Praise be to Allah who alone enjoys Majesty and perfect Beauty, as a sign of His Greatness and Grandeur, and who alone conducts matters in their detail and generality in ordinance and disposition, and who is Supreme in His Greatness and Glory; it is He who revealed the Furqan (i.e. Qur'ān) to His servant (Muhammad () in order for it to be a warning for the Worlds; and I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone with no partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger who is supported by miracles and given victory by the wind from the Lord of all creatures; on him from Allah is the best Salat (Graces, Honors, and Mercy) and Peace; on his household the Good, the Pure; on his wives the mothers of the believers; and on his Companions and those who followed them in good faith till the Day of Judgment.
Fear Allah, O servants of Allah! And know that the best of the speech is embodied in the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance given by Muhammad (() and the worst evils are innovations (in Faith), and every innovation is a heresy, and every heresy is straying from the right path; seek the company of the community of Muslims, for Allah's Hand is on the hand of the (Muslim) community: (And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) after the right path has been shown clearly to him, and follows other than the believers’ way, We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell - what an evil destination!( [An-Nisâ: 115].
O People!
One of Allah's Ayats (signs) in this great universe on which depends life in the living human body is an Ayat (a sign) which arouses energy and motion and grants determination after languor. It is a sign whose existence gives man strength after weakness and relief after distress. If man reflects on it, his faith in his Lord increases and he will realize that He is the Creator and Owner of everything and that there is no true deity except Him. It is a sign on earth and in heaven by which Allah took oath in His Holy Book. Allah, the Creator ((), mentioned it in the Holy Qur'ān in twenty nine different places. Each oath Allah takes in His Book is great: (And verily that is indeed a great oath, if you but know.( [Al-Wâqi'ah: 76].
Allah (() can swear by whatever He wills of His creations and signs which He made as lessons and examples for those of understanding, and as proof and sorrow for every oblivious one who does not remember Allah by such signs, and do not return to Him by reflecting on them. Thus they are among those about whom Allah (() truly says: (And how many a sign in the heavens and the earth they pass by, while they are averse therefrom.( [Yûsuf: 105]. (And most of them believe not in Allâh except that they attribute partners unto Him [i.e. they are Mushrikûn i.e. polytheists. See Verse 6: 121].( [Yûsuf:106]
Indeed, Allah has taken an oath by this great sign four times in his Holy Book. He (() said: (By the winds (or angels or the Messengers of Allâh) sent forth one after another.(1)And by the winds that blow violently.(2) And by the winds that scatter clouds and rain.([Al-Mursalât: 1-3]. And He (() said: (By (the winds) that scatter dust.([Ath-Thâriyât: 1]. It is the sign of the wind(s), O servants of Allah!
It is the wind which, being obedient to Allah ((), is moved around by Him howsoever He wills. He says unto it: “Be, and it is”, in full submission to its Creator and Conductor just as the heavens and the earth have already submitted to Him ((): (Then He rose over (Istawâ) towards the heaven when it was smoke, and said to it and to the earth: "Come both of you willingly or unwillingly." They both said: "We come willingly."( [Fussilat: 11]
Allah (() has made the movement of winds among His signs intended for people of understanding. The wind can be cold and hot; it can blow from North, South, West, or East. It stirs up the clouds, joins them together, and then makes them into a heap of layers so the rain comes forth from between them. It acts as a fertilizer of rain and plants (carries the pollen), and a source of electrical power, mills, ships' sailing, aviation; however, all this does not exclude it from being one of Allah’s signs, and an object of thinking and reflecting on the dominions of the heavens and the earth and everything that Allah created.
If anything strikes you with astonishment, O servants of Allah, then it is indeed astonishing how the thinking of some Muslims has reached a level of intellectual disgrace and scientific inferiority, for they have been deceived by certain studies, beliefs, and cultures that have nothing to do with Islam and that which practice uniquely a purely materialistic outlook at the universe' phenomena and observed natural catastrophes in relation to their sources, causes, and the way of dealing with them. (We li At a time when some non-Muslims realize in their studies and discoveries the conditions of these phenomena and that such phenomena are not the work of Nature, neither in their beginning nor in their ending, and that behind this wind there lies a wisdom and a Wise Conductor who knows while they don’t know.
Perhaps the astonishment of non-Muslims will increase, or perhaps some of them might embrace Islam upon knowing that Islam has established the origin of such phenomena, and that the wind is one of Allah's miraculous creations in His great universe.
Some of them, after investing much effort, conducting a lot of research, and spending many years of their lives thereon, might think that they have discovered the secrets of the wind. However, the wind can have four states: a still wind, a favorable wind, a stormy wind, and a roaring wind.
Their astonishment reaches its apex, and the surprise its peak when they know that the Book of Allah (() fifteen hundred years ago mentioned these kinds of wind in that particular order at a time of an illiterate nation (Arab Nation) that does not read or write. He (() said of the still wind: (And among His Signs are the ships in the sea like mountains.( [Ash-Shûra: 32] (If He wills, He causes the wind to cease, then they would become motionless on the back (of the sea). Verily, in this are signs for everyone patient and grateful.( [Ash-Shûra: 33].
Most of the scholars of Qur’ānic exegesis who interpreted the Book of Allah (() long ago understood that what was meant by "ships" were sailing ships that cannot sail on the sea when the wind ceases. However the scientific miraculous nature of the Holy Qur'ān dazzles us by coming far ahead of modern scientific discoveries in showing that when the wind completely ceases, then ships will not be able to sail on the sea, neither sailing ships, steam ships, nor giant ships that use atomic energy. The reason is that all sources of energy used to push these ships need air oxygen, and when the wind ceases, oxygen ceases as a result, and the ships become motionless. The same can be said about airplanes, wind mills, and the like.
As for the gentle and stormy winds, Allah mentions them in these words: (He it is Who enables you to travel through land and sea, till when you are in the ships, and they sail with them with a favourable wind, and they are glad therein, then comes a stormy wind and the waves come to them from all sides, and they think that they are encircled therein( [Yûnus: 22], where waves reach in their height to a level above the ships coupled with a speed that leads to drowning when the winds have become stormy after being favorable.
The roaring wind is called a hurricane which takes a vertical shape towards the sky and makes sea waves very high, thus destroying ships and causing them to sink. A hurricane might be coupled with fire, or might not, which is most common.
Among the modern discoveries of the pioneers of geographical and geological research is that a hurricane that is coupled with fire is caused and generated by dense forest fires. It is self-evident that the Qur'an was revealed to a nation that mostly resided in the desert where no forests existed, yet Allah (() said in the time of early Muslims: (Would any of you wish to have a garden with date-palms and vines, with rivers flowing underneath, and all kinds of fruits for him therein, while he is stricken with old age, and his children are weak (not able to look after themselves), then it is struck with a fiery whirlwind, so that it is burnt? Thus does Allâh make clear His Ayât (proofs, evidence, verses) to you that you may give thought .([Al-Baqarah: 266]
Here is the Book of Allah which came fifteen hundred years ago before these scientists. It is the True Religion of values, the Sibghah (religion) of Allah: (and which Sibghah (religion) can be better than Allâh’s? And we are His worshippers.( [Al-Baqarah: 138]
And then, may Allah protect you!
The wind is truly one of Allah’s soldiers. It can be a mercy for His believing servants and a herald of glad tidings, sent before His Mercy (rain). It carries a heavy-laden cloud, and Allah drives it to a land that is dead. He gives to drink thereof many of the cattle and men that He had created. Thus it is a blessing from Allah to His believing servants. It is also among the soldiers of Allah ((), the Lord of al-'ālamîn when He sends it against their enemies and oppressors. It has been verified that the Prophet (() said: “I have been helped by Assaba (the easterly wind).” [narrated by Muslim]
(The sheikh quotes two lines of poetry that say):
Only Allah, the All-Knowing, the All-Conquering, the Accepter of all repentance
Can count the number of soldiers in His Kingdom.
Allah has achieved a great victory against the confederate (Al-Ahzâb)
On behalf of His Servant (Prophet Muhammad (() ) with His soldiers, in the form of winds.
The wind can also be revenge and torment that Allah sends unto whom He wills of His servants, for it is He Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Indeed, He destroyed the people of ‘Âd by Ad-Dabur, a (westerly), barren, furious wind: (And as for ‘Âd, they were destroyed by a furious violent wind!( [Al- Haqqa: 6]. He also destroyed the confederates who plotted against the Prophet (() and his Companions. Allah said about them: (O you who believe! Remember Allâh’s Favour to you, when there came against you hosts, and We sent against them a wind and forces that you saw not [i.e. troops of angels during the battle of Al-Ahzâb (the Confederates)]. And Allâh is Ever All-Seer of what you do.( [Al-Ahzab: 9].
The wind is also of the signs of the prophethood Prophet Muhammad ((). Jabir (() reported that Allah's Messenger (() was returning came from a journey and as he drew near Medina, a violent wind in a way that could bury the rider. Allah's Messenger (() said: “This wind has perhaps been made to blow for the death of a hypocrite.” When he reached Medina, he found that one of the most notorious hypocrites had died. [Narrated by Muslim]
Fear Allah, O servants of Allah! And contemplate Allah’s favour on His servants through the favourable wind, as Allah says: (And among His Signs is this, that He sends the winds as glad tidings, giving you a taste of His Mercy (i.e. rain), and that the ships may sail at His Command, and that you may seek of His Bounty, in order that you may be thankful.( [Al-Rum: 46]
Some of our ancestors said in explanation of the above verses (And among His Signs is this, that He sends the winds as glad tidings( that people rejoice because of such wind, (giving you a taste of His Mercy( means the rain that the wind carries, (and that the ships may sail at His Command( means the ships that the wind moves, (and that you may seek of His Bounty( means sea trade whose ships are moved by the wind, and (in order that you may be thankful.( means you Allah for the favour of sending winds.
(And it is He Who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy (rain). Till when they have carried a heavy-laden cloud, We drive it to a land that is dead, then We cause water (rain) to descend thereon. Then We produce every kind of fruit therewith. Similarly, We shall raise up the dead, so that you may remember or take heed.( [Al-Araf: 57]
May Allah bless you and me by the Noble Qur'ān and Sunnah, and make the Qur'ān's verses and wise sayings beneficial to you and me. This is said, I ask forgiveness from Almighty Allah. Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving.
Part Two
Praise be to Allah alone, and may Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon His Chosen Prophet, his family, his Companions and those who followed him!
O People!
O Allah! How great and wonderful this religion is! How vast and comprehensive it is! It left no evil without warning against it, and no good without leading to it. Abu Dhar (one of the Companions of Prophet Muhammad) (() said: “When the Prophet (() passed away, no bird flapping its wings in the sky but would transmit to us some knowledge imparted by him.” [Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Habban]
Some Mushrikûn (polytheists) asked Salman ((): “Your Prophet taught you everything, even about excreting?!” He replied: “Yes, he has forbidden us to face the Qibla at the time of excretion or urination ...” [Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih].
Our honorable Sharia also included guidance about how to deal with the wind. It has been verified that, if the wind blew, the Prophet (() used to say: “O Allah, I ask You for its goodness, the good within it, and the good it was sent with, and I take refuge with You from its evil, the evil within it, and from the evil it was sent with.” [Narrated by Muslim]
The Prophet (() forbade us to curse the wind with any kind of abuse or disparagement. And So much so that if it was a windy or a cloudy day, it would show on his face ((); he would move forward and backward (in a state of anxiety); so if it rained, he would rejoice and his face cleared. 'A'isha (may Allah be pleas with her) said: "I asked him the reason of this anxiety and he said: “I was afraid that it might be a calamity that might fall upon my Ummah.”
Among his guidance (() is that his usual call to people when it was a rainy or a cold, windy night used to be: "Pray in your dwellings."
The scholars mentioned the permission of combing the prayers in a severe cold wind and they forbade Muslims from urinating against the wind in order not to become impure.
This is our religion and this is our Islamic Sharia (Your Lord is He Who drives the ship for you through the sea, in order that you may seek of His Bounty. Truly He is Ever Most Merciful towards you. And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon vanish from you except Him (Allâh Alone). But when He brings you safe to land, you turn away (from Him). And man is ever ungrateful. Do you then feel secure that He will not cause a side of the land to swallow you up, or that He will not send against you a violent sand-storm? Then, you shall find no Wakîl (guardian - one to guard you from the torment). Or do you feel secure that He will not send you back a second time to sea and send against you a hurricane of wind and drown you because of your disbelief? Then you will not find any avenger therein against Us.( [Al- Isra: 66-69]
Ask Him –may Allah have mercy on you– to send His Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace on the best creature of Allah and the purest of mankind, Muhammad ibn `Abd Allāh, who has the intercession, for Allah sent His Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace on him and then ordered His angles, that are praising His sanctity, to do likewise and called out to you to ask Him to send His Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace on him. O believers! Allah the Almighty (() says (O you who believe! Send your Salât HYPERLINK "http://www.qurancomplex.com/Quran/Targama/Targama.asp?nSora=33&l=eng&nAya=56" \l "f1#f1" [1] on (ask Allâh to bless) him (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islâmic way of greeting (salutation i.e. As-Salâmu ‘Alaikum)(. [Al- Ahzab :56]
O Allah! Send Your Salat (Graces, Honours, and Mercy) and Peace on Your servant and Messenger Muhammad! O Allah! Be pleased with his four Caliphs –Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali, all of Your Prophet's (() Companions, the tab’în and those who righteously follow them till the Day of Judgment. O Allah! Be also pleased with us all, along with them, by Your Pardon, Generosity and Bounty, O You, the Most Merciful, Most Compassionate!
O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims, and fail polytheism and polytheists (who associate partners with You)! O Allah! Grant victory to Your religion, Your Book, the Sunnah of Your Prophet Muhammad (() and Your truthful believing servants!
O Allah! Put an end to the suffering of Muslims! Rescue those in distress, and help those indebted pay back their debts! Cure those of us and those of the Muslims who are ill, O You Most Merciful, Most Compassionate.
O Allah! Grant victory to our Muslim brothers who are oppressed in their religion everywhere! O Allah! Grant victory to our Muslim brothers who are oppressed in their religion everywhere! O Allah! Grant victory to the Muslims in Burma! O Allah! Grant victory to the Muslims in Syria! O Allah! Grant them power and victory over their tyrant and oppressors! O You, Lord of Majesty and Bounty.
O Allah! Fail their enemy; plague their life affairs, and make their years as lean as the lean years of Yusuf (Prophet Joseph)! O You, Lord of Majesty and Bounty.
O Allah! Grant us security in our homelands! Make good our leaders and those responsible for our affairs, and make our leadership from among those who are fearful of You, who guard taqwa (fear of Allah), and follow Your Path, O You, Lord of al-'ālamîn (the worlds)!
O Allah! Guide our leader to do and say whatever you love and accept. O You the Ever-Living, the Eternal Guardian. O Allah! Make his retinue righteous. O You the Lord of Majesty and Bounty.
O Allah! You are Allah, there is no deity worthy of worship except You! You are the Self-Sufficient and we are the poor! Send down rain upon us and do not make us despondent! O Allah! Send down rain upon us and do not make us despondent! O Allah! Send down rain upon us and do not make us despondent! O Allah! Do not deprive us of the best You have because of the worst we do! O Allah, we are creatures amongst Your creation, so do not make our sins impede Your grace! O You, the Lord of Majesty and Bounty, the Lord of al-'ālamîn (the worlds)!
(… Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire!( [Al-Baqarah: 201]
Glorified be You Lord, the Lord of Honor and Power! You are free from what they attribute unto You! May peace be upon the Messengers! The last of our supplications is all praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!
Stunningly beautiful adhaan from the Dome of the Rock in Masjid ul Aqsa Download (right click and choose "save target/link as").
This is a clear message for mankind in order that they may be warned thereby, and that they may know that He is only One God, and that those of understanding may take heed (14:52)
Indeed Allah knows, and you know not (16: 74, part)
Re: English Translations Of Khutab By Sheikh Saud Ash Shuraim
Conscientiousness: Its Significance and Merit
Part One
All the praises and thanks be to Allâh, the (only) Originator [or the (Only) Creator] of the heavens and the earth, Who made the angels messengers with wings, two or three or four… [Faŧer: 1]; The Forgiver of sin, the Acceptor of repentance, the Severe in punishment, the Bestower (of favours). Lâ ilâha illâ Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), to Him is the final return. [Ghafer: 3]; all praises and thanks be to Him (both) in the first (i.e. in this world) and in the last (i.e. in the Hereafter). And for Him is the Decision, and to Him shall you (all) be returned. [Al-Ǭašaš: 70].
I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah with no associate, and I also bear witness that Muhammad () is Allah’s Servant and Messenger, portrayed in the Holy Quran as …the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad ), who believes in Allâh and His Words [(this Qur’ân), the Taurât (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) and also Allâh’s Word: "Be!" - and he was, i.e. ‘Îsâ (Jesus) son of Maryam (Mary), عليهما السلام]… [Al-Arâf: 158]. May Allah send His bounteous Salat (i.e. Graces, Honours, and Mercy) and Peace on him, his chaste and virtuous family, wives (mothers of the believers), Companions, and the tab'în (the contemporaries of the Companions of the Prophet [] after his death), and on all those who have virtuously embraced their tradition till the Day of Judgement.
O Servants of Allah!
Observe taqwa (i.e. fear of violating Allah’s commands) and bear in mind that the Herein is but an ephemeral form of life rather than a locus of eternal residence. Allah has made you trustees of its resources to test your conduct: As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allâh and fears Him And believes in Al-Husnâ We will make smooth for him the path of ease (goodness) [Al-Layl: 5-7]
O Muslims!
The world nowadays is experiencing a most sophisticated era of technical advancement and ultra-modern information technology. It is witnessing a state of euphoria stimulated by successive innovations and inventions in all walks of life. No sooner do people get familiar with an original novelty through scrutinising its structure and function than another equally ingenious innovation bewilders them to the extent that they forget about the previous one.
Thanks to its strong motivation and high sense of curiosity, the world has reached outer space and manufactured the atomic bomb. Yet, it has been unable to stimulate the conscience and resuscitate the scruples of societies and peoples. It has failed to fill the spiritual void reigning over society and affirm the concept that life is simply a means rather than an end in itself. Paradoxically enough, they do have the capacity to observe stars in the sky but remain quite sightless when it comes to detecting a particle of dust in the eye.
In fact, much ink has been spilled on the topic of individual conscientiousness and scruples which has been constantly advocated by many earnest reformers and advisers who are dutiful to their nation and people. Unfortunately, such advocacy had little echo in real life as it failed to move the Islamic nation from confinement to liberty, from humiliation to glory, from egotism to self-effacement, and from dearth to worth. Quite often, awareness is only available when it is too late—if ever it is the case. It is reactive rather than proactive. More often than not, rescue coincides with the disaster itself instead of resulting from the vociferous warnings of counsellors. This confirms the poet’s verse:
The Sheikh cites a line of poetry:
(I offered them advice while we were going round the tortuous turning of the district by night, but they only understood its essence the following morning).
O servants of Allah!
Conscientiousness is that inner human feeling which makes individuals monitor their own behaviour. It is a sense of scrupulous self-monitoring that fosters in the individual a psychological predisposition to distinguish between good and evil in speech, action, and thought. It enables one to appreciate what is good and repel what is evil. In essence, Islam is a divinely revealed religion founded on freedom. This is why it emancipated people from worshipping humans and orientated them to the worship of Allah alone and unrivalled. Islam affirmed that glory is the fruit of faith whereas humiliation and inferiority are strongly associated with unbelief, wickedness, and sinful disobedience.
All such meanings manifest themselves through individual conscientiousness and a sense of ethical awareness to be subsequently extended to the entire Islamic society. Whenever this dynamic sense of ethical awareness is absent from a given society, its members will systematically turn into spiritless bodies. Certain societies might paradoxically promote their members to the status of satanic entities in human disguise.
Each manifestation in social reality of such common issues such as strength vs. weakness, wealth vs. poverty, faith vs. immorality, and justice vs. injustice is inevitably closely connected to the state of people’s conscience and their sense of ethical awareness: whether vigilant, lost, or dormant. Nowadays, Muslim societies are suffering from the absence of fully committed conscientiousness and sense of ethical awareness. In the past, when such principle was prevalent in their daily lives, people in the Levant used to say “bless you” to someone who sneezed in the western side of the territory, and when someone sought succour in the north those in the south would answer his cry for help.
In fact, one can but look aghast at what is going on in the life of this nation. Quite surprisingly, even the screams of pain from someone just next to you would remain unheard; his helpless hand gestures to seek urgent assistance would fail to attract the attention of passers-by: …Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind [Al-Ĥajj: 46] .
The nation’s conscience will never awaken before its individuals’ conscience regains life, for how can the shadow of a body be straight if the body itself is crooked and how can someone with crippled fingers wear a ring? As a rule, the weaker conscience is, the later this sense of conscientiousness and ethical revival will be. It seems as if certain people’s conscience had been resistant to change to the extent of sterility and absolute inefficacy.
People can be categorised into different groups depending on the nature of their inner conscience. The first category is endowed with an unmistakably energetic conscience allowing them to recognise and enjoin what is good and reject what is evil. They share their nation’s worries, sufferings, and hopes. They relieve people’s grief, alleviate their sufferings, and echo their sighs. They are modest with true believers but relentless opponents to criminal tyrants. They implacably ignore human reproaches: …That is the Grace of Allâh which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allâh is All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower [Al-Maîda: 54]
The second category of people has a dormant conscience bordering on vacuity. A man with a dormant conscience is like a dumb and powerless slave [1] who is a burden on his master; whichever way he directs him, he brings no good. He is only a statistic devoid of action. He is in a death-in-life state lurking in anticipation for some material benefits or deriving personal privileges. He may also be tainted with the fear of leaving unsupported and weak offspring behind. [2] His inner voice echoes the following expression: “I am all for number ONE.” Consequently, this category of people hardly offers help or advice . They behave as though they were created just to eat and drink. These people are required to resuscitate their conscience before it irreversibly joins the dead ones.
As to the third category, these are people characterised by inert conscience. They are dominated by evil and contain little, if any good. They are neither at the forefront nor at the rear . They only share all that is evil and are only noticed enjoining evildoing and proscribing good conduct and noble values. These people are typically tight-fisted. They have forgotten Allah; as a result, Allah has totally ignored their existence and doomed them to oblivion. They are typically liars, cheaters, egotists, slanderers, fault-finders, and going about with calumnies.[3]
An internal voice betrays their inner thoughts: “I must just rescue myself; after me the deluge! Attack is the best defence strategy.” They are like houseflies targeting bleeding injuries. Their society abhors their existence and constantly seeks protection from their imminent threat. It seems as if they were created just to commit evil acts and have their action scales burdened with sins until their final encounter with Allah, suffering total disfigurement.
So, observe taqwa (i.e. fear of violating Allah’s commands)—may Allah bestow His grace on you—and never forget that living conscience is the stimulator of real faith. Its fruit is mutual love, compassion, and empathy. It acts as a catalyst for unity in the entire complementary organism of the nation—as confirmed in the Prophet's () Hadith , “The case of the believers in their mutual love, compassion, and empathy is similar to that of the (human)body: whenever a single organ suffers from pain, the rest of the body will respond by showing symptoms of sleeplessness and fever.” (Narrated by Imam Muslim in his Saĥiĥ Book).
If each one of us tried himself before his own conscience one would realize that the tree of negligent conscience never bears fruit. Should any of us completely surrender to the dictates of his conscience, whether good or evil, he would feel so intolerably uptight and disturbed about it and his eye will never be able to see the truth the way it should be seen. Right then everyone calling to account will realize that turning a blind eye to accountability to one’s conscience and patronizing it have much more serious consequences than the causes of such failure.
It follows then that every faithful must take the initiative to interrogate his conscience; for a silent conscience is a ‘silent devil’. Likewise, a conscience that speaks only evil is a ‘speaking devil’.
The Islamic sharia has come down to us in order to uphold conscience and to prevent it from perishing or withering away, inducing members of the Muslim community to realize the importance of such an undertaking, to guard themselves against the evil of dead or negligent conscience, and to bear in mind that a living and vigilant conscience is their only resort for strength and integration.
The Messenger of Allah () said: “Don't nurse envy against one another! Don’t practice Najsh [4]! Don't nurse aversion against one another! Don't be inquisitive about one another and don't outbid one another (with a view to raising the price)! Be fellow-brothers and servants of Allah! A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim: he does not oppress him, nor does he fail him, lie to him, or scorn him. Taqwa (piety) is right here” [and he pointed to his chest three times]. O Servants of Allah! That is indeed what is meant by ‘living conscience’.
“Taqwa is right here”. Then he says: “ It is a serious evil for a Muslim that he should look down upon his brother Muslim. All things of a Muslim are inviolable for his brother in faith: his blood, his wealth and his honour.”
May Allah bestow His blessings, for you and for me, in the Qur'ān and sunnah and benefit us with the verses, Dhikr [5] and wisdom therein. I have said what I have said; if it is true it is thanks to Allah, but if it is wrong it is because of me and the accursed Satan. I seek forgiveness from Allah. He is All-Forgiving!
Part Two
Praise be to Allah Alone! May His Peace and Salat (Graces, Honours, Blessings, Mercy) be upon the seal of all messengers!
O People!
No true believer would doubt it for a moment that the ummah, while being scorched by the flames of conflicts, disasters, aggression and wars that have ravaged everything in their way, is now more than ever in need for true conscience that is clear from all forms of hatred and envy. What the ummah really needs are Muslims with compassionate and admonishing conscience willing to overlook their personal and relatively negligible interests and focus on the yet more important and more pressing issues that concern their brothers in faith and community in general. Having said that, we must all realize that once there is no more conscience, egoism and selfishness will take over and the prevalent logic among individuals and communities will be something like: ‘mind your own business’; ‘what for? You won’t be able to make a difference’; ‘what else can you do?’ ‘You’re not entrusted to sponsor, represent or protect so and so.”
When conscience is no more, one starts hearing statements like ‘leave what’s for Allah to Allah and what’s for Ceasar to Ceasar’. When conscience is no more, the treacherous are trusted and the truthful are accused of treason; liars are believed and the honest are called liars.
In the absence of conscience lambs change to roaring lions, he-camels to she-camels and turkey vultures to eagles. Seas will derive their waters from wells, the frivolous will speak out and people will entrust their leadership to the ignorant who will then walk and lead others astray.
When conscience is gone, reproach becomes admonition, backbiting freedom of speech, and slandering exhortation.
When conscience is gone, the oppressor will not refrain from destroying an entire population. He will then proceed to slaughter, blow up, imprison and displace people; they cry out and call out for help, but in vain.
When conscience is no more, tyranny gets the upper hand, justice wanes, stinginess prevails, exhortation goes scarce, pests and punishments are poured down, buildings are destroyed block by block, with no chance for restoration.
Finally, when conscience goes feelings go with it and it matters, no more, who is up and who is down. People would then prefer to be buried under the ground rather than remain on it.
On the authority of Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, the Messenger of Allah () said: “The Last Hour would not come until a person would pass by a grave of another person and he would roll over it saying: I wish it had been my abode; not out of religious belief but because of this calamity. [Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim]
There is no good in this life and this living
When the key to conscience is lost and gone
Don’t you see that the solid grains are turning
Into flour under the effect of the grinding stone
Ask Allah –may He have mercy on you– to send His Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace on the best creature of Allah and the purest of mankind, Muhammad ibn `AbdAllāh, who is given al-Hawdh (the sacred basin) and is vested with intercession; for Allah sent His Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace on him and then ordered His angels, that are praising His sanctity, to do likewise and called out to you, O believers, to ask Him to send His Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace on him. Allah the Almighty () says: Allâh sends His Salât (Graces, Honours, Blessings, Mercy) on the Prophet (Muhammad), and also His angels (ask Allâh to bless and forgive him). O you who believe! Send your Salât[1] on (ask Allâh to bless) him (Muhammad ), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islâmic way of greeting (salutation i.e. As-Salâmu ‘Alaikum). [AlAhzab: 56]. The Prophet (ρ) said: "He who offers me a Salat, Allah will offer him ten such Salats as a reward".
O Allah! Send Your Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy), Peace and Blessing upon Your Servant and Messenger, Muhammad! O Allah! Be pleased with the four Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali, all of his Companions, on the tab'în and those who righteously followed them till the Day of Judgment. O Allah! Be also pleased with us all, along with them, by Your Pardon and Generosity, O You, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate!
O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims, and fail polytheism and polytheists (who associate partners with You)! O Allah! Grant glory to Your religion, Your Book and the Sunnah of Your Prophet, and Your believing servants!
O Allah! Relieve the distressed among Muslims, alleviate their anguish, pay off the debts of those indebted, and cure our patients and theirs, with Your Mercy, O You, Most Merciful!
O Allah! Grant our souls piety, and purify them, You are the best Who Purifies them, You are their Guardian and Master! With Your Mercy, You, the Most merciful!
O Allah! Grant us safety in our homelands, and set right our Imams and Guardians. O Allah! Make our leadership from among those who fear You, guard taqwa and seek Your satisfaction, O Lord of the Worlds!
O Allah! Guide our leader to say and do whatever You love and please, O You, the Living, the Everlasting! O Allah! Set right his retinue, O You, the Lord of Majesty and Honour!
O Allah! Be on the side of our brothers who are oppressed and defenseless in their religion, wherever they may be! O Allah! Grant them victory against Your enemy and theirs; O Allah! Grant them victory sooner rather than later, You, The Lord of Majesty and Honour! O Allah! Grant them victory in Palestine, Syria, Burma, and everywhere, You, The Lord of Majesty and Honour; the Lord of the Worlds!
O Allah! Make it a speedy victory and relief for them! O Allah! Make it a crowning victory, O You, the Living, the Everlasting!
O Lord! You are Allah, and there is no deity worthy of worship but You! You are the Self-sufficient while we (humans) are destitute! Do send down rain on us and save us from despair! O Allah! Send down rain on us and save us from despair! O Allah! Send down rain on us and save us from despair! O Allah! We beseech You not to make the worst of our deeds a reason for depriving us of the best of Your Grace! You, the Lord of Majesty and Honour!
O Allah! We are but creatures of Yours. We implore You not to make our sins stand between us and Your grace, O You, the Living, the Everlasting, the Lord of the Worlds!
… Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire! [Al-Baqarah: 201]
Glorified be our Lord, the Lord of Honor and Power! You are free from what they wrongly attribute unto You! May peace be upon all the Messengers! And the last of our supplications is “praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!”
[1] The Sheikh’s statement is indirectly quoted from the Holy Quran And Allâh puts forward (another) example of two men, one of them dumb, who has no power over anything (disbeliever), and he is a burden on his master; whichever way he directs him, he brings no good. [Al-Naĥl: 76]
[2] Once again, the Sheikh’s statement is indirectly quoted from the Holy Quran: And let those (executors and guardians) have the same fear in their minds as they would have for their own, if they had left weak offspring behind. So let them fear Allâh and speak right words. [Al-Nissâ: 9]
[3] The Sheikh’s statement is indirectly quoted from the Holy Quran: A slanderer, going about with calumnies. [Al-Ǭalam: 11]
[4] Deceiving a purchaser through a third party offering a higher price
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English Translations Of Khutab By Sheikh Saud Ash Shuraim (OP)
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