Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. Allah has revealed to you the Book and wisdom, and taught you what you did not know. And the grace of Allah is great for you.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. To Him is all praise, all good, and all praise is due. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah. There is none worthy of worship except Allah. He speaks the truth and guides to the right path. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. Peace be upon him and his family and his companions and those who follow them. And to them is good till the Day of Judgment.
InshaAllah, in today's lecture, I want to speak about the matter related to friendship and friends. This topic is a very important topic. If you look at the Qur'an and the hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ, you will see how important this topic is. As we know, human beings cannot live alone. It's impossible for you to live alone. You need to buy, you need to sell, you need to rent. So we need people.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created us in need of one another. That's what Allah said in the Qur'an, يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِّن ذَكَرٍ وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلًا لِتَعَارَفُوا. Some of the scholars say, لِتَعَارَفُوا here means that we live with one another. The scholars in the Arabs say a lot, الإنسان مدني بالطبع. The human needs and requires to exist with other people.
We're all together brothers. And subhanAllah, this concept of friendship, Islam never said don't have friends. You will never find Allah saying don't have friends. But what Allah does say subhanahu wa ta'ala and so does His Messenger is to have good people around you. People who encourage you towards good.
For me, my personal experience, I've had good brothers that were my friends that I have grown up with, that I've known. They always helped me towards working harder and pushing myself in the right direction. If you look at the Prophet ﷺ, there were those types of people around him ﷺ. There was Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali. Righteous people around him. Those people encouraged him to do good ﷺ.
I'm going to start by mentioning a hadith that I think inshaAllah ta'ala can be a starting point bi-idhnillah al-kareem. The Prophet ﷺ said, a hadith Imam al-Bukhari and Muslim both narrated, from the hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari. The Prophet ﷺ said, مَثَلُ الْجَلِيسِ الصَّالِحِ وَالْجَلِيسِ السُّوءِ كَحَامِ الْمِسْكِ وَنَافِقُ الْخِيْرِ. The Prophet ﷺ said, The example of a good friend and a bad friend is like a perfume owner and a blacksmith.
Now this hadith is very powerful. When the Prophet ﷺ gives parables and مثل, these parables we have to think over, these examples. If you go to a perfume shop, the owner of the perfume shop is either going to take a perfume, he's going to put it on you, and so mashaAllah you leave the shop smelling nice, that's one.
The second thing is, if he doesn't put any perfume on you, the fact that you're in that environment, you're going to smell good scent. You're going to be in an environment where it smells very nice. So you enjoy your stay in that place. A blacksmith, on the other hand, would either burn your clothes, or you're going to be in a place which is not good for you because it's going to hurt your lungs and cause you medical conditions.
So you're not going to benefit from being with him. That's exactly the friend. The Prophet is saying that's exactly the friend. He will either benefit you good while you're sitting with him, if you don't take it directly from him, but just by being around him, you feel a certain way.
I'm sure we all see people like that. When we sit with them, we just feel better and we feel good. Have you guys seen that? Yes. There are certain people when you're around them, even if you're not taking knowledge from them, just by being in their gathering, you yourself deep down want to be a better person.
I love that person; they make me feel my Iman is growing. I want to be a better person. I want to work hard. The sahabas told that to the Prophet. They said, oh messenger of Allah, when we sit with you, our Iman what? Increases. We feel like our Iman is high. When we leave you, oh messenger of Allah, we don't feel that same way.
That's how the righteous people are. When you're around them, your Iman increases. I know some of my teachers, may Allah preserve and honor them and give them the best in this world and the hereafter. When I sit with them, they don't have to utter a word. A word does not have to come out of their mouth; just by sitting with them and being in their gathering, I can feel that I am deep down pondering, I'm contemplating.
That's how a friend is, brothers. That's the type of person you want to be around. Are we all together? When you sit with them, you want to increase in what? Righteous deeds and all of that. Look at Jubaid ibn Mut'in. He was not a Muslim at this time. He was a disbeliever. He saw the Prophet ﷺ for the first time, and the Prophet was praying Salatul Maghrib.
When he saw the Prophet ﷺ, the Prophet was reciting Surat al-Tur. He said, I heard the Prophet recite Surat al-Tur. أَمْ خُلِقُونَ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُوا الْخَالِقُونَ أَمْ خَلَقُوا السَّمَاوَاتِ. He heard the beautiful verses recited. When he heard it from the mouth of the Prophet ﷺ, he said, كَادَ قَلْبِي أَنْ يَطِيرُ. My heart was about to fly because of what I heard. This was the first time Iman entered my heart.
So brothers, I remember one day in this masjid here, I was in the office and a young brother came to me and he wanted some advice. SubhanAllah, I saw the effect that friends can have on you. This young boy was so good. I can see it from him. Very innocent good young lad. He was sitting in the office. He wanted some advice, but he had a friend with him.
Every time I advise him something, his friend looks at him and says, Are you really gonna do that? He changes from listening to me and wanting to do the good. Then when his friend jokes about things, he starts to fall short. SubhanAllah, I could see the pressure that his friend had on him, and he was willing to change. Those people are the people you should be furthest from, brothers.
COVID-19 happened, and people quarantined, right? For what reason? Why did we stay distancing and all of that? What was the reason? It was because of what? It was because of the illness that we're scared that this person can breathe into your face, and then you're gonna catch the illness. Why are we not the same when it comes to people who, when we sit with, they also have an illness, which is bad behavior, suul ahlak, they have no deen and religion?
When we sit with them, they're gonna blow that stuff onto us, and that's gonna rub onto us. Walaykum as-salam brothers. The people who are practicing in the West and the people who are practicing in the Muslim countries, I can always tell the difference. Why? Because of the land that they're in. It has an effect on them.
The way that you talk, the way that you react, the way you respond, the way you shout, the way you talk, compared to what? The people in the Muslim countries who maybe haven't even studied the religion. Are we all together brothers? The surrounding and the environment has an effect on you.
That's why the Prophet ﷺ said, المرء على دين خليله. I know you've heard of these narrations, but think with me, ponder on these narrations. The Prophet is saying, the person is of the religion of his friend. You are the religion of the person who's next to you. Why did you choose this person as your friend? Why? الطيور على أشكالها تقع. You will never see a pigeon fly with an owl or with an eagle.
Why are you flying with this person? Why are you walking with this person? Why have you chosen this person? There's something in you that likes this person. Are we all together brothers? That's why the Prophet is saying, the person is of the religion of his friend. فلينظر أحدكم من يخالل. Look at who you take as your friend.
Think about it. Ponder and select your friends wisely. Choose. You can be in my circle. You, I don't want you to be in my circle. Why? لأن أعمار أمتي مابين ستين وسبعين وقليل من يجوز ذلك. The life span of the Ummah is 60 to 70, and little go over.
So the majority of us are going to die very short. I want every moment of my life to be in a state of Ibadah. I want to be with a person who, whilst I'm with them, it's an act of worship. We're benefiting. He's telling me something good, and he's telling me what? To stay away from something bad.
Now, the person who advises you good and says to you, I advise you this. I'm telling you to stay away from this is the person we push away. Who do we bring around? The one who says what? The one who says نعم to everything. Who just says yes to all of the bad and the wrong that you do. Are we all together brothers?
Allah spoke to the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet didn't need a person around him. Even though this hadith is not authentic and many scholars have weakened it. أَدَّبَنِي رَبِّي فَأَحْسَنَ تَأْذِيبِي. My Lord has disciplined me, and he's disciplined me correctly. It's not authentic, but the meaning the scholars said is sahih, which is what? Allah disciplined the Prophet.
So the Prophet did not need what? What did the Prophet not need? He didn't need a friend to help him advise him. مع ذلك الله said to him وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاتِ وَالْعَشِيءِ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَا. Muhammad, be patient with the righteous people. Be around the good people. Who? Which type of people? The ones who are what? وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاتِ وَالْعَشِيءِ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَا. They worship Allah day and night, and they do it with sincerity.
Did the Prophet have those people around him? Allah told us in the Qur'an, مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّأُ عَلَى الْكُفَارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ. تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَوُونَ فَضْلًا مِنَ اللَّهِ. The people around Nabila and Muhammad are who? They have qualities and characteristics. When it comes to the non-Muslims, they're not very soft with them. They don't tolerate their nonsense. They are very strong in their religion. They only take the truth. That's all they like. Falsehood and corruption and misguidance, they don't tolerate that.
Allah then says, تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا. When you look at them, they are in a state of sujood. They are in a state of ruku. And then look what Allah praised. Not their outward actions only. يَبْتَوُونَ فَضْلًا مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانَ. They're doing all of this with sincerity. The sahabas, all of these righteous deeds that they do, they really are looking for Allah's face subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So these were the people that the Prophet had what? Around him. So when you look at the person you selected as a friend, that's a reflection of who you are, my brother, and my sister. The same applies with the individual that you chose to be your spouse. That's a long-term friendship. The man, the brother, chooses the woman that he wants to marry wisely.
Think about this woman. When you look at her, look at her as the mother of your kids. Can I trust this woman to be the mother of my kids? Can I trust her? With bringing me closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and distancing me from the hellfire or not? That is a criteria that's in your mind. But the scholars say that the rights that your children have on you is that you select a good mother for them. That's a right that your children have on you.
When you chose this woman, you chose her wisely. The same is with the sister. She looks at this brother and she says, I have selected this companionship with this brother because of his religion, because of his what? Deen. What did the Prophet say in the hadith? لِيَتَّخِذْ مِنكُمْ قَلْبًا شَاكِرًا وَلِسَانًا دَاكِرًا وَزَوْجَةً مُؤْمِنَةً تُعِنْهُ عَلَى أَمْرِ الْآخِرَةِ. The last part is what I want from the hadith. That you choose a righteous spouse who will help you in the affairs of what? The akhirah.
Of course, there is another narration that al-Daylami and others narrated which says the affairs of the dunya as well. Are we all together brothers? So your friends, brothers, are very important. I used to once work at a company, and I was working in the human resource department. Whenever they would give a job to a person and they would select that person for the job, they would look at, back then it was Facebook. They would check your friends.
Who of you got friends? Who are you following? Based on that, they would determine if you are a person they would want to give the position to or not. The Arabs have already said, لَا تَسْأَلْ عَنْهُ وَاسْأَلْ عَنْ قَرِينِهِ فَإِنَّ الْقَرِينِ بِالْمُقَارَنِ يَقْتَدِي. Do not ask about him but ask about his friend because you will know who he is and what he is like.
So I can tell what type of person you are by just looking at you, your friend, the people that you have around him. There is a story that جَمْعٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْعِلْمَةِ. A large number of scholars have mentioned, and some of them even said it was the سَبَبُ النُّزُورِ of the ayah وَيَوْمَ يَعَرْضُ الظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِ اتَّخَذْتُمْ عَبْرَ السُّوْلِ سَبِيلًا يَا وَيْلَتَىٰ لَيْتَنِ لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانٍ خَلِيلًا لَقَدْ أَوَلَّمِي عَنِ الْذِكْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ جَاءَنِي وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِلْإِنسَانِ خَذُولًا. Some scholars said it came down regarding this Aisha, who was an Arab poet. Aisha was an Arab poet, one of the well-known poets in the city of Mecca. If he spoke, it was like a well-known famous artist speaking.
The most searched and the most watched person was him, Al-Aisha. He was known in the city of Mecca. Al-Aisha, what happened was he wanted to embrace Islam, and the people of Mecca understood that if Al-Aisha embraces Islam, it's game over; it's a problem. So they had to stop him from doing that. They came to him and said to him, Al-Aisha, where are you heading? He said, I'm going to Medina. I cannot stay in the city of Mecca anymore; I want to embrace Islam, so I'm going to go to Medina.
They said to him, Al-Aisha, you're going to go to the Prophet Muhammad? He said yes. They said to him, if you go to him, do you know that he prohibits Zina? Nabi Muhammad doesn't allow Zina. He said, I'm an old man; I don't want Zina; I'll go to him. So they fought again, and they said, Al-Aisha, do you know that he prohibits alcohol? This was a fitna for him because they were his friends; they knew him very well.
They said to him, he prohibits and doesn't allow alcohol, the consumption of alcohol. He said, okay, I will stay in the city of Mecca; I won't go; I'll remain here for this year; I'm going to drink alcohol. Brothers, if you can stand up and come a bit forward, there are people who want to go to the back; if you can just squeeze in, inshaAllah. So Al-Aisha said, so Al-Aisha said, Al-Aisha, what he said was, okay, this year I'm going to remain in what? In Mecca. I'm going to drink my alcohol, inshaAllah, and inshaAllah, he said, I will enjoy myself, and I will then embrace Islam.
He died that year, that same year in which he just wanted to consume alcohol and drink alcohol, and Al-Aisha passed away, and he wasn't able to embrace Islam. Are we all together, brothers? Who is it that stopped him from embracing Islam? Yeah, his friends. وَيَوْمَ يَعَبُّ الظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَ لِتَخَدْتُمْ عَنْ رَسُولِ سَبِيلَهِ يَا وَيْلَتَ لَيْتَ لِلَّمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا. He's going to regret it.
In another ayah, Allah says they will say, يَا لَيْتَ بَيْنِ وَبَيْنَكَ بُعْدًا مَشْرِقَيْنِ فَبِئْسَ الْقَرِينِ. What an evil qareen you were! What a bad friend you were! We're all together, and the person you followed, he will free himself. اِذْ تَبَرَّعَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبِعُوا مِنَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوا وَرَأَوْا الْعَذَابَ وَتَقَطَّعَتْ بِهِمُ الْأَسْبَابِ وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً فَنَتَبَرَّعَ مِنْهُمْ كَمَا تَبَرَّعُوا مِنْنَا. كَذَلِكَ يُرِيهِمُ اللَّهُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ حَصَلَ عِلَى آخِرِ الْأَخِرَاءُ يَوْمَئِذٍ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوا إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ. The only people whose friendship is going to last the Day of Judgment is who? إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ. Except the people of taqwa. They are the only people whose friendship will last.
Actually, this ayah is an ayah that I thought of for a long, long time because, as we know in the Qur'an, Allah tells us, يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ الْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِي وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِي وَصَعِبَتِهِ وَبَنِي. لِكُلِّ مْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ شَأْنُوا يُغْنِي. Everybody is going to run away from one another the Day of Judgment.
SubhanAllah, I came over a statement of Imam Salahuddin Al-Alai rahimahullah. He said that the only people who won't run away from each other are the people who are friends in good. Because of this ayah الْأَخِرَاءُ يَوْمَئِذٍ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ. Everybody else is an enemy to one another إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ. Except the people of Taqwa. When they see each other فِي عَرَصَاتِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ. When they see each other in the Day of Judgment, they will call each other أَخِي, come here, and they will talk and they would question one another أَخِي, how did you make it here? Why are you on this good side?
He will say because أَخِي, I used to do this, and I used to do that, and I did this, and I didn't do that. I ask Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى بِمَنِّهِ وَكَرَمِهِ. I ask Allah that He makes us from the people of Taqwa. Allah makes us from what? The people of Taqwa. Allah says about them, تِلْكَ الْجَنَّةُ الَّتِي نُورِثُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا مَنْ كَانَ تَقِيَّ. Jannah is going to be inherited by those people.
When everybody else, brothers, drops in Jahannam and they go all over the Sirat وَإِمِّنكُمْ إِلَّا وَيَرِدُهَا كَانَ عَلَى رَبِّكَ حَتْمًا مَّقْضِيَةٌ. ثُمَّ نُنَجِّي الَّذِينَ التَّقَوْا وَنَظَرُ الظَّالِمِينَ فِيهَا جِثِيَةٌ. The people of Taqwa are the only ones who are going to make it over that Sirat. They're not going to drop; they're going to make it. Why? Because they took the provision that was needed وَتَزَوَّدُوا فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى. They came with the provision that was needed for this day, the Day of Judgment, صح؟
Today, I mentioned in the khutbah a line of poetry that when you see, look at these people who I mentioned, they're brothers. They're going to be together on the Day of Judgment. A poet, he said, مَثِّلْ وُقُوفِكَ يَوْمَ الْعَرْضِ عُرْيَانًا مُسْتَوْحِشًا قَلِقَ الْأَحْشَاءِ. عَرْيَانًا مُسْتَوْحِشًا قَلِقَ الْأَحْشَاءِ حَيْرَانًا وَالنَّارُ تَلْهَبِ مِنْ غَيْظٍ وَمِنْ حَنَقٍ عَلَى الْعُصَاتِ وَرَبُّ الْعَرْشِ غَضْبَانًا. اقْرَأْ كِتَابَكَ يَا عَبْدَ اللَّهِ عَلَى مَهَلٍ. فَهَلْ تَرَى فِيهِ حَرْفًا غَيْرَ مَا كَانَ لَمَّا قَرَأْتَ وَلَمْ تُمْكِرْ قِرَاءَتَهُ اِقْرَارَ مَنْ عَرَفَ الْأَشْيَاءَ عِرْفَانًا. نَادَ الْجَلِيلُ خُذُوهُ يَا مَلَائِكَتِ وَامْضُوا بِعَبْدِ الْعَصَى لِلنَّارِ. عَطْشَانَ الْمُجْرِمُونَ غَدًا فِي الْنَّارِ يَلْتَهِبُوا وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ فِي دَلَّةِ الْخُلْدِ سُكَّانًا.
That day, when everybody stands in front of Allah, naked and not wearing any clothes, this individual who has a friend, a companion who helped him make it, pushed him and encouraged him, everyone's gonna be naked that day. Aisha, she said, يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَلَا يَنظُرُ النَّاسُ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ? Other people are not gonna look at each other. The Prophet said to his beloved wife Aisha, he said to her, الأَمْرُ أَكْبَرُ مِن ذَلِكَ. Aisha, for people to look at each other, it's bigger than that.
Imagine a naked person is there; you won't even look at him because of the situation that day. يَا أَيَّهَا النَّاسُ تَقْوُوا رَبَّكُمْ إِنَّ زَلْزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَيْءٌ عَظِيمٌ. يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَدْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّ عَرْضَاتٍ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّأسَ سُكَارًا وَمَا هُمْ بِسُكَارًا وَلَكِمْ عَذَرَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ.
That day, brothers, a friend will be there for you to help you. And guess what, subhanAllah, Imam Al-Bukhari mentions in his Sahih, in Hadith Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri, that the Day of Judgment, a people are gonna make it to the Hellfire. They're gonna end up from being the people of the Hellfire. This hadith is called Hadith Al-Jahannamiyoon, the people of Jahannam.
These people are gonna go to the Hellfire, and when they go to Jahannam, what a bad place to be. Their brothers, their friends, who made it to Jannah, will look around and say, Ya Rabbi, where are our friends that used to pray with us and fast with us? They're not with us today. Allah will say to them, they are in Jahannam. But they say, Ya Rabbi, they did good deeds with us.
It will be then said to them, go and take them out of Jahannam. Who's helping who here? Yeah? The friends and righteous friends. They recognized you from the Masjid. They recognized you when you what? The fasting that you used to do and the prayer that you used to pray. They recognized you.
So what they would say is, Ya Rabbi, take them out of the Hellfire. They are our brothers. We don't want them to burn. So they intercede. The angels intercede. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala puts his hand into Jahannam and brings out a group of people. Before Allah intercedes, what Allah says is, Shafa' al-mu'minoona, the believers, they interceded. Wa shafa' al-malaika, the angels have also interceded. Wa lam yabaqa, there is no other intercession left except the intercession of who? Allah Azza wa Jalla.
Then Allah brings out a people out of Jahannam. They end up going to what? They end up going to Jannah. The Prophet said to us in a hadith, alayhi salatu was salam, La tu sahib illa mu'minan, do not befriend except a believer. This is who telling you? Nabiullah Muhammad.
La tu sahib, do not become friends with except a person who has iman. Wa la ya'kul ta'amaka, and do not feed except a pious person. Who is saying this? Muhammad? Muhammad ibn Abdullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. A man one day came to the city of Medina, and he asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he raised his hand, ahadut tabi'il, he raised his hand, and he begged Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if he can meet a righteous person to be friends with in the city of Medina.
He said, when I went, Allah blessed me to meet Abu Huraira. I sat in his gathering, and then I befriended him after that. Abu Huraira looked at me and said to me, this is the righteous people; you benefit from them when you're with them. So he looked at me and he said to him, I heard the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say, awwalu ma yuhasabu bihi al-abdu yawma al-qiyamah as-salah. The first thing that the person will be accounted for the Day of Judgment is their salah.
fa insalahat salaha sa'iru amalihi. If his salah is upright and good, then all his other actions are going to be good. If his salah is corrupt, then all of his other actions are corrupt. This was my dua, he said, accepted. Not only did I meet Abu Huraira and befriended him, but I also benefited from him.
The righteous people, brothers, you benefit from. When you go to their gatherings, you benefit from them. Even when you are not with them, brothers, you benefit from them. When you pass away, they make dua for you. Allah says to us in the Quran, والذين جاؤوا من بعدهم يقولون ربنا اغفر لنا ولإخواننا الذين سبقون بالإيمان ولا تجعل في قلوبنا غل للذين آمنوا ربنا إنك رؤوف رحيم. They benefit you even after you're dead.
We make dua for the people who preceded us in good, do we not? The good friends, that's what they will do. When they remember you, they will say, my brother, may Allah bestow His never-ending mercy onto him. May Allah forgive him for his sins. May Allah forgive him for shortcomings.
Alhamdulillah, we see it very often that when a brother passes away, good brothers stand up and they build a well for him or they open a masjid in his name. And that's a sadaqah jariah that carries on for that brother. Whereas the other one, whose friends are evil, they don't do any of that for you. They abandon you.
Abu Zul'at al-Razi was a great scholar of hadith, a very scholastic scholar, imam min aymat al-hadith. He was on his deathbed. He was feeling sick. So his students, they wanted to remind him of saying the shahada, the testimony before he dies. This is the people that he was around.
Abu Zul'at al-Razi was a friend of who? Imam Ahmed, rahimahullah, him and Hatim al-Razi. They were also the shuyukh of Imam al-Bukhari, rahimahullah. Abu Zul'at al-Razi, he was on his deathbed. He was feeling very, very sick. His temperature was very high.
And so what he did was, the brothers were sitting around him, and they remembered the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. They started to go through the hadith, the chain from the beginning until the Prophet ﷺ. He was sitting there, and guess what he did? He remembered the hadith. He stood up. The illness went from his shoulders.
He said, and he passed away. It was meant to be, but he didn't have to say that. All he had to say was what? La ilaha illallah. And he died. They were good friends. They were his friends. They reminded him of saying, La ilaha illallah.
That's the benefit of having good friends around you, brothers. People who help you, who push you towards khair. I remember one time, I had a friend. This was when I lived in Birmingham. I had a friend, a young brother.
We went together. Salah time came in. I said to him, Let's pray in the masjid. The brother said to me, Oh, I don't pray in the masjid. I don't pray. But he's my friend. So what happened was, he stood outside the masjid, and I ended up going to the masjid and praying.
My father came to the masjid. When my dad came to the masjid, he saw this young Somali boy standing outside. As an uncle, when he saw him, he said, Adar, uncle, what are you doing? The boy said, Yeah, I don't pray. I'm not in a state of tahara.
My father said to him, Come in the masjid and pray. He said, I'm not in a state of tahara. My father's character is that he doesn't force or impose things. So he just went into the masjid and prayed. I prayed the salah. I didn't see my dad in the masjid.
I prayed and came out of the masjid. Then my friend and I went together. I went home. When I came home, who came home again? My dad. My dad came home. When my dad came home, he saw the brother who he saw at the masjid; he saw him what? In front of the house.
So my dad said, Okay, okay. Who are you? So he told him my name is. Who are you friends with? And he said, I'm friends with Abdurrahman. So my dad, I came into the house, and he said to me, Why are you friends with somebody who's not praying salah?
I said, Dad, I prayed in the masjid. I prayed the salah. I won't miss the salah. My dad said words to me I will never forget, as long as I live. He looked at me and he said, It's a matter of days when he drags you to his side.
Ayyam. He will take you away from that. And you will follow his path. I couldn't understand. I was like, Dad, when he's pulling me, why don't I pull him? He said to me, Two things work against you.
النفس الأمارة بالصوب. The nafs that calls you to be evil. That's one. And shaytan. He's got those two hands over you. And we go together. So you have to fight with your nafs. And you also have to fight with what? الشيطان.
And so you're going to end up being easily dragged. And you can drag him. And we go together. Allah says in the Qur'an, وَقَدْ نَزَّلَ عَرَيْكُمْ فِي الْكِتَابِ أَنْ إِذَا سَمِعْتُمْ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ يُكْفَرُ بِهَا وَيُسْتَهْزَأُ بِهَا فَلَا تَقْعُدُوا مَعَهُمْ.
If you see a people who are mocking the verses of Allah, playing with the religion of Allah, disobeying Allah, Allah says, فَلَا تَقْعُدُوا مَعَهُمْ. صح؟ A people. A lot of the friends that some people are hanging around with, they're mocking and they're joking about the what? The deen, are they not?
They speak bad about Allah's religion, and you're still sitting with them. Allah is addressing the Prophet, Don't sit with those people. وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَ الَّذِينَ يَخُوذُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا فَأَعْرُضْ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّى يَخُوذُوا فِي حَدِيثٍ غَيْرٍ.
إِنَّكُمْ إِذَا مِثْلُهُمْ. If you see a group of people who are what? Again indulging in the verse of Allah with no knowledge, speaking about matters that are not the deen, do not sit with them. Are we all together? Then Allah says, إِنَّ اللَّهَ جَامِعُ الْمُنَافِقِينَ وَالْكَافِرِينَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ جَمِيعًا. The hypocrites and disbelievers will all be brought together in the hellfire.
I ask Allah, He forgives me for any of my mistakes or any shortcomings of anything I've said. It reminds me of the line of poetry, غَيْرُ التَّقِي يَأْمُرُ النَّاسُ بِالطَّقَةُ طَبِيبٌ يُدَاوِي وَالطَّبِيبُ مَرِيضُ. A person who himself is not pious is telling the people to be pious. A doctor who is ill is telling the people to take these medicine when he himself is ill.
Wallahi, I mean this when I say this. I ask Allah that He forgives me for my mistakes and shortcomings. The wrong that I have done in my life and the shortcomings and the times that I have wasted. Wallahi, I wish brothers, I can go back in time. I was 23, 22 when I used to be in this masjid.
When I came and I looked at it, it reminded me of over 10 years ago where I was. And it reminded me of the hadith, لَا تَزُولُ قَدَمَاءِ عَبْدٍ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ أَرْبَعٍ. My legs will not move from its position the day of judgment until I answer four questions. عَنْ عُمْرِهِ فِي مَا أَثْنَى. That time, what have I spent with it? What did I do in that time?
وَعَنْ شَبَابِهِ فِي مَا أَبْلَى. My youth, what did I do with it? And I look at the next generation of brothers coming up. Some of which had no beards. Little kids running around. And today, Allahumma barik their big boys. That's a life.
The only thing I could think of that is that time of my life. I'm scared of Allah when I meet Allah. And Allah questions me for that time. Every one of us is going to be questioned. All of us about our time that we spent.
What did we do with it? Allah says, أَوَلَمْ نُعَمِّرْكُمْ مَا يَتَذَكَّرُ فِيهِ مَنْ تَذَكَّرُ وَجَاءَكُمُ النَّذِيرُ. Allah says, have I not given you time? For you to think and ponder. Allah gave you a chance.
Yesterday was a chance. Today is a chance. Tomorrow, inshaAllah, if you live, is a chance. What can you do? مَعَ مَضَافَاتٍ وَالْمُؤَمَّلُ غَيْبٌ وَلَكَ السَّاعَةُ الَّتِي أَنْتَ فِيهَا. The past, you can't do anything. Everything that you've done in the past, all you can say is, رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي. Oh Allah, forgive me for it.
And the future that we keep thinking about is not in our hands. The thing that we have control over is the time that we're in. Are we all together, brothers? This is your time right now, brothers. Don't waste this time with people that don't have مصالح.
They don't have benefits in mind for you. They don't have good in heart for you. They would watch you destroy yourselves. No one will take sentence for you. If someone of you, one of you committed a crime on the streets, that friend that you are befriending would not help you.
He won't say, I'll take the sentence in the years for you. How is he gonna help you on the Qiyamah when you stand in front of Allah on the Qiyamah? Are we all together, brothers? So now you have that chance. Now you benefit from it.
There was a man who grew old. He used to be... I remember this line of poetry because I used to run up the staircases. I'm not old. I'm not gonna say I'm too old. But I've aged than I was at that time. Over 10 years ago, brothers.
I got exhausted when I came to the top. I remember, subhanAllah, brothers. A man who threw a bucket into an ocean. He threw it into the well and pulled the bucket out. Then he couldn't do it as he used to when he was a youth. When he was 20 years old, he used to be able to pull it out fast. But now that he became old, when he pulls it, he's struggling.
He said, مالي اذا جذبتها صعيت? Why is it that when I pull the bucket out, I'm now making noise? Why do I scream? Why do I say, when I'm doing it? Is it due to old age? Or is it due to my irresponsibilities, the kids that I have? Then look what he said.
He said, I wish. But is me wishing gonna benefit me? I wish I could buy from the market, being a youth again, so I can benefit from my time. Two things that you have, brothers. You have health, and you have free time. Two of which you're not gonna have for the rest of your life.
Are we all together, brothers? I saw my parents deteriorate over the years, grow older. As the days go by, my dad never had no medical health problems. I saw diabetes, this one, lungs, organs, this happened to this organ, and this and that.
I remembered, if you live in life, that's what's gonna happen to you one day. You're gonna become sick, you're gonna become old, so your health is gonna go. And what's gonna happen to you? Your free time that you had will go. You have so much responsibility.
This child needs this from you, this child wants this from you, that child wants... You don't have anything that you can do for yourself. Wallahi, brothers, I'm saying this to you, and I'm saying it to myself first.
Please benefit from your time, your عمر. The life Allah has given you, benefit from it. Take this serious, don't waste it. وَأَرَهُ أَسْهَلَ مَا عَلَيْكَ يَضِيعُ. Time is the most valuable thing, and it's the thing that's wasted the most.
Even if you have righteous friends, even if you have good friends, don't waste your time with them. Even if they're the best of people. You need to spend time with just yourself. Rectifying your own actions, having your private righteous deeds, always having an entourage, always being with a lot of people, and you can't be by yourself, it will damage your iman.
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn al-Wazir al-Yamani, rahimahullah, has many beneficial books. He has a kitab called, رَوْضُ البَاسِمِ فِي الدَّبِّعِ عَنْ سُنَّةِ أَبِالْقَاسِمِ. He also has another book called, العَوَاسِمِ وَالْقَوَاسِمِ and many other books he's written.
They said in the last stages of his life, he cut off from everybody. He was living in Yemen, and he started to live in a place far from everybody, and he authored a book called, العُزْلَةِ. What does العُزْلَةِ mean? Seclusion. To seclude yourself from everybody else.
So this is what's gonna happen, brothers. Another last advice I wanted to give to you all, inshaAllah ta'ala is, brothers, the Prophet said to us, ﷺ, about a group of people, who are righteous in public, but in private they are something else.
The Prophet ﷺ, hadith of the scholars differ on its authenticity, لَكِنَّهُ حَسَنٌ. The Prophet ﷺ told us, there are a group of people, who are gonna come the Day of Judgment, and all of their righteous deeds will be nullified.
So the Sahabas were shocked with this, when they saw this, or when they heard this. They said, Ya Rasool Allah, these people whose righteous deeds are gonna be nullified, are they not Muslims? Because in the Qur'an Allah mentions, that the people whose righteous deeds are gonna be nullified, are the disbelievers.
وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَىٰ مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَنْ ثُورًا. The people whose righteous deeds are gonna be nullified are who? The disbelievers. The believers Allah says, أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ نَتَقَبَّلُ عَنْهُمْ أَحْزَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَنَتَجَاوَزُوا عَنْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ فِي أَصْحَابِ الْجَنَّةِ وَعَدَ الصِّدْقِ الَّذِي كَانُوا يُعَدُونَ. The believers Allah, He accepts their righteous deeds from them. But it's the disbelievers who Allah nullifies their deeds.
So how is that possible? This is what the Prophet said, عليه الصلاة والسلام. They are a people, who pray at night. They fast daytime. وَلَكِنَّهُمْ إِذَا خَلَوْا بِمَحَارِبِ اللَّهِ تَهَكُوهَا. But when they are private, and any sin comes to their mind, and any evil thing, they won't hold back in doing it. They don't put Allah into consideration.
يَسْتَغْفُونَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يَسْتَغْفُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَهُوَ مَعَهُمْ إِذْ يُبَيِّتُونَ مَا لَا يَرْضَى مِنَ الْقَوْلِ. They make Allah the lowest of those that look at them. Is that fair that you wouldn't do those things in front of your parents? You would not do those things or say those things in front of the sheikh and the imam of your local masjid.
But you say these things and do these things in front of Allah and His angels? I ask Allah He forgives us for our sins. Oh Allah forgive us for the wrong that we have done and the mistakes that we have come with in privately. Oh Allah we are all sinners, all of us. We do sins. The one who is speaking, myself, might be more than all of you guys, most likely.
I ask Allah He forgives me for all my sins and all the wrong that I have done. I ask Allah that He doesn't punish me the day of judgment for my errors and my mistakes. اللهم اغفر لنا ذنوبنا اللهم اغفر لنا ذنوبنا وإسرافنا في أمرنا وثبت أقدامنا وانصرنا على القوم الكافرين. اللهم اغفر لنا هزلنا وجدنا وخطعنا وعمدنا وكل ذلك عندنا يا رب العالمين. اللهم لا تجعل الدنيا أكبرها منا ولا مبلغ علمنا ولا تصلط علينا بذنوبنا من لا يخافك فينا ولا يرحمنا.
رب آتي نفوسنا تقواها وزكيها أنت خير من زكاها أنت وليها ومولاها. ربنا آتنا في الدنيا حسنة وفي الآخرة حسنة وقنا عذاب النار. سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت استغفرك وأتوب إليك. بارك الله فيكم أحبكم جميعا لحضرة الله جزاكم الله خير.
أخواتي هناك موضوع موضوع أحبكم جميعا أحب أن أقضي مع كل واحد منكم أحب أن أقضي مع كل واحد منكم لكن شيء لا أحب وليس من ديننا وليس من سنة النبي هو أن يتبع أحدهم. And as I said to you I'm the lowest of the circle, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud he saw an entourage trying to follow him and then what did he say, leave me alone.
He said this is a humiliation for the people who are following and a fitna for the person who's been followed. So here I say to all of you guys salamu alaikum and I love you all for the sake of Allah, I love you, Allah is my witness, I do and you're all in my dua inshallah ta'ala, barakallahu feekum wa jazakum Allahu khairan.
