Good Companionship - Shaykh Anas Tayib

This recording was produced by Green Lane Mustard. For more information on the activities and services the mosque provides, please visit www.greenlanemustard.org. Brothers and sisters, from the nature that Allah SWT created us upon is that we are people that mix and we find comfort in others. We establish relationships and friendships and Allah SWT didn't leave us alone in that. Rather, he gave us a criteria and a way by which we can establish these friendships and that is to be upon the Taqwa of Allah SWT and this is what gives a person success in the dunya and in the akhira. In the akhira, Allah SWT saves these people and he preserves their friendship. Allah SWT says, Al-akhillah, the closest of friends on the day of judgment will be enemies except for the people of Taqwa. All friendships will fall and crumble except for those that were established upon the Taqwa of Allah. And from the greatest of regrets of the people of the Hellfire is that they will wish that they had good friends and they will regret having evil friends. Allah SWT mentions in Surat Al-Furqan, The man who oppressed himself, in some narrations it is mentioned that it is from the mushriqeen. They had come to the messenger, SAW, he would sit with him. Some narrations even mentioned that he accepted Islam but his friend and his companion, who is also a mushrik, told him off and warned him and he left sitting with the messenger SAW. On the day of judgment, he will regret and he will say, Ya layitani, lamat takhid fulanaal khalila, if only I didn't take so and so as my friend. Laqad a-dallani ani dhikri has misguided me and turned me away from the Qur'an after he had come to me. Wa kaana shaytanu liin insani khaduula, and the shaytan is ever deserting to the human being. At a time when you need him most, the shaytan will turn you away. He will run away. He will leave you in the disbelief and in the hellfire that you have entered. And he will say that he is free from you as Allah SAW mentions the surah ibrahim where he gives a speech saying that I didn't force anybody to commit any evil. So this is what the shaytan does and this is what the allies of the shaytan would do. The people who call towards evil and away from Allah SWT. And this is an important point to understand for all adults and children that you reflect upon the companions that you have. As the messenger SAW told us A person is upon the religion of their companion, their close companion. Let a person look at the one that he is a close friend to. Who does he spend the time with most of his time? Who does he go to and leave when he is in these gatherings? The prophet SAW says Who these friends are? And this is the responsibility of each and every single person. And of course the point is even more stress for the youth and children being the job of the parents that they look at the friends and the friendships that their children have established. You don't let your kids wander around you have no idea who they spend the most time with. As the prophet SAW said They will be exactly and upon the religion of that companion. So isn't it from the benefit of our children that we look at Who their friends are? Who they spend the time with? Who they stay with? And as for the adults, this is something of even a greater responsibility. This responsibility is in your own hands. Allah SAW says The prophet SAW says Let one of you reflect When you call it the one he spends time with the one that he's a close friend of And the criteria and the way of Recognizing what a good friend is This was taught to us by Allah SAW as Allah SAW says He commands with the known These are the matters by which you can look At the friends that you have and decide if they are allies of good or people who call to evil Number one, Allah SAW says Men and the believing women are allies of one another Number one, they enjoin and encourage goodness So look at your friendships. Are they friendships where a person Is encouraged by their own friends to do good deeds? Are they encouraged to obey Allah SAW and do righteous deeds? Do you find it easy to even do good deeds in front of this person? Because when a person we say enjoin in the good, it's not always with statements It could be with actions that a person does a righteous deed and his friend looks And because of that he also does the good deed Also, it could be in their own presence You find it easier to do good deeds around some people compared to others These are the people of goodness They enjoin and encourage the good with speech with the actions and in their situations When they forbid and they discourage evil These friends of yours are the ones that warn you from evil Warn you from haram Tell you to stay away They see the path of evil and they warn you against it Whether in their statement by advising you Whether in their own actions that they themselves stay away from evil And that itself becomes an encouragement for you Or that in their presence you struggle and you feel shy to do a sin That you are sitting down and speaking with your friends about something haram And this person comes into the gathering and you change the topic Why? Because you know this person will advise you This is a criteria of a good friend Or also that you find it difficult to mention your sins to him That if you've committed something haram you hide it from him If you've done it in secret You don't go and boast to him As opposed to other friends Where you feel encouragement to mention the sins That you've committed Whether in their presence, whether in private Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala veils you and guards you and protects you And you wake up in the morning and you go and meet this friend and you tell them I did such and such and I did such and such Such and such Such boastfully and you're happy This also shows and this is a reflection That this friend is an evil friend Uliyad bil la So these are the first two things Ya'muruna bil ma'roof wa yanhuna alil munkar Wa yuqimuna al-salah They established the salah This is what the believers would do And look at your friendships Do your friends encourage you to pray salah? When salat time comes do they stop any activity that they're doing? If they play with you Do they say let's stop Maghrib time has come in Ishaat time has come in Let's pray salah Or are they people who pay no mind to the salah at all You won't find them in the masjid And when you're with them You struggle to go to the masjid You're shy to even say Let's go to the masjid and pray Or are they people where you meet them in the masjid The friendship itself could be a good thing But if you're not with them You're not with them The friendship itself could have been established in the masjid And when you miss for a few days And don't come to the salah and don't come to the Jama'at They ask about you These are the friends that encourage you to do good deeds Wa yuqimuna al-salah And they establish the prayer Wa yuqtuna al-zaka And they give zaka They give the obligatory zaka They give the voluntary zaka They give sadaqah They feed the poor people They need to do the same Wa yuqii'unallaha wa rasoolah And they obey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala And His messenger And of course all those things that came before Is from obeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala And His messenger Wa yuqii'unallaha wa rasoolah Do these people in their general Situation Do they obey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Do you find them to be People who honor the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala And honor the command of the messenger Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam That even if they fall into a mistake And an error and you say to them Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said this And the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Said this, would they stop and reflect And change Or will they just treat it like any other Speech Do they honor the sunnah of the messenger Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam By following the way of the prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Staying away from innovations And the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam These are friendships Which are established upon taqwa And these are the friendships of the believers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says Ula'ika sayar hamuhum Allah Those are the ones that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Will show Masih I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us Masih I say what you hear and ask forgiveness of Allah So ask forgiveness of him, he is the forgiveness of Rahim All praise is due to Allah Lord of the worlds, and peace and prayers On the mercy of the worlds And the forgiveness of the companions These five things which I have mentioned These are criteria That you can use And you can compare your friendships And you can test them Using these five matters And no friendship my brothers and sisters Is worth risking your akhira for And even your dunya As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says Wa al-aasr swearing by the Awaa and time Inna il-insa naraif lafi khusr Indeed, human being Or humankind Is at loss Illa alladina aamanu accept those who believe Wa aminu s-salihad And they do righteous deeds Wa tawasaw bil haqi And they advise one another And remind one another and command one another with the truth Wa tawasaw bil sabr And they command one another and advise one another regarding patience The believers that establish these matters That they believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala And do righteous deeds And advise one another Anybody who does anything Apart from these things Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us that they are at loss They have lost out everything You lose out in the dunya and you lose out in the akhira We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala To grant us righteous friendships Allahumma atinufusana taqwa ha wa zakiha Anta khayur man zakaha Anta wiliyuhum wa lahal Allahumma ghafilil muslimina Wa al muslimati wal mu'minina Wa al mu'minat al ahia'i minhum wa al amwat Allahumma ghafilil anadunubana Kullaha diqtaha wa jillaha sirraha Wa alaniyataha ma alimna minha Wa ma lam na'lam Allahumma inna nasaluka al jannah Wa ma qarrab ileyha min qawli wa amal Wa na'udu bika bin an-nari Wa ma qarrab ileyha min qawli wa amal Allahumma inna nasaluka min khair Ma asaalaka abduka wa nabika Muhammedun sallallahu alaihi wa salam Wa na'udu bika min sharrim Wa alaihi wa salam Wa bana'atina fi ddunya hasana Wa fil aqra ti hasana Wa qina aadaa bin naar Wa sallallahu wa salam ala nabiina Muhammedun wa ala alihi Wa sahbihi ajma'in