
Jump to:
Khutbahs
Just When You Thought It Was Over | Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman
In hellfire and paradise, the hardships or blessings are perpetually renewed to either increase one in despair or in delight. The tormentors in Gaza who give false hope only to throw people back into fires will face a similar fate. In life, our periods of test and ease also are prolonged at different durations in a way that we place our hope only in Allah in good times and bad times.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
We begin by praising Allah and bearing witness that none has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally obeyed except for Him. And we bear witness that Muhammad is His final messenger.
We ask Allah to send His peace and blessings upon him, the prophets and messengers that came before him, his family and companions that served alongside him, and those that follow in his blessed path until the Day of Judgment.
And we ask Allah to make us amongst them. Allahumma Ameen. Dear brothers and sisters, one of the things that has happened in the last two years is that the scenes of hopelessness and despair and hellfire
have suddenly become therapeutic for some of the believers when they see the affair of those who wreak hopelessness and despair
and the equivalent of hell on earth upon our brothers and sisters in Gaza and beyond.
And in that process, we can grasp some of the scenes of the hereafter better and understand them and then project them back on our state in this world
and how Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has created us in this consistent and constant affair. And the sentiment was just when you think it's over.
We saw the celebration after a ceasefire agreement where the people of Gaza smiled and laughed. And then that very night, some of those who were smiling and laughing were murdered and burnt alive.
Over 80 people killed by the time a ceasefire actually takes place on Sunday. And we know how the enemy will violate multiple times.
Allah knows best how many of those who celebrated the ceasefire will not actually be there to witness it in Gaza. What's the spiritual equivalent of this? Just when you thought it was over.
And that has been a consistent theme of those who wreak havoc on our brothers and sisters is just when they give them hope of relief, they turn up the fire.
And when you look at the state of the people of Hellfire, may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala protect us from being amongst them. Allahumma ameen. Allah Azza wa Jal says,
Think of the creators of hopelessness in this world now dealing with hopelessness in that world. Every time they think they're about to escape Hellfire,
describes it as a punishment that will burst them to the top of a flame. And they will see what appears to be an escape.
And at that point, they would be struck by the gatekeepers of Hellfire and returned 70 years into a pit, 70 years deep within Hellfire, struck down. And told,
And so you can imagine the consistent and perpetual hopelessness that every time they think they're getting out, they actually go deeper in.
And just when they thought it was over, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala shows them that you're just getting started. And indeed, there are people who deserve to be in that state. Otherwise,
would not put them in it. The one who is just Subhanahu wa Ta'ala would not put them in it. And so there is a state of hope followed by hopelessness.
One of the greatest means of torture in this life is when you give someone the hope of relief and then you increase the trial, you increase the test and the torture upon them.
Because the emotional sentiments, you know, you're on guard when you're in a state of trial, but you let your guard down.
And so when you increase the torture, you don't have the same tools, or at least they're not kindled as immediate as before, to see yourself through that.
And the Prophet (ﷺ) said about Hellfire that the person who has the least punishment in Hellfire will have a stone in their shoe that will go through and boil what is in their bodies until it reaches their brain.
And then they will be restored and it will come back and be over and over and over again. They do not die there, nor are they given life.
It is a consistent, perpetual punishment just when they think it's over. Now there's an equivalent to that as well in Jannah.
And the equivalent in Jannah is that just when the people of Jannah will think that they've maxed out in terms of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's blessing and reward, Allah will show them something that they had no idea even existed.
Just when they think they have it all, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala will give them more. And who deserves that more than the people of Gaza when we think about them right now?
Who have been scrambling for something so small, celebrating the possibility of not being burnt alive in whatever makeshift home that you have while you're starving to death. Who will deserve that more?
And Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, every time He increases the beauty of the people of Jannah, they think that's maximum beauty. Every time Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala gives them a new reward, they think this must be the highest reward.
The Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned to us in the authentic hadith that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala will tell them, keep asking. Ask for more. It's not over yet. You haven't got it all yet. And they would say, Alam tubayyid wajuhana?
They look around at themselves and say, but our faces have been made bright. Alam tudkhilna al-jannah? You entered us into Jannah. Watunajjina min al-naar? And you saved us from hellfire. Ya Allah, what's left?
We thought it was over. Fayakshiful hijab, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala removes the veil.
And then they see the face of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and they would not have been given anything more blessed and more beautiful than that.
So Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, just as the hope of the people of hellfire is being turned into greater hopelessness, just as the punishment is being renewed perpetually,
the reward of the people of Jannah is being refreshed and renewed perpetually to where they're reaching a greater level, a greater level, a greater level, a greater level. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala make us amongst those people. Allahumma ameen.
And just as the people of hellfire would wish for death. And one of the most heartbreaking things to witness in this world is a young boy who didn't get a chance to live life,
wishing for death because their parents have been killed, their siblings have been killed. They don't see a future for themselves in this dunya and they wish for death. The people of hellfire would wish for death.
They would wish for it to end. Even on the day of judgment, ya laytani kuntu turaba, they would wish to end at that point because they know what follows is only going to be worse.
But look at the state of the people of Jannah. When Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala blesses them with something else and something else and something else. Imagine when they look around at each other and it's like, I just realized something.
athamaa naahnu bimayyateen illa mawtatana al-oola wa maa naahnu bimuAAadhibeen Is that really it? Are we really not going to die? A realization again and again and again.
Wait a minute. This is forever. Wait a minute. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala still has more to give us. Wait a minute. We're just getting started in Jannah. And imagine friends talking to each other. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala allow us to be part of that conversation.
And saying, you realize we're not dying. There is no pitfall after prosperity here. There is no disappointment after deliverance. It's just on the up except for the first time that we die.
And we will never be punished again. inna haatha lahwa alfawz alAAazeem That is great success. limitli haatha falyaAAamal alAAameen For that, let those who are working work.
For that moment. And here I want to bring us to our state in this dunya. We know that in this dunya, we have hardship. We have ease.
And we know that the Prophet (ﷺ) told us that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala will test us. Like the lines, vertical lines grabbing a horizontal line, pinching us.
At different points in our lives to remind us of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. walanoo theeqannahum minalAAathabil adnaa doonalAAathabil akbar laAAallahum yarjiAAoon
And sometimes you will taste a smaller punishment before the greater punishment. So that Allah can bring you back. It's an opportunity to bring you back to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.
You will be pinched in this dunya at different points to remind you that this is daarul bala. That this is a place of test and trial. But here is the thing that we often forget.
That these tests and trials are not neatly spread out in our lifetime. It's not like you have a period of ease and then you have a period of hardship. You have a good thing that happens to you and then you have a bad thing that happens to you.
And then a good thing that happens to you and a bad thing that happens to you. In fact one of the most powerful reflections on the ayah innama al-usri yusra
that verily with hardship comes ease is that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala described hardship as a state. That state of being could last for two years, it could last for 20 years, it could last for two minutes.
But that state of ease is perpetual. Once you enter into true yusr which exists only outside of this world and paradise.
So it's not like the hardship that Allah is talking about is the one thing that just happened to you. But there are states of being that sometimes you have hardship and then that hardship is followed by another hardship.
And just as you think you're about to get ease another hardship comes and then another one comes. And then there is a long period of ease, relative ease.
Because even in your state of ni'mah, in your state of blessing, there are things that will remind you life is not perfect. It's not meant to be perfect here. But relative periods of ease and blessing.
And then suddenly you get struck by a long period of trial and hardship. And then that sentiment comes sometimes when you're in a state of hardship. I thought it was over.
You were just about to climb out. Allah shows you the light at the end of the tunnel. But then the tunnel somehow extends. And if a person doesn't have proper iman, proper yaqeen, proper faith and certainty.
Then at that point they can succumb to the darkness and they can embed it in their own hearts and say, I give up. I give up. And that happens to many people.
And listen to how the Prophet (ﷺ) spoke about ayyam al-fitan. The days of trial and tribulation. And pay attention to the hadith of Abu Huraira (رضي الله عنه). The Prophet (ﷺ) said, badiru bil a'mal.
Rush to do good deeds. Some of those that explain the hadith explain that rush to do good deeds meaning in times of ease.
Rush to do good deeds in times of ease because we tend to be most complacent with our good deeds when we don't feel the urgency of test and trial.
Badiru bil a'mal fitanan ka qita'il laylil muzlim. Because there are trials that will come to you that will be like dark patches of the night.
When you think about a laylil muzlim, a long night in the depths of the darkness of the night, you see no light whatsoever. Only the artificial lights exist at some point. See no light whatsoever.
And you will be plunged at times into fitan, into trials and tribulations where there is no end in sight. And the Prophet (ﷺ) is saying badiru bil a'mal, rush to do good deeds before you find yourself in that state.
Because he says (ﷺ), at that point yusbihu arrajulu mu'mina wa yumsi kafiran. Wa al'iyadu billah, may Allah protect us. A person will wake up a believer and go to sleep a disbeliever.
Or they'll go to sleep a believer, or they'll wake up a believer, go to sleep a disbeliever. Or they'll go to sleep a believer, wake up a disbeliever. The point is that at that point you might just lose your iman.
You might lose your faith altogether. And someone thinks how could I? Me? No, I'm a Muslim. I'm a mu'min. I'm a believer. I would never lose iman. You're saying that in a time of ease. You're saying that in a time of ease.
But are you implementing badiru bil a'mal, rushing to do good deeds as if you're that person that's in the pit of despair. You can say it now. But it's not easy when the time actually comes.
The Prophet (ﷺ) in another hadith in Muslim Imam Ahmed, the Prophet (ﷺ) described, kalkharazatu fil nizam That the fitan will come towards the end of times.
If you imagine, many of you are carrying the misbah, tasbih. If you imagine the beads on a string and someone cuts that string and how quickly those beads fall off.
Imagine the Prophet (ﷺ) is saying sometimes tests will hit you that way. And the fitan at the end of times may Allah protect us will be like that. So it's not like one falls on you like a boulder.
It's like 10 boulders fall on you suddenly at one time. What does that mean for us? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) is saying, badiru bil a'mal
Then rush to do good deeds in your time of ease. And here's what I want us to focus on dear brothers and sisters. Because there will be long periods of relative ease in our lives where we become complacent.
And long periods of relative trial in our lives where we can succumb to despair. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) emphasized how you act when you're not in that desperate state.
And if you think about what we are most prone to when things are calm and easy, it's the state of ghafla. It's what Allah Azza wa Jal calls the state of heedlessness.
Al ghafla fee awqat al ni'm Ghafla heedlessness during your long stretches of ease. Why? Because you don't feel like the world is closing in on you and so you tell yourself, yeah, I've got time.
You know, when the time comes, I'll get into my du'a. You know, when the time comes, I'll renew my faith with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And so you already have people from now thinking, yeah, my life is not great.
I'm not, I don't really know Allah. I'm not reading much Quran. I'm not getting close to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. I'm not making much du'a. But yalla, Ramadan. Who guaranteed you Ramadan? Who in the world told you that you will live another month and a half?
Who told you that's even coming? But when you're not feeling the heat of despair, you can easily fall into ghafla. You can easily fall into ease.
And SubhanAllah, I was reflecting on this hadith in a way that I had never SubhanAllah noticed before. The hadith of the Prophet (ﷺ) talking to Abdullah ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنهما) while he was riding with him.
And at the tail end of the hadith, the Prophet (ﷺ) says to Ibn Abbas, ta'arraf ila Allah fil raka'a ya'rifka fishshilda
Get to know Allah in times of ease. Allah will know you in times of hardship. And I was just thinking SubhanAllah, how beautiful and precise the advice of the Prophet (ﷺ).
Because sometimes when you're in periods of ease, you still pray your five prayers, you still give your sadaqa, you still do your things robotically and mechanically. But you disconnect from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in your times of ease.
Like your du'a doesn't have the same deep attachment. Your salah doesn't feel as great. We hate trial, but trial is the only thing that wakes us up for tahajjud. We hate despair, but despair is the only thing that makes us cry in our du'a.
And so sometimes in your times of ease, yeah alhamdulillah I still come to jum'ah, I still pray my five prayers. But your heart is rusting, you're not talking to Allah, you're not getting to know Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. You're succumbing to ghafla, it's easy right now.
And when it's easy, it's easy to become heedless. And the Prophet (ﷺ) emphasized what? Ta'arraf ila Allah fil raka'a. Get to know Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala during those times of ease, Allah will know you in times of hardship.
You know what it makes me think about? Anytime I take someone for umrah or hajj, especially hajj, then during hajj, mashAllah people want like an experience where they're making du'a quietly and everything is nice and smooth and sakinah.
That's not the ibadah of hajj. In hajj you're getting bustled around, pushed around, elbows, sweat, tiredness, exhaustion, dehydration. There's no quiet moment for du'a except for the tents of Mina, maybe, and on the day of Arafah.
Other than that, you're making tawaf and you're just trying to not fall down while you're making your dhikr and your du'a, right?
Why? Because in moments of tribulation, you don't have that time to settle in and make that quiet du'a and feel that quiet connection. What's stopping you right now?
Ta'arraf ila Allah fil raka'a. Ta'arraf ila Allah fil raka'a, badiru bil a'mal. And the last hadith that I'll mention here,
wallahu feeAAoonilAAabd maa kaana alAAabdu feeAAooni aakhee. Allah will be at the aid of the believer so long as the believer is at the aid of his brother.
You want Allah to know you in hard times when you think the hard time is never going to end, when you feel like I can't see an end in sight. These are three things.
Badiru bil a'mal, rush to do good deeds in your times of ease as if it's a time of hardship. Put yourself in Gaza right now. Mentally put yourself in Gaza. Spiritually put yourself in Gaza right now.
And think about what would happen to your du'as and what would happen to your good deeds. Badiru bil a'mal. Number two, ta'arraf ila Allah. Do the actions where you get to know Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, where you read Quran and quiet, where you make du'a and ease, where you do dhikr and ease,
and you connect yourself to Allah. Because that's the only way that you'll be able to trust Him when you can't trust your senses because you don't see an end in sight during the trial.
Number three, Allah is in the service of the believer so long as the believer is in the service of his brother. When you're in that state of ease, make sure that you're a source of ease for someone else.
Because then Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala will continue to be in your aid even when your times are no longer easy. The last thing I say is what Allah Azza wa Jal says, wa'abud rabbaka hatta ya'tiaka alyaqeen.
Worship Allah until death comes to you. When is it over? I don't know when it's over. The beauty and the complication of this dunya is that we don't know when it's over. We keep getting plunged into hardship and ease. We're in the cycle. And we don't know when it's going to be over.
Wa'abud rabbaka hatta ya'tiaka alyaqeen. Worship Allah until certainty comes to you. Certainty is death. Worship Allah until death comes to you.
Hatim ibn al-Aslam rahimahullah had a beautiful reflection on this. He said the dunya is like your shadow. Think of the dunya as your shadow. This world is your shadow. If you try to catch your shadow, you'll never be able to.
But if you turn your back to it and walk, it will have no choice but to follow you. Put the dunya behind you like your shadow. And follow that guidance and chase Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala with desperation
even when your circumstances don't seem so desperate. So that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala will give you hope even when there is no worldly end in sight of the trial and tribulation that you are in.
May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala give us thabat. May Allah give us firmness on our faith in good times and in bad times. And may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala make the best of our deeds the last of them. And may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala grant our brothers and sisters in Gaza
relief after relief after relief. Fid dunya wal akhira. In this life and the next. And join us with them. And allow us to be a source of relief for them and in their aid so that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala be in our aid throughout this period of ease
that we are in relative to them. Allahumma ameen.
Alhamdulilahi rabbil alameen. Wasalatu wasalamu ala rasooli al kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een. Allahuma khfuru al mu'mineena wa al mu'minat wa al muslimeena wa al muslimat.
Al ahya'i minhum wa al amwat. Innaka sami'un qareebun mujeebu da'wat. Allahuma khfuru lana wa arhamna wa a'fu anna wa la tu'adhibna. Rabbana zalamna anfusana wa in lam taffir lana wa tarhamna. Lanakoonanna minal khasireen.
Allahuma innaka a'fuun kareem wa tu'hibbu al'afwa fa'afu anna. Allahuma khfuru liwalideena. Rabbirhamhuma kamarabuna sigara. Rabbana hablana min azwajina wa dhurriyatina qurra ta'ayyum. Wa ja'alna lilmuttaqina imama.
Allahuma ansur ikhwanan mustadha'afeena fi masharikil ardi magharibiha. Allahuma ansur ikhwanan mustadha'afeena fi ghazza. Allahuma ansur hum fi falastin. Allahuma ansur hum fi sudan. Allahuma ansur hum fi al yaman wa fi kulli makan.
Allahuma alayka bi a'daika a'da al deen. Allahuma arina fi al zalimeena aja'iba qudratik. Allahuma ahlika al zalimeena bil zalimeen. Wa akhlujna wa ikhwanan wa bayni al salimeen. Ibadullah anna Allahi amru bin adli wal ihsan wa hita'il al qurba
wa yamha' al fahsha'i wal munkari wal baghi. Ya'idukum la'al lakum tadhakkaroon. Fadhkurullahi yadhkurukum wa shkuruhu alani'naa yazid lakum. Wala dhikrullahi akbar. Allah ya'alamu ma tasna'oon. Wa aqeem as-salam.
www.Facebook.com www.Instagram.com www.Twitter.com www.Facebook.com www.Instagram.com www.Facebook.com www.Instagram.com
www.Twitter.com www.Facebook.com www.Instagram.com www.Facebook.com www.Instagram.com www.Facebook.com www.Instagram.com


































































































































































































































































































