Is Your Knowledge Making You a Better Muslim? - 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. Ibn Amr Ibn Al-Aas said, we were sitting around the Messenger of Allah. around the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. If the Qara' al-Fitnah upon which the Messenger ﷺ, he mentioned a time of confusion, a time of chaos. So he said that I stood up. I stood up and I asked him what should we be doing? What should I do if I face this time of confusion and this time of chaos? Bearing in mind that the Prophet ﷺ described this time as a time where covenants, I mean agreements between people would be impaired, that they wouldn't be clear. People wouldn't know how to agree with one another. And also, Amana, the fulfilling of trusts would become something very very rare. So this particular companion, radiyaAllahu anhu, he said Ya Rasulallah, what should I be doing at this particular time? So here, Annabiyya al-Aisadu Salam gives some valuable advice as to if a person faces such a time where people really don't know how to uphold their agreements and people upholding their agreements has become very very rare. It could be that we are living in such times. So here the Prophet ﷺ says firstly ilzambaitik, you should if you like stay in your home meaning focus on your ibadah, do not get involved in things which may add to the trouble and the confusion. Secondly, wamlik aalayka lisanaak, that you should hold on to your tongue. Do not be a person who has to comment on everything, who has to get involved in everything. Wa khudbima ta'arif, and hold on to everything that you know to be good. Everything that Allah Jalla wa Alaa taught you to know, what the Prophet ﷺ has taught you to know which is good, hold on to that. Wa da'ama tunkir, and stay away from those things which you know to be haram and evil. Wa aalayka bayamari khasatinafsik, basically concentrate on your own affairs. Wa da'anka amr al-a'am, and stay away from the needs and the affairs of everybody else. I believe this hadith to be really important on a particular topic, although it mentions many many things. And that is in times of chaos, in times of confusion, it's really important for the Muslim to uphold and a standard of akhlaq. When everybody else is rushing around, commenting and talking on this and that and the other, here the Prophet ﷺ gave a beautiful advice, how for you to uphold a particular type of character, a particular type of behavior during times of confusion. This is a back job to what I want to mention now. Listening to a lecture as you do, as we all do from time to time. Listening to some advice of one of the ulama, and he was mentioning some really basic foundational principles for Muslim. He was talking about the sources of Islam. Where do we get Islam from? Is it from somebody's pocket? If it is from somebody's own rai, their own opinion? Basic things that our deen taken from revelation from the book of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala and from the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. Something very simple, very easy to understand. But I was thinking to myself, how many people I've come across who are confused by such things? Taking the Sunnah? Do we accept the Sunnah? Should we? Shouldn't we? And then the alim he went on to explain about the perfection of the deen of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. About talking about submitting to the revelation. Not having any, of course he mentioned the evidences. Not having anything in your heart to stand up. But what about this? Or there's confusion within the revelation and the wahi. And how do we, it's completely submitting to the texts. The methodology. How the early generations of the Muslims, how they understood these sources of the Quran and the Sunnah, how they implemented it in their own lives, in their lives, their families, and not understanding that there are no contradictions between the Quran and the Sunnah and so on and so forth. And I was thinking, these are really basic, low, if you like, very easy introductory level principles into Islam. But how many are found Muslims who are confused with such topics? And because of their lack of knowledge on these topics, that they lose themselves. And that the complete opposite of that, that those who have understandings of these basic principles in Islam have a good achalaq and a good adab when talking about them. And the link between al-ilmu and achalaq. Having knowledge and having good manners that they can't be separated. So about two weeks ago I attended Hafra to T'Kharuj. There was a graduation ceremony where hundreds of students who've been studying for Allahumma-Bi'aric four years, graduated studying texts. I sit after Salah here and I hear about the projects going on in this particular masjid. The seerah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and other beneficial lectures and daurat that are going on summer and winter. And I thought about the individuals involved in such things. And the statement of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, if the arad Allahu bi'abdin khaira ista'maluhu, that if Allah to barak ta'ala wants to utilize an individual or wants good for an individual, he will be used. He'll be utilized. And so Fakila, how does Allah utilize his servants? And here the Prophet responded, that Allah will give in the ability, the success, the to do righteous actions before they die. And from those good actions, no doubt, I mean, is to pursue knowledge. To pursue knowledge in which it becomes part of you that you know Allah in a better way. You know the life and the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and that in turn shows in your character. Mu'ad ibn-ujabal, radiallahu anhu in the great hadith. He says, can you tell me as a hadith, I'm sure you know, can you tell me about an action or tell me about something that will you do he eluneel jannah? It will place me into jannah. Will you buy Idu ni'an in Nahr and takes me away from the fire? This is the answer we are the question we will have. I want to go to jannah and stay away from the hellfire. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, You have asked about a big matter. At that moment, the messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam think about it. He answered in this way, you have asked about a big matter. Maybe within your self, you think, oh, what if I just asked then the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, However, it is something very easy. For whom Allah s.w.t. makes it easy for your heart can calm down now. It's not something beyond us to reach the paradise to stay away from the hellfire. It is a matter that Allah will make easy for you if Allah decrease that for you. And one of those ways is what? Because it is not mentioned specifically what you do after that. Of course, the Prophet alaihi wa sallam mentions to worship Allah alone, establish the prayer, give zaka, offer some nafila, hold your tongue. That is the remainder of the hadith. But also the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, Allah will make easy the path to jannah for that individual. Here the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is showing us how to deliver a message which gives us hope and gives us the ability to understand that the path to jannah is not beyond us but does require work and does require effort. That the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was the best educator, the best teacher. But it's not just simply about delivering knowledge. It is about one who is on that path and when you've acquired it, how will you behave? Each and every one of us went to a school in our lives, some education institute and you think about the best teachers that you ever had. Who were your teachers that you particularly loved them because how they taught you is not because of the information itself necessarily. It's how they delivered it to you that they cared for you. They showed it to them. They showed patience with you. They gave you their time. They made a sacrifice for you. You can see that they were a dedicated person. Imagine that in the form of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam who's the best of teachers. And even when we read these hadith, we want there to listen present at these narrations, but they were passed on to us. But these narrations aren't just words. There's a feeling is an understanding that can be taken from these narrations that allow you to understand that it's not just the knowledge that you acquire. It's how it impacts you for you to become a better character, a better person. So the link between this knowledge and having good manners are inseparable. They have to go hand in hand. And when you look at the generations that came after, they truly understood the importance of acquiring this knowledge, which every single one of us can do at different ways in different ways at different stages and times. Some can dedicate 80% of their time. Others can dedicate 5% of their time, but you're all on a journey on seeking knowledge. The generations that came after they taught us that as Abdullah Ibn al-Mubarak, Rahimahu Allah, he said, Andum ila qyleel minal adibi ahwaju minkum ila kathirin minil al-iln that you are in greater need of little manners than a great deal of knowledge. The status and the Makana of having manners, Akhlaq is of the utmost importance. And we ask Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us good manners in seeking knowledge. Praise belongs to Allah. In times of fitna and chaos. And we may be living in situations and in times where there's plenty of that where everybody has something to say. The people of knowledge, ahlu l-iln, those who are grounded in knowledge, you will find that they are very measured, controlled and calm in all situations. Just as the Suhada, radi Allahu anhum, in the very best example, when people are in gatherings and sittings, personal, general meetings, they would mention that the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, would adhere to being quiet a lot of the time. Not a person who had a comment and spoke about everything, but was calm and measured and that allowed people around him, alaih sallam, to be impacted by that calmness. So in times where, as we are possibly living in now, in this confusion, adhere yourselves. Hold on to the people of knowledge so that you do not fall into the chaos and become part of that chaos. He said that the messenger of Allah, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, with his manners, his life and his guidance is the greatest template with which all things are compared. Whatever conforms to the way of the messenger, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, is definitely the truth, the Haqq and whatever opposes it is definitely misguidance and void. The character of our Nabi, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is something we need to study in a very deep and concentrated way. How he, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, would deal with all different types of people, the old and the young, the poor and the rich, the known and the unknown. How did our beloved Nabi, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam deal with all these types of people and how he showed mercy, respect, justice to all of these different groups of people. Al-Khulq al-Hasan, these good manners or having good manners in terms of its blessings are so many. Allah, to barakut-a'ala tells us regarding and Nabi, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, وإنك لعلا خلق اوذين that indeed you are upon a great character. This is our Qudwa. This is our example that we try to follow and try to emulate. Similarly, we find that the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, اكمل المؤمنين ايمانا. The most complete people in their Eman احسنهم خلقا are those who have the very best of manners. So your manners, having good manners is one way of perfecting and completing your faith. We're not talking about something which is you do in your spare time. You know, be kind and be a nice person. This is a fundamental part of our Eman, of our faith to have good character. That you are on your way to perfecting your Eman. When everybody else is getting involved in what they're getting involved in, you are there trying to better yourself that you may be from the closest people to the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. The اقرب النس, the closest people to the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, احسنكم اخلاقا. Those who have the best manners, best manners are from the heaviest deeds on يوم القيامة. These of course are the many نعم, many blessings that surround the topic of good manners. However, the way that you want to be able to know what these manners are, have to be accompanied with what? Is you acquiring this beneficial knowledge? So we should be making dua'at to Allah to barakot-e-A'ala to increase us in knowledge. Yes, to remain مخلص, to remain sincere. Yes, and that we can better our character because with beneficial knowledge, put to be shown on yourself, how am I benefiting from this knowledge? You become more humble. Your treatment of others becomes better. This is one of the ways that you know that you are better benefiting from this particular knowledge. We ask Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us from them. On this blessed day of the Juma, the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam told us to increase our salah upon him Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Mu'awwufa Allah Jallahu ala says Inna Allah wa Malakatahu yusalloon ala nabi Ya ayyuhal lazeena aamanu sallu alaihi wa salimu teslima Allahumma salli ala Muhammadin wa ala ala ali Muhammad Kama sallayta ala Ibrahim wa ala ala Ibrahim Inna kahmeedun majita Allahumma a'izzal islam wa al muslimin Allahumma a'izzal islam wa al muslimin Allahumma a'inna ala zikrika wa shukrika wa husni ibadatik Allahumma yaa musarrifal kulub Sarrif kulubana ala ta'atik Allahumma ghfil al muslimin wa al muslimat wa al mu'minina wa al mu'minat al ahyaa minhum wa al amwat Allahumma salli al muslimin fikul makana ya rabbal alamin Rabbana a'atina fid dunya hasana wa fil aakhirati hasana wa qin'a azaab al-nar wa aqimu s-salah This recording was produced by Green Lane Mustard For more information on the activities and services the mosque provides please visit www.greenlanemustard.org