rasulullah, Rasulullah, sallallahu alayhi sallam, halal, halam, the meanings of the Quran. It's a journey for all of us. It's a lifetime journey. And it's not something that is done in a very short space of time. And because you feel that you have acquired some knowledge, you feel above others. Sometimes I feel like I'm repeating myself. But seeking knowledge is something that requires a long time. And the person who's taken in beneficial knowledge and absorbing that beneficial knowledge, one of the traits, one of the things that you will find within yourself, because this is what has been, we have read in the books of the early generations, that the more knowledge that they acquire, the more they realize I don't know very much at all. The more you acquire, the more you sit with the people of knowledge, they realize the smaller you feel. The more shy you are about talking about the book of Allah SWT. The more shyness you will have talking about halal and haram, because this acquiring knowledge is done at the correct pace. The one who's done it at the correct pace will have this jurah. Will have this within themselves to speak about large matters. Not feel shy to be making the book of Allah SWT. You may respond to them. The sheikh, Phulan says this and they say, who is this sheikh? And then maybe the point is that maybe they don't know this sheikh. So you mention another sheikh. So you mention this sheikh says that and they say, who is this sheikh? And then you realize when they say who is this sheikh, it is not because they don't know them. It is the who is the sheikh, who are they? That response. Who are they? This is when you realize that the person, whatever knowledge they have acquired, they have not benefited from that knowledge. Imam al-Zuhri, Rahimah Allah SWT, he said to one of his students, Yunus Ibn Yazid, Rahimah Allah SWT, Ya Yunus, laatu kabiril ilm, fa inna li ilm maawdiya, fa ayyuha akhathatafihi qataabikah qabl an tablugha. Oh Yunus, do not try to overcome and amass all of this knowledge. For verily, knowledge is like what? Is like vast valleys. Whichever one of them you will take, it will stop you before you traverse it. Walakin khudhu ma al-ayami wal-layali. Rather take this knowledge by its days and by its nights. Walaa taakhudu ilmah jumlatan. And do not think that you are able to take this knowledge all in one go. Fa inna man raama akhathuhu jumlatan That the person who thinks they will take all this knowledge in one go, it will disappear in one go. Walakin na shayy, ba'adah shayy, ma al-layali wal-ayami. Rather take things step by step, day by day, night by night. No, forgetting Allah SWT reminds us. Walaa hu akhraju kum min ba'utuni umma hatikum. La ta'lamuna shayy. That we came into this dunya not knowing anything. That is Allah SWT who grants people knowledge, beneficial knowledge, and have the tawab, the humbleness and the shyness to deal with this knowledge. Over the next three weeks, insha'Allah ta'ala, starting from next week, there will be classes set up. Reading classical texts where you can sit at the feet of ulama, at the feet of scholars. And then when you sit there and you listen, you will realize, I don't know nothing. But sometimes we need that. You need to sit with people of knowledge to realize, to remove any form of arrogance that may fall in your heart. Anything that may fall within you that you think that you are better than others. So brother and sisters, beware of thinking that you can take knowledge quickly. The last thing I wanted to mention that we are hasty in is our supplications, our du'a. We all have the lists facing the qiblah, being in wudu, praising Allah SWT sending salams upon the Prophet, saying things three times, all of which is correct. But then the person is maybe not making du'a or who are moukin, and that they are certainty with that supplication. Maybe that they are not realizing that Allah SWT answers your supplications in different ways. Not the way that you have tailored it. The way that you want your spouse to be. This height, this hair, this skin color. All these things, Allah SWT is not answering the du'a as the way that I want it. What is upon us is to do it correctly in the way that the Prophet, SAW, taught us. Not forgetting as well internally that when you call upon Allah SWT you do it with fear and hope as Allah SWT reminds us. Ya du'una rabbahum khufahum wa tan'a that they call and invoke their Lord with fear and hope. But let us ta'ajil, do not be quick. Do not be hasty in thinking things are going to happen with the click of a finger. Even though things around us, we are pushed in a society that this is supposed to be like that. So we ask Allah SWT to protect us from this blame-worthy hastiness. So these are some examples of this hastiness It is blame worthy that we want to protect ourselves from and avoid. But then there are other types of, what do you call it, hastiness, but rushing into things. Be quick. Do not delay. Do not procrastinate. Do not think I'll do it later. Repenting to Allah to barakut a'ala. Be quick. Don't delay it. The Prophet ﷺ, as we probably well know in the many hadith that are mentioned on this topic that he ﷺ said by his own words that indeed I seek Allah ﷺ's forgiveness more than a hundred times in a day. Abdullah ibn Umar, radiAllahu anhumma, in one sitting saw the Prophet ﷺ asking, the Prophet ﷺ asking for forgiveness more than 70 times in one sitting. So a tawbah repenting to Allah ﷺ is not something that we delay. In the verses in Surah Ali Imran, which are commonly mentioned in when we should rush towards things, march on towards wa sari'u ila ma ghfiratim mir rabbikum. And hasten forth. Be quick to the forgiveness of Allah ﷺ. In these few verses, Allah ﷺ mentions those things which we should rush towards. What are those things? Alladheena yunfiqoona fisarra'i wa dharraa. Giving charity in ease and in difficulty. And in the following verse, alladheena eza fa'aloo fa'hisha aw wal walamoo anfusahum zakaru allaha fa astaghfa'u rooliyyidnoobihim. How we are supposed to make tawbah. You're asking how do I make tawbah to Allah ﷺ? How do I return to Allah ﷺ? These are the verses that have been revealed to us how to make tawbah. Astari'u bil jana is the funeral. You do it quickly. If you have the means to perform Hajj, then you make your Hajj and you don't delay it. Returning the hukuk, the rights of people, debts. You give it back to the people. These are things that you don't delay. You rush towards. This is the type of hastiness or rushing towards that as Muslims we understand that I should be going towards them. We ask Allah ﷺ to make us from those people. On this day of the Juma'a, we remember that the Prophet ﷺ told us to increase our sending salutations upon him. Allah ﷺ commands us, Inna Allaha wa Malakatu hui salloon aalaa al-Nabeef. Ya ayyuha alladheena aamanu salloo aalaihi wa sallimu tasleema. Allah ﷺ is a Muhammad and aalaa al-Muhammad. Kamar sallaita aalaa ibraheem wa aalaa al-ibraheem. Innaka hameedun majeed. Allahumma aazza al-islama wal muslimin. Allahumma aazza al-islama wal muslimin. Allahumma aazza al-islama wal muslimin. Allahumma Faster kewaana na fii kull makane ya rabb ul-wala min. Allahumma inna nas'aaluk al-jannah wuma qarbab ileyha min qawilin wa'amal. Allahumma inna na'audoo bikka millil naaree absoluta wi ma qarbab ileyha min qawilin wa'amal. Allahumma khuf Allahumma khufilal muslimina wal muslimat al-mu'minina wal-mu'minat al-akhiaa minhum wal-amwat rabbana aatina fid dunya hasana wa fil aakhirati hasana wa qina'a mannar wa'aqim ussalah this recording was produced by Green Lane, Mustard for more information on the activities and services the mosque provides please visit www.greenlanemustard.org