Khutbah: (Indeed, your Lord is ever watchful)

Sermon: "Indeed, your Lord is ever watchful" The First Sermon All praise is due to Allah, the Mighty, the Compeller, the One, the Subduer, who wraps the night around the day, who turns affairs as He wills and chooses, who honors whom He wills and humbles whom He wills, and who raises whom He wills and lowers whom He wills. In His hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, who has established in His creation fixed laws that do not change and do not shift. And I bear witness that our master and our prophet Muhammad is His servant and His messenger, who conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, advised the nation, and strived in the cause of Allah with true striving. May Allah send prayers and peace and blessings upon him, and upon his family and all his companions. As for what follows: I advise you, O servants of Allah, and my own deficient self, to fear Allah, for it is the best provision for the Day of Return. O believers... Among the greatest matters upon which the Noble Quran nurtures is that this universe has divine laws that show no favoritism to anyone, and that the rise and fall of nations is not subject to chance, nor to the strength of the strong, nor to the weakness of the weak, but rather proceeds according to established laws that do not change and do not shift. So whoever grasps the means of survival survives, and whoever grasps the means of destruction is destroyed, even if he claims to be a believer. And whoever defies the laws of Allah should blame no one but himself. He, the Exalted, said: "Then you will not find any change in the law of Allah, and you will not find any turning in the law of Allah" [Fatir: 43]. And He, the Glorious and Exalted, said: "There have already passed before you the ways of (former) peoples, so travel through the land and observe how was the end of the deniers" [Al Imran: 137]. For this reason, Allah did not relate to us the news of the past nations for mere entertainment, but rather for reflection and taking heed. And among the greatest verses that shake the hearts in this regard is His saying, the Most High: "So are they waiting for anything but the way of the former ones? Then you will not find any change in the way of Allah, and you will not find any turning in the way of Allah" [Fatir: 43]. Meaning: Does the oppressor await anything but what befell the oppressors? And does the arrogant await anything but what overtook the arrogant? And does the corrupter await anything but the end of the corrupters? O servants of Allah... There is no kinship between Allah and any of His creation, and no one is saved merely by his name or his lineage or his position, and no one is destroyed without a crime. Allah, the Most High, said: "It is not according to your wishes, nor according to the wishes of the People of the Scripture. Whoever does evil will be recompensed for it" [An-Nisa: 123]. And therefore He, the Exalted, said: "Then We will surely question those to whom messengers were sent, and We will surely question the messengers" [Al-A'raf: 6]. O beloved ones... The Quran establishes a great truth, which is that obedience is a cause of elevation, justice is a cause of permanence, and gratitude is a cause of increase, and that disobedience is a cause of humiliation, oppression is a cause of destruction, and arrogance is a cause of the removal of blessings. And as was reported from Ali ibn Abi Talib, he said: "No calamity descends except by a sin, and it is not lifted except by repentance." Allah, the Most High, said: "And whatever strikes you of disaster is for what your hands have earned, and He pardons much" [Ash-Shura: 30]. O Muslims... Read the history of nations in the Quran. What drove Adam out of Paradise? And what drowned the people of Noah? And what destroyed 'Ad and Thamud? And what overturned the homes of the people of Lot? And what drowned Pharaoh and swallowed Qarun? O servants of Allah... The Quran does not mention the destruction of nations for mere entertainment, but rather to declare that the law that governed 'Ad and Thamud and Pharaoh is the very same law that governs every nation until the Hour, and the law of Allah does not change with the change of names and times. Indeed, Allah gathered the entire answer in a single verse and said: "So each of them We seized for his sin" [Al-Ankabut: 40]. The punishments differed, but the cause was one: sins and disobedience, tyranny and turning away from Allah. Where is 'Ad? And where is Thamud? And where is Pharaoh? And where is Qarun? And where is every tyrant who filled the earth with oppression and arrogance? Where is Nimrod and Canaan and who

خطبة: ﴿ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالْمِرْصَادِ ﴾ الخطبة الأولى الحمد لله العزيز الجبار، الواحد القهار، مكور الليل على النهار، مصرف الأمور كيف يشاء ويختار، يعز من يشاء ويذل من يشاء، ويرفع من يشاء ويضع من يشاء، بيده الملك وهو على كل شيء قدير. وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له، جعل في خلقه سننًا ثابتةً لا تتبدل ولا تتحول، وأشهد أن سيدنا ونبينا محمدًا عبده ورسوله، بلغ الرسالة، وأدى الأمانة، ونصح الأمة، وجاهد في الله حق جهاده، صلى الله وسلم وبارك عليه، وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين؛ أما بعد: فأوصيكم عباد الله ونفسي المقصرة بتقوى الله، فإنها خير زاد ليوم المعاد. أيها المؤمنون... إن من أعظم ما يربي عليه القرآن الكريم أن لهذا الكون سننًا ربانيةً لا تحابي أحدًا، وأن قيام الأمم وسقوطها ليس خاضعًا للمصادفات، ولا لقوة الأقوياء، ولا لضعف الضعفاء، وإنما يجري وفق سنن ماضية، لا تتغير ولا تتبدل. فمن أخذ بأسباب البقاء بقيَ، ومن أخذ بأسباب الهلاك هلك، ولو كان يدعي الإيمان، ومن خالف سنن الله فلا يلومن إلا نفسه. قال سبحانه: ﴿ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لِسُنَّتِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلًا وَلَنْ تَجِدَ لِسُنَّتِ اللَّهِ تَحْوِيلًا ﴾ [فاطر: 43]. وقال جل وعلا: ﴿ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ سُنَنٌ فَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَانْظُرُوا كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ ﴾ [آل عمران: 137]. ولهذا لم يقصَّ الله علينا أخبار الأمم الماضية للتسلية، وإنما للعبرة والاتعاظ. ومن أعظم الآيات التي تهز القلوب في هذا الباب قوله تعالى: ﴿ فَهَلْ يَنْظُرُونَ إِلَّا سُنَّتَ الْأَوَّلِينَ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لِسُنَّتِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلًا وَلَنْ تَجِدَ لِسُنَّتِ اللَّهِ تَحْوِيلًا ﴾ [فاطر: 43]. أي: هل ينتظر الظالم إلا ما نزل بالظالمين؟ وهل ينتظر المتكبر إلا ما حل بالمتكبرين؟ وهل ينتظر المفسد إلا عاقبة المفسدين؟ عباد الله... ليس بين الله وبين أحد من خلقه نسب، ولا ينجو أحد بمجرد اسمه أو نسبه أو منصبه، ولا يهلك أحد بغير جرم. قال تعالى: ﴿ لَيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلَا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ ﴾ [النساء: 123]. ولذلك قال سبحانه: ﴿ فَلَنَسْأَلَنَّ الَّذِينَ أُرْسِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَنَسْأَلَنَّ الْمُرْسَلِينَ ﴾ [الأعراف: 6]. أيها الأحبة... إن القرآن يقرر حقيقةً عظيمةً، وهي أن الطاعة سبب للرفعة، والعدل سبب للبقاء، والشكر سبب للزيادة، وأن المعصية سبب للذلة، والظلم سبب للهلاك، والبطر سبب لزوال النعم. وكما ورد عن علي بن أبي طالب قال: (ما نزل بلاء إلا بذنب، ولا رُفع إلا بتوبة). قال تعالى: ﴿ وَمَا أَصَابَكُمْ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَنْ كَثِيرٍ ﴾ [الشورى: 30]. أيها المسلمون... اقرؤوا تاريخ الأمم في القرآن. ما الذي أخرج آدم من الجنة؟ وما الذي أغرق قوم نوح؟ وما الذي أهلك عادًا وثمود؟ وما الذي قلب ديار قوم لوط؟ وما الذي أغرق فرعون، وخسف بقارون؟ عباد الله... إن القرآن لا يذكر مصارع الأمم للتسلية، وإنما ليعلن أن القانون الذي حكم عادًا وثمود وفرعون هو القانون نفسه الذي يحكم كل أمة إلى قيام الساعة، فلا تتغير سنة الله بتغير الأسماء والأزمنة. إن الله جمع الجواب كله في آية واحدة فقال: ﴿ فَكُلًّا أَخَذْنَا بِذَنْبِهِ ﴾ [العنكبوت: 40]. فاختلفت العقوبات، ولكن السبب واحد: الذنوب والمعاصي، والطغيان والإعراض عن الله، أين عاد؟ وأين ثمود؟ وأين فرعون؟ وأين قارون؟ وأين كل جبار ملأ الأرض ظلمًا واستكبارًا؟ أين نمرود وكنعان ومن